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Late singer gets own CD at last
Stefanie Sun pays special tribute to vocal teacher-singer Nicole Lai, who lost her battle with skin cancer
by mavis toh
Two weeks ago, an unknown local back-up singer became the fourth most searched-for name in the local Google website.
两个星期前，本地一个默默无闻歌手的名字，在本地谷歌搜索排行榜中名列第四。
But fame came to Nicole Lai （黎珈儀） a little too late.
但是，名气对黎珈仪来说，有点为时已晚。
The 36-year-old, who had sung back-up for the albums of top regional artists such as Aaron Kwok, Sammi Cheng and Jolin Tsai, had died on Sept 6 after a year-long battle with skin cancer.
今年36岁的黎珈仪曾为本区域著名歌手，如郭富城，郑秀文和蔡依林的专辑担任和音。她与皮肤癌战斗了一年后于9月6日去世。
Her friend, Singapore's top singing ex port Stefanie Sun, paid tribute to her by sponsoring the printing of 400 CD copies of a single titled Freedom, which Lai wrote and sang.
她的朋友孙燕姿，为纪念她赞助出版了400张她创作及演唱的单曲CD《自由》。
They were distributed at her recent wake and at the music schools where she taught at. At least 60 more people have asked for a copy. "That's the only thing she had ever want ed, to have an album of her own," Sun, 30, told Life!. "It was the least I could do for her."
“拥有自己的专辑是她的唯一心愿 ”燕姿说。“这是最起码我能为她做的一件事。 ”
A blog, filled with photos and videos of Lai, has been created by her close friend Sharlyn Lim.
Lai, who grew up in Penang and came to Singapore at the age of 18, came very close to hitting the big time. In the late 1990s, she was a student at the Lee Wei Song School of Music where she and Sun were short-listed as potential stars.
Sun recalled: "When Warner Music came to look for newbies to sign, it was a choice between her and me. When they chose me, I knew without a doubt that she was truly happy for me."
燕姿回忆说： “当年华纳音乐来找新人签约时，是要在我和她之间做出选择。当他们选择了我时，我毫无疑问知道，她真的为我感到高兴。 ”
Close friend Lim, 28, said Lai was also once offered a recording contract in Malay sia but she had turned it down because she was then pregnant with her daughter Car men, now 15. She and her Singaporean hus band have since divorced.
Over the years, Lai worked as a vocal in structor at music schools and gave lessons at her three-room Kim Tian Road flat. She was also an artist for events company A Lu cas Events, and had sung at weddings and company functions.
Last September, she saw a specialist about an enlarged mole on her neck. She was diagnosed with skin cancer. The mole was removed by surgery but this March, another mole reappeared in the same spot.
Doctors found that the cancer had spread to her brain, lungs and chest. She had Stage Four malignant melanoma. Her daughter Carmen said: "When Mum told me her cancer had returned, we both broke down and cried. But she still told me everything would be all right."
The radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment left her weak and feeling nau seous. She lost at least 15kg and her stomach was often bloated.
Three weeks ago, Lai was admitted to hospital for abdominal pain. "Even on her last day, she was cheerful and told me that she would fight on," said her mother Irene Ang, 55.
Now, Lai's close friends are looking to compile and launch an album of her songs before Christmas. They plan to donate half the proceeds to charity and the other half to the four chil dren she had adopted under World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organisation.
Carmen said she herself will continue singing. The Henderson Secondary School student had started karaoke sessions with her mother when she was four.
"I know she'll want me to keep perform ing," she said. "You're my champion, Mum. I know you'll he watching from heaven."
2008-9-30 08:55
from The Straits Times, 26 Sept 2008
[ 本帖最后由 zhc 于 2008-10-3 19:45 编辑 ] | 
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