SHE may be only 21, but Taiwanese singer Rachel Liang has a worldly view of life.

For example, she says that 'teenagers get overly depressed by the slightest and most trivial of things'.

So what's with the preachy, smart-alecky attitude from someone who's barely out of her teens?

Rachel, who shot to fame after emerging runner-up in the second season of talent competition One Million Star, is no ordinary 21 year old.

Behind her smile is a painful childhood, one so tumultuous that most will find it hard to even imagine.

Born to Taiwan aboriginal parents, her first major blow came at the age of 10, when her dad died during a gas explosion accident at work.

Making things worse for Rachel and her two siblings (she has an older sister and younger brother) was their alcoholic mother, who turned violent and abusive when drunk.

When Rachel was 12, she died of liver cancer, leaving the three kids orphaned.

'In my younger days, I would blame God for all this misery,' the devout Christian told The New Paper in a recent interview.

'I would silently cry. Why, why of all people, did you pick my family to suffer? Why take our parents away from us?

'But now, I've come to terms with the fact that I can't choose how my life has been arranged. If it's meant to work out this way, I have to take it in my stride and learn to be happy.'

She was in Singapore last week to promote her debut album, Love Poem, a collection of heartrending tunes.

She said happiness, as she has gradually learnt, can be found in simple loves, such as singing.

In the orphanage where she was sent to after her parents' death, she would sing with the choir and perform regularly at gigs.

She started gaining attention when she joined a slew of talent competitions that were aired on television.

It was One Million Star, however, that gave her the big break.

Judges on the show described her voice as 'flawless' and 'emotional to the point that it could pierce right into one's heart'.

Old soul

More often than not, her vocals were lauded for being imbued with 'an old soul', an element that is missing in the current crop of pop singers.

She admitted that her turbulent past inevitably played a part in honing her 'mature way of singing'.

'Of course, I don't deliberately conjure up sad memories every time I sing a ballad,' she said, with a laugh.

'Images and scenes of my childhood just come to me naturally, especially when I'm immersed in the lyrics. It's 21 years of my life after all, I can't block all of them out.'

Rachel has come a long way since One Million Star wrapped up.

Her first single The Greatest Joy scored more than 340,000 hits on YouTube in less than two months.

The number of hits continue to soar. To date, it has crossed the 400,000 mark.

And to think that one of her motivations in participating in the contest was to 'win the prize money for my sister's wedding'.

Rachel does not like harping on her real-life sob story, but it does bring a smile to her face, when she knows how she has inspired teenagers to feel better about themselves.

'From time to time, I read comments my young fans post on my blog.

'Some share with me their troubles, like how they felt like killing themselves after a failed relationship, or how they were suffocated by their parents, who were not giving them enough freedom.

'I feel touched when they tell me that after reading my story, it dawned on them that no matter how bad things are, there will always be a light at the end of the tunnel.

'There will always be hope.'

With hope, Rachel will go on singing. And smiling.

This article was first published in The New Paper.