She refused to give up her studies for…
Rachel Chua turned down a spot in Taiwan’s One Million Star talent show because going to Taiwan would have disrupted her studies. -TNP
Thu, Oct 01, 2009
The New Paper
by Charlene Chua
IT’S not every day that one is offered a spot in Taiwan’s One Million Star talent show – a competition that has discovered the likes of successful Taiwanese crooners Yoga Lin and Judy Chou.
But Campus SuperStar season three runner-up Rachel Chua has decided to turn down that opportunity.
The reason: Going to Taiwan would have disrupted her studies.
The 15-year-old Anglican High student told The New Paper that it wasn’t her parents who had asked her to stay in school.
‘It’s really not about the fame or money. I couldn’t possibly give up my family, friends and studies to live in Taiwan for six months just to record the show,’ she said.
‘Besides, my dream occupation is to be a forensic scientist or psychologist. I’ve had a fascination with science since I was nine.’
Share my voice but…
Rachel, who has been taking vocal lessons since she was five, explained that while she wanted to ‘share my voice with the world’, she didn’t have to sing for a living.
She was offered a place in Season 6 of One Million Star, which starts filming in November.
The spot was opened to her after she beat three contestants on the show’s fifth season, in the Player Kill challenge last month.
In this, challenger contestants from the region are brought in to compete against the existing contestants. Those who lose move on to an elimination round with one participant eventually heading home.
Rachel lost out in her fourth challenge but was asked by the show’s production team to return as a contestant in the following season of the competition because they were impressed with her powerhouse vocals.
One of the judges on the show even asked the other contestants to ‘learn from her flawless vocal techniques’.
But singing professionally isn’t on her radar at this point.
Rachel said she’s happy just taking part in talent shows and singing at orphanages and old age homes.
She has also not accepted any new projects and is concentrating on her studies in preparation for her O levels next year.
Unlike Singaporean pop duo BY2 – made up of 17-year-old twins Yumi and Miko Bai – who left their studies for a singing career in Taiwan, Rachel said it’s a matter of ‘different aspirations’.
‘I totally respect their (BY2′s) choice as they wanted to realise their dreams of becoming singers and they have succeeded.
‘For me, staying in Taiwan would be tough as well because I don’t think I would be used to the Mandarin environment.’
The teenager recalled how she was ecstatic about watching Harry Potter on TV in her hotel room, only to discover that the movie had Mandarin dialogue.
Storybooks like her favourite vampire novel, Twilight, were also printed in Mandarin, with only a handful of niche bookstores that sold the English versions.
Fans and friends have been supportive of her decision.
One fan went so far as to say that she did the right thing as opposed to a ‘certain Singapore Idol contestant’ who gave up his studies to take part in the local singing competition.
Rachel’s fans can look forward to seeing her next as a rebellious teenager in the Channel 8 series, Daddy At Home, which is slated to air in November and which stars Li Nanxing, Cynthia Koh and Chen Hanwei (who plays Rachel’s father).
So was she taken by her dashing male co-stars?
Rachel said giggling: ‘I like guys who are tall and buff.