Taipei - Hokkien pop goddess Jody Chiang Hui said she has lost all her life savings because of her elder sister, who is being pursued by creditors.

Taiwan police started investigations after the Taiwanese veteran singer said on her blog on Wednesday that she was harassed by debt collectors who left a note on her car and turned up at her record and production companies demanding that she pays up.

Hinting that she was burdened by her family financially over the years, she said, however, that she would no longer be a doormat.

The day after, she explained in a statement that she had entrusted her sister to manage her life's earnings but she has lost it all.

'I won't hold my family accountable for whatever mistakes but from this year, I am starting out again from zero,' she said.

Chiang's sister failed to return around NT$20 million (S$898,000) which she had borrowed from three friends to gamble with in Macau, said Apple Daily, quoting a creditor.

The creditor said he could not contact Chiang's sister and merely wanted to locate her through the singer.

Conservatively, Chiang has lost as much as NT$100 million in earnings over her 28-year career, said Apple.

She started singing at the age of 10 to help her struggling family, even paying off a debt her father incurred.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on 17 Jan 2009.