WHY STEFANIE SUN?
Singapore singer Stefanie Sun Yanzi has nabbed tier World’s Young Woman Achiever Award barely one and a half years into her career. Why’?
Said Mr Tay: “Stefanie has had a great year. We want to recognise her for that.”
Cited among Stefanie’s achievements are her record sales of more than 1.5 million from her first two albums alone, and the 18 music awards she collected last year.
The previous recipients of the three-year-old award are singer Kit Chan and national table-tennis player Jing Junhong.
Stefanie was not present at the awards ceremony last night. She is in Taiwan preparing for her world concert tour that kicks off on March 23.
Said Warner Music Singapore’s managing director, Kathleen Tan, who accepted the award on her behalf: “Stefanie was especially delighted and surprised by this one, because it’s something meaningful that goes beyond just entertainment.”
Inspiring blind artist is Woman of the Year
By Suzanne Sng
IT IS a misconception that artists need eyes, says Ms Chng Seok Tin, who is blind.
The accomplished printmaker and sculptor last night became the first artist to receive the Woman of the Year Award since Her World magazine introduced the honour in 1991.
Dressed in a black and white outfit, she was helped onto the stage of the Fullerton Hotel ballroom where she received her trophy from Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, Mayor of the Southwest Community Development Council.
She also received a cheque for $6,500 from Mr Wee Leong How, chairman of the Times Periodicals board, for her work, Portrait Of Samsui. It comprises three busts done in copper, cement and marble.
This year’s Young Woman Achiever Award for those under 35, went to homegrown singing sensation Stefanie Sun, 23, who was unable to be at the dinner last night as she was in Taiwan.
Ms Chng, 55, who has only 10 per cent visibility, put her disability aside, saying: ‘To be an artist, you need a soul and a brain. You can cover an artist’s eyes, and he will still be able to produce something beautiful.’
Interviewed at her cluttered Telok Kurau studio before the ceremony, she said: ‘In Singapore, there are a few thousand blind people, and a lot of them have greater achievements than me.’
While her works sell for about $300 a print and as much as $20,000 for a sculpture, she admitted that she was still a struggling artist after more than 20 years.
An accidental fall in London in 1988 led to dizzy spells. Doctors found an abscess in her brain, caused by the fall. They were able to save her life, but not her eyesight.
Senior law lecturer and writer Simon Tay, who chaired the judging panel, said: ‘In a year of adversity, we felt moved to recognise people dealing with adversity and succeeding.’
He added that the focus was on recognising Ms Chng as an artist.
Brushing aside tributes to her courage and strength, the winner said: ‘Disasters can be turned into something good. When you look at something in one way, it may be unbearable. But look at it in another way, and it might not be that bad.’
She also scoffed at attempts to draw life lessons from her experiences.
‘I have no husband, no children, no car, no house. I have nothing. Don’t learn from me how to be poor,’ she said, laughing.
Source:
Yanziology 
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