.Friday, July 28, 2006 ' 7/28/2006 08:54:00 PM Y
Fortune cookie prophecy realised:
Apple releases album!
July 28, 2006
More than a year ago,
Apple Hong broke open a fortune cookie at a Chinese restaurant and the note within prophesizes: ‘Proceed to sing happily!’ Now, the actress has released a chart-topping EP in Malaysia and her debut record go on sale in Singapore today July 28!
Kwok Kar Peng
Obviously, the fortune cookie served at Chinese restaurants (which first originated in the United States) isn’t as kitschy or phoney as I thought. Our story began more than a year ago at the Portrait of Home press conference held at a Chinese restaurant off Beach Road. In attendance was
Apple Hong, actress and aspiring singer.
She broke open a fortune cookie and the thin strip of paper within read: ‘Kai xin de chang ba!’ (Proceed to sing happily!). I commented to
Apple offhandedly that perhaps her chance to record an album is here.
Unknown to the public, this first runner-up of Star Search 1999 was already holding hush-hushed talks then with a friend in the recording industry in Malaysia. “Getting the fortune cookie message was almost like Heaven is giving me approval too!” she cooed.
Three weeks ago on July 7,
Apple released her debut EP titled Ping Guo Lian Se (roughly translated as Apple’s Expression) in Malaysia. The EP hits local stores today and local Mandarin radio station Y.E.S 93.3FM has been playing her first track Lian Se since this week. Sales in her home country broke the 3,000 mark and demand has already exceeded supply!
Apple, already ecstatic that she has realized her dream of becoming a singer, is now absolutely thrilled to bits that her EP is selling like hot cakes in Malaysia, especially since music piracy in our neighbour country is as flourishing as Breadtalk’s $1 sales. “Piracy is so bad there that sales of 3,000 copies is already considered quite good,” she explained to us.
Not just Heaven-blessed, the actress/singer also received abundant well-wishes from her father and many friends and reportedly wept four times during the record promo conference in Malaysia!
As she recalled the day’s events, her eyes again welled up with tears. She said, “I was so happy that day; it felt almost like I was getting married! The make-up artiste warned me not to cry lest my make-up would be smeared, but the record company had planned the event well. One by one, they invited onto the stage friends who had helped me along the way. Their speeches were so touching and sincere that I broke down. Moreover, my father is a very nice man and he never lies, but because he and the record company wanted to give me a surprise, my father told me that he couldn’t come to the press conference. When he suddenly appeared, I wept even harder! He said it was so tough for him to lie to his daughter!”
Preparation for the record took more than a year; from gathering songs to recording them in Kuala Lumpur amidst her tight filming schedule here for her new drama Through It All (Hai De Er Zi), which airs August 15 at 7pm on Channel 8. When asked why she chose to release the six-track EP (short for Extended Play) in Malaysia first rather than in Singapore where the extent of her popularity is significantly larger, she replied, “Although I’m Malaysian, I’m not a public figure there so they are more likely to view me as a singer first and foremost rather than an actress. It’s because of the optimistic sales in Malaysia that I have the guts to release the EP in Singapore!”
Naturally,
Apple was worried that her ‘nobody’ status in Malaysia would hurt record sales but fortunately, the Malaysian record company didn’t skive on promoting the record, and
Apple often returned to the peninsula in the past month for radio, TV and press interviews. The company also pulled out all the stops when filming the music video for Lian Se, a song about the life of an actress. The making of the video cost a five-figure sum and involved Malaysia’s new talent David Lee who embellished the video with many special effects and graphics.
Even with seven years of acting under her belt, the requirements of the music video still tested
Apple’s acting chops, having had to portray expressions of laughter, tears, joy and hesitance. A scene where
Apple had to spin around continuously nearly gave her a black-out but still she persisted until the director was satisfied.
All the songs in Ping Guo Lian Se are tailored specially for
Apple and the EP is now available in Singapore. The tracks include Lian Se; Na Feng Qing Shu; Na Nian Na Tian; Tian Shang Xing, Di Shang Hua; You Chang Jia Qi; and Beautiful Birthday.
Also catch
Apple in the Channel 8 drama Through It All every Mon-Fri from Aug 15 at 7pm. The drama also stars Li Nanxing, Christopher Lee, Darren Lim, Jesseca Liu, Jeanette Aw and Liu Qianyi.
Source: www.channel8.com.sg
