
Chinese singer Diamond Zhang Bichen to stage first Singapore concert in August
Titled Epic Of Love, Zhang's concert will also have her performing alongside the First-Class Symphony Orchestra, allowing attendees to experience epic arrangements of her works.
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Tickets for Zhang Bichen's concert will go on sale on Saturday (Jun 7) at 10am on Biz Trends Media's official website and Book My Show.
Ticket prices will cost between S$98 and S$298.
Before her career as a Mandopop star, Zhang Bichen was a member of the now-disbanded girl group Sunny Days.
In 2014, Zhang left the group to focus on her solo career. She then took part in the third season of the Chinese reality talent show The Voice Of China, which she eventually won.
Since then, she has been a familiar voice in numerous popular Chinese dramas, with her songs serving as the shows' soundtrack. Her songs have been featured on the likes of the megahit drama The Long Ballad, One And Only and The Legend Of Shen Li.
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CNA
38 minutes ago
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Commentary: Hollywood has lost the plot on telling stories
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CNA
38 minutes ago
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A homesick craving inspired her to launch a Singaporean supper club and food brand in London
It was a comforting bowl of bak chor mee (minced meat noodle) that changed it all. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Megan Tan was living in London and working as a finance lawyer. With the city in lockdown, her homesick roommate was craving local Singaporean food. 'It was her birthday and we couldn't go anywhere. I wanted to do something thoughtful for her, so I asked her what her favourite dish was. It was bak chor mee, so I Googled a recipe and made it for the first time,' Tan, 30, recalled. That simple act of cooking for a friend was enough to spark a realisation in Tan for two reasons. 'First, it was the feeling of making something with my own two hands. And second, it was making something that I love so much, and that she loved so much too, and the joy that it brought to the both of us.' 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She often invited friends to gather in her room for dinner, who brought over their own bowls and cutlery. After completing her legal training back in Singapore, Tan made the jump to move to London full-time. 'Within the legal industry, London is one of the big hot spots for top-notch firms and teams. It is also a very international, cosmopolitan city,' she said of the move. A few years into her legal career, Tan quickly realised that her true passion laid elsewhere. 'What sparked the greatest joy for me was being in the consumer retail space, and seeing my customers really enjoying my food and being grateful for the comfort that a simple bowl of noodles brought them,' said Tan. Homi Kitchen was a way for her to indulge in her love for cooking while balancing a demanding day job. 'Why I started the supper club was to also test my theory that there's a growing interest in Singaporean food in the UK. It was a way to meet people who weren't necessarily from Singapore or Malaysia to find out how they know about the cuisine and why they were curious enough to try it,' Tan explained. For her very first supper club, Tan whipped up a Hainanese chicken rice feast. Later on, the menus featured other Singaporean hawker favourites such as carrot cake, wonton mee and even a chilli crab and black pepper crab session. Seats are usually priced around £25 (S$42). At the table, 'there was always a mix of nationalities, which is reflective of life in London,' said Tan. Despite the success of the supper club, Tan knew that if she were to leave her job, it would not be to continue hosting private dinners. Instead, she had bigger ambitions. 'Here in London, we already have a growing number of Singaporean and Malaysian restaurants. We have Singapulah, which still has long queues months after opening, and we've got Old Chang Kee as well, so I don't think London necessarily needs another restaurant,' said Tan. 'I think what the UK is lacking is authentic Singaporean flavours on grocery shelves.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Homi Kitchen (@ From her very first supper club session, where she served Hainanese chicken rice, Tan was already toying with the idea of selling the accompanying chilli sauce she had made from scratch. Over time, she used each supper club as a testing ground, gathering feedback from her diners. 'I wanted to get a good sense of what would be a great product that people actually want,' she said. 'By the time I left my job, I had a very clear idea of what the product would be and the kind of people who would be interested in the brand.' COOKING UP A BRAND With the Giga Chilli Sauce, Tan wants to bridge the gap between home-cooked meals and dining out at a restaurant. 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'As I started out as a homerun supper club, I wanted people to feel at home with the brand. It's also a reminder to myself that my focus is also on getting my products into other people's homes.' The brand wants to share the 'crazy rich flavours of Singapore" beyond its shores, as its tagline encapsulates. And for Tan, the chilli sauce is just the beginning. 'Right now, it's just chilli sauce, but long-term, the other products I have in mind are stuff like ready made char kway teow that you can pop into the microwave,' Tan elaborated. 'Of course, it will never be as good as going to your favourite store in Singapore, but my goal is to get as close as humanly and to fill that gap for someone who misses local food, or someone who is curious about the cuisine.' Tan is already working on Homi Kitchen's next condiment, the Hei Hei Black Pepper Sauce, slated to launch soon. 'At my black pepper and chilli crab supper club, some of the guests loved the black pepper sauce so much that they asked if I was going to start selling it,' shared Tan. 'I started looking into it and making the sauce for people to try at my events, putting them on things like tater tots just to get people to see it as something different and seeing how it lands. People really loved the flavour.' FINDING PURPOSE Giving up a prestigious career in law to pursue an uncharted path is a bold move. 'Growing up in Asia, and maybe especially in my generation, you are brought up to study hard to secure a good, stable job for the rest of your life,' said Tan, who attended Raffles Girls School and later Raffles Institution in Singapore. 'Reflecting on my younger years, part of why I chased a law career was because my friends were doing so,' Tan reflected. 'But as objectively desirable I knew a law career is for many people, eventually I had to accept that I would never be 100 per cent happy.' Stepping into entrepreneurship is 'unfamiliar territory' for her family, who do not come from a business background. While her parents were initially worried she was making a rash decision, they supported her wholeheartedly. Tan makes regular trips back to Singapore to spend time with her family. Her go-to dish when she's home? A comforting bowl of bak chor mee. Back in London, Tan continues to host supper club sessions while developing new products for Homi Kitchen. In June, she hosted two sold-out events in collaboration with Hong Kong milk tea brand Chadong. On the menu were dishes such as Hei Hei Pepper Pork Belly, Hainanese Chicken Rice and Popiah, while Chadong contributed milk bread prawn toast, lychee and lime granita and Hong Kong French toast ice cream bars. Despite the uncertainties that lie with entrepreneurship, Tan has found a sense of purpose in building something of her own. 'Whatever the outcome, I can say that I already find this journey meaningful,' she reflected. 'This is something I intrinsically want to do. No one needs to tell me that I'm doing a good job, or that it's the right thing to do. It still feels right for me."


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