Health-conscious Jeff Chang still eats local fans' food gifts
Taiwan's Prince of Ballads Jeff Chang's Singapore concert will be a 'perfect date night' for couple
Love songs have been a staple of Mandopop singer Jeff Chang's 30-year career, and he remains Taiwan's Prince of Ballads.
One fan who has been moved by his repertoire is Ms Rachel Tan, and she was among the 100 who won passes to his press conference at Gain City Megastore@Sungei Kadut last Saturday.
Chang, 51, will return for a concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on May 11, his first show here in almost four years.
It is part of his Continuum World Tour which has already hit cities such as Beijing, Macau, Shenzhen and Chengdu. Singapore will be the tour's first stop outside of China.
Tickets are priced from $118 to $258.
Ms Tan, a 43-year-old administrative manager and mother of two, said the upcoming gig means a lot to her personally.
She told The New Paper: "Going to his concert really excites me. It makes me feel like I'm 20 again.
"His songs remind me of when I'd just started dating (my husband), and the roller coaster of emotions that came with it."
According to Ms Tan, her husband is also a fan, which will make it the perfect date night for the couple, who never had the opportunity or financial means to catch their idol perform live before.
She sees it as a chance to get away and put the spark back into their marriage.
She said: "Now that we can afford it, we decided to splurge on prime front row seats.
"It'll be like the good old days - just the two of us."
Ms Tan won the exclusive by-invite-only passes by spending $388 at Gain City Megastore@Sungei Kadut, which entitled her to a lucky draw as part of the local consumer electronics and IT retailer's 38th Anniversary Celebration.
There will a series of similar press conferences at the venue, including South Korean singer Chungha's on April 21 and another by K-pop boy band The Boyz on June 15.
As Ms Tan lives near Gain City Megastore and "needed to replace some electronics", she felt it was a great way to kill two birds with one stone.
Chang joked at the press conference that his upcoming concert in Taipei in April "will be like a rehearsal" for his Singapore gig, drawing laughs from the crowd.
He said: "So by the time I come here to perform, it will be one of the better performances."
Chang and his team are always making changes to his shows based on audience response, so no two performances are the same.
And despite his health-conscious nature, he still appreciates all the local food his fans gift him.
He said: "When a fan gave me bak kwa - which I learned was from a stall in Chinatown with the very long queue - I just forced myself to finish it due to gratitude."
Chang has also come to terms with his eternal bachelor status.
"At this stage in my life, I now know there is nothing wrong with being alone - I'm comfortable with it. Only by loving yourself and your own company can you truly love others," he mused.
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