Huang Yee-ling, queen of Hokkien pop, is able to belt out poignant ballads with heartfelt intensity because she sings from experience.

The 39-year-old Taiwanese diva, whose slowburn love songs such as Unconditional Love and Sea Waves have become karaoke favourites, will be performing in Singapore at a Chinese New Year concert next month.

She told Life! in a recent interview about a harrowing childhood during which she had to help support her family by singing and performing.

As a result, she became alienated from her siblings.

From the age of six, Huang, the third of four children, would rush home after school every day to get ready for night performances at weddings and the like.

Her mother, the sole breadwinner who worked as a maid, relied heavily on the extra income that Huang brought in.

But her siblings were miffed as their mother would often buy their little singing-star sister big, expensive apples as a reward for her hard work.

The chanteuse said over the telephone from Taiwan last week: 'My siblings would watch me eat but they wouldn't get any.

'Also, I was always out performing, so I did not have many chances to interact with them.'

Later, she dropped out of secondary school to sing full-time to earn money for the family.

She started singing at bars and signed on with a record label when she was 17.

Having to sing full-time to make ends meet made her feel empty inside. 'Sometimes, I would lose myself in singing and lose track of who I really was. That made me very unsure of myself.

'I also felt very inferior because I did not finish my secondary school education, something which I still regret.'

Religion helped Huang, now a single mum with a 16-year-old daughter, reconcile with her siblings.

'After reading Buddhist scriptures, I understood why I was different from my siblings and why I needed to keep on working to support my family.'

She will perform at the Hokkien Hits concert at Suntec Convention Hall on Feb 8, alongside other veteran Hokkien singers such as Tsai Chiu-feng and Zhan Ya-wen.

Despite the festive occasion, she will be singing from her repertoire of famous melancholic love ballads.

'Slow, sad songs will dampen the Chinese New Year spirit but my strength is definitely in love ballads. So I will sing them, especially since I know my fans will want to hear them,' she said, adding that she will include some light-hearted tracks to enliven the concert.

She last performed here in 2004 on a TV charity show and looks forward to one thing she remembers fondly from that previous visit.

'After the concert, I will take everyone out to eat bak kut teh. It is so delicious and I really miss eating it.'

HOKKIEN HITS

Where: Suntec International Convention & Exhibition Hall, Halls 602 & 603
When: Feb 8, 7.30pm
Admission: $38, $48, $58, $78 & $88 from Sistic (www.sistic.com.sg or call 6348-5555)

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Jan 19, 2009.