by: Jewel Philemon/
Inch Chua a Singaporean singer-songwriter, musician, composer and multi-instrumentalist, who gained national recognition after being the first Singapore solo artist to be invited to the prestigious South by Southwest Music Festival; an artiste who gained visibility with the release of her 2010 full length debut album Wallflower, announced on her Facebook note that she has decided to move to another country to pursue her career, because she is hurt, angry and heartbroken that she is judged and assumed by many to have made “some majorly bad decisions in (her) life to wind up a musician”.
Saying, “I don’t need your definition of success to be placed upon me. I don’t need your approval to do what I know I should be doing. I don’t need you to tell me that there is no future in Singapore Music, I don’t need you to tell me that what I’m doing is a lost cause,” the twenty-three year-old adds that “minimal government support” to the music industry is another reasons why she has decided to leave Singapore.
Describing herself as a “100% home-grown Singaporean artist and proud of it”, she says that she has got no other choice but to leave the country, as in Singapore, she has to constantly prove her worth and contributions to the nation.
Saying however that she has not given up on Singapore, she adds that she’s leaving because “now (she’s) more ready than ever to get out of the boat and walk on water”.
In a previous interview to Channel NewsAsia, she had said she applied for various grants from several Government bodies like National Arts Council and Singapore international Foundation, but that they had not replied to her.
Inch Chua has never sold her own music, preferring instead to distribute it free online. She believes in bringing performances back to old school, where the artists put more heart and soul in their gigs.
She encourages people to be a part of her music by coming down to her live performances and enjoy the experiences of it. She earns her living through these live shows.
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