SINGAPORE – Whenever National Day comes around, one song and one singer come to mind.
Home, performed by home-grown singer Kit Chan, has often been touted as Singaporeans’ favourite National Day Parade (NDP) song.
This year, she has re-recorded the classic 1998 ballad – just in time for its 25th anniversary.
Chan, who turns 51 in September, said in a telephone interview with The Straits Times: “When I first sang it, I was 25 and so green. The song suited me at that age – it sounded so optimistic and ‘rah-rah’.
“But that is not what I sound like today. I am more mature, and have seen and experienced so much more. I have been through lots of ups and downs.”
She continued: “The nation, and the world at large, is also at a very different juncture now. It seems the perfect time to re-interpret it, and make it relevant to who I am today and, hopefully, for the many Singaporeans who have grown up with the song.”
Instead of a rousing chorus, the updated rendition – titled Home (25th anniversary remake) and released on Friday – is quieter, and more introspective and reflective.
Chan said: “It is like my National Day gift to all Singaporeans. I hope to give the sense that through all the dark clouds, this is still home. If the 1998 version was intended to be sung to the masses, then this 2023 version is an intimate song I want to sing to each Singaporean.”
The music star will debut it at the Gardens by the Bay and Mediacorp National Day Concert on Aug 5 at The Meadow, and will also perform it at her 30th anniversary concerts at the Sands Theatre at Marina Bay Sands from Sept 8 to 10.
And she is prepared for the naysayers.
“People love the original Home, as I do, and it is still always there. But I believe there will be those who will appreciate this new version because they have also grown up with the song, and are older today.”
Another tune to look out for at her solo shows is May Love Stay Strong, her 30th anniversary song, which was released on June 23.
Specially written for her by long-time friend and music collaborator Tom Pan, the ballad expresses her hope that one’s love will be steadfast in the face of dark clouds and an uncertain future.
Although it has only been played more than 97,000 times on Spotify, a far cry from Chan’s more popular songs, such as Liking You (1996, played seven million times) and Heartache (1994, played two million times), she said: “I don’t do too much to chase the numbers nowadays. I am so not in the rat race now.”
Rather, she hopes to continue creating music that she believes in. “It is more about attracting people than chasing them,” she added.
Career longevity is also important to Chan – not just for personal reasons, but also for the message it conveys.
“I do not think I will ever retire. Especially since there are fewer older female performers, I think just by showing up and continuing to do good work, I can be affirming to older women. And this, too, is one of the little things that matter.”
Chan – who divorced in 2017 after five years of marriage – has also found love again, describing her current relationship as one that is stable and loving, and which gives her a lot of strength, hope and fun.
She tied the knot in 2012 after dating her ex-husband for 13 years.
She declined to reveal more about her new partner, explaining: “My other half is a private person. He is not in the public eye. Maybe slowly in time, but not now.”
But she let on that at 50, relationships are so much easier to navigate.
“When I was younger, part of the difficulty was trying to find myself. At this age, I know myself so well that I can focus on giving to another person.
“And if it does not work out, you don’t have to make a big drama around it.”
Gardens By The Bay and Mediacorp National Day Concert
Where: The Meadow, Gardens by the Bay, 18 Marina Gardens Drive
When: Aug 5, 7.30pm
Admission: Free
Info: mediacorp.sg/ndc2023
Little Things – Kit Chan 30th Anniversary Concert
Where: Sands Theatre, Marina Bay Sands, 10 Bayfront Avenue
When: Sept 8 to 10, 8pm
Admission: $88 to $248 via Marina Bay Sands’ website (str.sg/iiJF) and Sistic (call 6348-5555 or go to www.sistic.com.sg)
These people made Kit Chan a star
A star never shines on her own. She has her team, mentors, collaborators and people who help pave her way to the spotlight. Here are six parties who have worked closely with home-grown singer Kit Chan, and were an integral part of her success over her 30-year career.
1. Bang Wenfu
On top of studio albums and singles, the veteran Singaporean music director and musician – whom Chan calls “abang” (brother in Malay) – was the music director for many of her shows, including her Reignite concerts in 2021, as well as her upcoming 30th anniversary concerts.
She got to know Bang during the first run of the musical Forbidden City: Portrait Of An Empress in 2002, in which she played China’s legendary Empress Dowager Cixi.
She recalled: “Back then, he was in his 20s and had just left school, but he basically arranged the whole show.”
Chan continued to work with Bang in the musical theatre scene and, around 2015, started seeing his talent in a new light.
“I felt his arrangements were more lyrical and dramatic, and could really give an edge to pop music.”
She asked him to be her concert’s music director, but he turned her down initially.
“It turned out he was scared of not doing a good job, as I was one of the artistes he had dreamt of working with. I assured him it was going to be fine and, after a while, he got the hang of it. Now, he is great.”
2. Dick Lee
The iconic Singaporean singer-songwriter composed Chan’s hit song Home in 1998, wrote many songs in the Hong Kong musical Snow.Wolf.Lake (1997), in which she played the character Ling Yuk Fung, and penned the music to Forbidden City: Portrait Of An Empress.
Most recently, the 66-year-old composed the music for The LKY Musical (2015 and 2022), in which Chan took on the role of Kwa Geok Choo – wife of Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew – to positive reviews in the 2022 run.
Chan said: “Dick and I have the strangest fate when it comes to collaborations. Every time he writes something significant, somehow, I am involved. In Snow.Wolf.Lake, my character’s main song Wait And Wait became my first Cantonese hit. Forbidden City and The LKY Musical were also hits, so we always say there is some kind of magic going on.”
3. Liang Wern Fook
A legend in the xinyao scene, the 59-year-old veteran Singaporean singer-songwriter was responsible for many of Chan’s hits, such as Worried (1995), Liking You (1996) and If There’re Seasons (2002).
She said: “A lot of the Kit Chan that Mandopop knows was forged with his songs. And I also starred in the 2010 staging of the Chinese musical December Rains, which he co-wrote with another close friend and composer, Jimmy Ye. I have sung so many songs, but the ones Wern Fook wrote for me have become classics.
“I think he also understands me very well on a creative level. He helped translate my first poetry compilation Cork Out Of My Head (2000) from English to Chinese. We would sit down, and I would recite the poems to him, and explain what I was feeling when I wrote them. I think he captured the meaning of my poems so well.”
4. Billy Koh
The Mandopop songwriter-producer and co-founder of home-grown company Ocean Butterflies Music discovered Chan when she was still in school and signed her as an artiste in 1993.
She said: “Without Billy, my life would have gone in a very different direction. I was only 19 when his label offered me a recording contract, and he persuaded my mother to sign it, as I was not of age then.
“Initially, she refused. She did not even want to talk to him. But Billy was very persuasive, daring even, and she eventually caved. He was also my mentor in the 12 years when I was with his label, and wrote the song Heartache (1994), which was my very first regional hit.”
5. Tom Pan
The 57-year-old Taiwanese songwriter is a dear long-time friend and music collaborator of Chan’s, who penned her 30th anniversary song May Love Stay Strong (2023).
The elder brother of Taiwanese singer Pan Mei-chen sang a duet with Chan, Changed Heart (1995), and co-wrote the ballad Someone Loves You (2005) with her.
Chan said: “When we collaborate, it often feels like we are catching up. We talk on the phone for hours about anything because we trust each other that much. For May Love Stay Strong, I told him I wanted an atmospheric song with minimal arrangement, and the hardest bit was that I wanted him to add a line from (my 1996 song) Liking You, and he delivered.”
6. Personal assistants past and present
Apart from her current manager Iris Wong and personal assistant Joelle Ng, many members of Chan’s inner circle have come and gone over the years since the mid-1990s.
They help her with various tasks – from managing her schedule and administrative work to facilitating media interviews to getting her meals and outfits ready.
During peak periods, Chan trusts her squad to run her life, while she focuses on preparing for performances. Even after these women moved on, she continues to keep in touch with them and remains close.
She said: “Having grown up with three sisters and attended an all-girls school (Raffles Girls’ School), I feel an innate trust with women. They have been so important to me. They are a sorority I can turn to when I need people to do bigger projects, and are also my support group when I am stressed or need a sounding board.
“At my 50th birthday party last year, so many of them showed up, and I was very surprised and heartened. It takes years of cultivation and giving on both sides to build a team you can rely on, and their girl power is such an asset in my work and life.”
