Singapore's most prominent singing sensation and NTU alumna Stefanie Sun shares how she became one of Asia's brightest stars.
新加坡最卓越的天后歌手，南洋理工大学杰出校友---孙燕姿将与大家分享她跻身亚洲天后行列的心路历程。
SUNSHINE ON A STARRY NIGHT 星夜里的一缕阳光
"Eh,it's you...from Hall Six."Stefanie Sun Yan Zi says with a smile.
She remembers,I think to myself.
Not bad.Singapore's most prolific singing icon actally remembers me.
In school,many of us at Hall Six uesd to wonder why Stefanie would bother to attend singing lessons so diligently almost every day,for hours on end,despite having to balance hall activities and studies.It seemed to us then an "over investment" in a hobby.
But one fine day,at our Hall Six Chinese New Year dinner ,she wowed us with her rendition of Mariah Carey's "Hero".That was the first time we heard the fruit of her investment.
Six years and nine chart-topping album later,with eight million units sold to date.Stefanie Sun sits before me getting her makeup done,preparing to film a video acceptance speech as one of NTU's Nanyang Outstanding Young Alumni Award winners for 2005.
"呃,你......当时也住在第六宿舍的吧." 燕姿微笑着说道.她还记得?我心里想.不错,新加坡最卓越的天后歌手竟然还会记得我.当时学校里,好多住在第六宿舍的同学都为燕姿感到纳闷不解,每天那么勤奋地上声乐课,一上就是几个小时,还要平衡课业和课外活动.那时对我们来说,燕姿是"过分投入"了.但是一次过年的时候,我们的团年宴上,燕姿唱了一首Mariah Carey的英雄,着实把我们惊异一番,那是我们第一次听到她的付出.如今,六年里出过九张畅销专辑,迄今八百万的销售量的燕姿,坐在我面前正在化妆,准备为获得杰出校友奖而拍摄一个获奖感言.
Hard work and conflicts 心路历程
Small in stature but big in vocal strength,Stefanie attributes part of success to hard work.
"I've never felt that I worked so hard in my entire life...I felt like I was doing my master's"
The 2000 Nanyang Business School graduate also realised that much of her success was due to teamwork.
"When I Started working,I began to recognise the hard work put in by every single person involved in an album's production,and I learnt to appreciate that."
However,the bright lights and glamour brought some personal conflicts.
"There were times when I had to think whether I had to go with my heart or give what people want.But at the end of the day,you can't make everyone happy.You just have to make yourself happy."
She continues,rather matter-of-factly:"A lot of people view me with envy but you have to give up a lot of stuff.You can't have it all-fame and fortune come with sacrifices,such as privacy."
身材虽然娇小,歌声却十分有力.燕姿把成功的原因部分归咎于勤奋努力."我从来没觉得自己工作多么多么勤奋,我只是喜欢按照老师的话去做." 南洋理工大学2000届毕业生(与燕姿同届的)也认为燕姿的成功很大程度上由于她的合作精神."每当开始工作,我就会开始敬佩每个认真参与专辑制作的人,我也会学着去欣赏他们."然而，娱乐圈生活和种种诱惑往往带来的是内心的挣扎."有几次,我甚至想到我是应该听自己的想法还是盲目跟随潮流,最后我想通了,你不可能取悦每个人,只能让自己活得开心."燕姿接着就事论事地说,"很多人会用嫉妒的眼光看我,我也不得不放弃很多.你不可能同时名利双收,牺牲也会接踵而至,就像隐私."
Lucky break 美丽的意外
Stefanie remains low-key about her achieverments,despite being one of the most widely recognised artists in the Asian music industry,with more than 30 international awards and other accolades for her music.
"People sometimes tell me,'Oh,you have so many awards'.But to me,awards are a recognition of your past,and they don't mean that much to me."
"I try to expand what I'm doing and ask myself what's the next step I'm going to take,be it in my social life or my work.You can't just be contented with what you have and not look forward."
Ironically,all this success and recognition wasn't something the 27-year-old had been searching for.
"Singapore's very pragmatic.Nobody really dreams of being a famous singer.I just thought I'd go to NTU,get a degree,come out and start a career but I think I was just very fortunate to get a break then."
She had been training at the Lee Wei Song School of Music when Warner Music approached the school to sign on an artiste.
"The timing,the songs,and the marketing were right and I was just lucky."Stefanie states,explaining her meteoric rise to stardom.
身为亚洲天后,荣获30多项国际音乐大奖以及无数称赞的燕姿,现在仍然对她的成就保持低调."人们总是告诉我:'你有这么多奖!',但对我来说,这些只是大家对你过去的赏识,不会对我意味太多.""我会努力做好我该做的,还要问问自己下一步要怎么走,投身社交生活,还是默默埋首工作.你不能仅仅满足于你已经拥有的而不去憧憬未来."反过来说,一切成功和荣誉并不是燕姿刻意追求寻找的."新加坡是个注重实干的国家,这里没有人会成天想着怎么出名当歌手.当时我到南洋的时候,只想着拿个文凭,进入社会,干出一番事业.后来我觉得十分幸运遇见这个意外.在李伟菘的音乐学校训练的时候,华纳音乐的工作人员来签我当艺人,"通告表,专辑,销售量马上就来了,我真的很幸运."燕姿这样解释道她出道的过程.
NTU the best choice 南洋,最佳选择
Famous or not,Stefanie is glad she chose to pursue academia first at NTU.
"I must have made the right decision.I wanted to specialise in marketing and NTU was the best choice."
She adds:"NTU has a long-standing tradition with very strong foundations and a proven track record."
Wishing on a star that you might one day follow in her footsteps?Heed her advice and make sure your foundations are strong first.
无论出名与否,燕姿都很开心自己能首先选择南洋来求学."我一定要做出正确决定,后来我决定专攻市场营销,南洋真的是最佳选择"燕姿还说道,"南洋靠它的强大教学基础和已被证实的辉煌业绩,成为一个不朽传奇."想跟随燕姿的足迹吗,成为明日之星吗?看看你的基础是不是很结实呢?
