Singapore — It is known that Stefanie Sun loves surprises. Recently she held a surprise Facebook Live session to celebrate her 20th anniversary in music.
On January 29, the singer revealed a surprise announcement about her latest single, a song named What Remains. Just like her 2002 song Someone, What Remains is a self-produced and composed track. That is just about where the similarities end, Sun shared in an online group interview with Singapore media on Monday (February 1).
She said that when she did Someone, she was very green, full of angst and wanted to sing like her idol Alanis Morissette. It was obviously very different from What Remains. Sun added that the lyrics of What Remains are essentially the embodiment of one’s feelings and thoughts that are “not very forthcoming” or easy to talk about. The 42-year-old said that one has to reach a certain age to write something like that.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit hard for Sun, just like it did with everyone else and plans had to be cancelled. It was frustrating especially since 2020 was initially set to be the year Sun would go on a concert tour around the world as a way to celebrate her 20th year in showbiz.
The singer said that right now, she should be touring every possible city of her 20th-anniversary concert tour. It has been very disruptive but fortunately for her, she feels like her team tried to think out of the box, and engaged with fans in a different format, with an online concert.
Sun went through a period where she just wanted to start composing and writing lyrics which is how What Remains came about. 2020 was still a positive year in the eyes of the singer despite all these setbacks. She shared with 8days.sg on February 2 that she feels very thankful that they found different avenues to create content. They started with doing video logs, which were posted in China and online concerts as well.
One was in Sun’s office, and the other was in a power plant where her parents first met. She is not thankful for this crazy period but she is thankful that they have found ways to move on. The singer remains unfailingly resilient and forward-thinking for someone who has achieved superstar status.
“My team does get a bit worried, and wonders if we’re doing something wrong [whenever the video ratings dip]. But I’ll say to them, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll just move on, and just do what we can. [If] this one didn’t work, it’s okay. There’s so many reasons something doesn’t work, but the important thing is to continue [fighting],” she said.
A plus point that 2020 has brought Sun, who is married to Dutch-Indonesian businessman Nadim van der Ros is the chance to spend more time with her family in Singapore and also work on her hairdressing skills.
Apart from testing her skills on herself or her assistant, she has turned to snipping the locks of her children, particularly her eight-year-old son who is known to the public only as Na Xiao Zi. Sun said that her children are definitely her regulars and that her son has taken to cutting his own hair.
Sun admitted that it is a disaster but she thinks hairdressing is in their blood. Sun’s daughter is turning three in July. However, Na Xiao Zi is not as skilful as his mother when giving haircuts which have resulted in a less-than-perfect ‘do.
“If you [ever] see a boy with two holes in his hair, that’s my son,” laughed Sun.