Jeff Ng - Lunar New Year Performance @ One Holland Village - 14/15 Feb 2025

Season 2 of the Gig Chase kicks off with the Cathay busker Jeff Ng (黄长俊)'s Lunar New Year performances at One Holland Village - his first series of performances at the pet-friendly mall (which is near where I live!). Jeff performed there for three days (14-16 February 2025), though I dropped by for the first two days.

The Village Central at One Holland Village (where there are decorations) is a designated busking location - but there is no tip box for this series of performances, as he is invited by the mall themself to perform for audiences there. Let me explain - gigs work differently from busking (in which buskers would book slots for designated busking venues through the NAC busking portal, and while they're performing for free, they have a tip box for audiences to tip). In gigs, the organizers (e.g. malls, communities, attractions) would invite performers to perform for events or festivals. Or bars, clubs or restaurants might invite them as resident singers. In these cases, their performance fees are guaranteed.

I tend not to feature very emo songs on the Gig Chase wherever possible - they might be appropriate in public busking performances, but are too moody for otherwise very festive events. I'm trying not to delve into the very-emo territory for the Gig Chase - so at best, it will be the slow/light emo, iconic emo or bittersweet songs, apart from the usual happy songs.

Okay, back to Jeff Ng (@jeffhellomusic). He is best known for busking on Saturday evenings outside The Cathay, and is also a music instructor in the music studio he runs (JHM Studio). In mid-2022, amid a resumption of busking after a two-year suspension due to the pandemic, Jeff shot to fame after going viral on TikTok for his busking performances outside Cathay, but shortly became embroiled in a couple of controversies which cost him several gigs.

Having become a changed man after all that backlash, Jeff has got back on his feet and returned to the public scene, releasing his new original songs, resuming his Cathay busking sessions, as well as performing in gigs and holding concerts. Last year, he released three singles [including Do You Still Love Me (是不是，你不爱我了), a duet with Malaysian singer Danny Koo], and held his third concert at the Gateway Theatre, the Together 2024 Concert (与你Together演唱会) to a sold-out crowd. (Karyn Wong, as well as Danny Koo, were the guest singers of the concert.)

Also... at the time of the performances, Jeff is about to become a father, with a baby boy expected in March - his new single is dedicated to his newborn son, and released later in the month.

The venue itself, One Holland Village, opened in late-2023 as one of the newest malls shoppers can bring their pets to, with many pet-friendly stores and restaurants as well as facilities (think: outdoor spaces, parking spots, lifts etc.). Managed by Far East Organization, the location is quite convenient, being a short walk away from the Holland Village MRT and next to the plethora of retail and dining outlets that line up along Lorong Liput and Lorong Mambong. It is also a favorite haunt for busking performances, but I will get to that in a later post.

For each evening during the Lunar New Year performances at One Holland Village, Jeff would perform for around 60-90 minutes, with the Saturday performance held later due to a prior gig, where he would take song requests from the audiences through social media (as with the other performances). A highlight before the end of Jeff's performances (no matter whether it is during his busking or gig performances) is the final medley, where he would pick at least 10 songs that have not been performed in full and arrange them into a medley.

The two songs I have picked from the first day (14 Feb) are:

• 专属天使 [originally performed by Tank (呂建中)]
  • Picking this song as the day also happened to be Valentine's Day. ❤️
• 过了几天 [originally performed by Trevor Kuo (郭家玮)]

And the two songs I have picked from the second day (15 Feb) are:

• 永不失联的爱 [originally performed by Eric Chou (周兴哲)]
  • This is the theme song of the Chinese web drama The Elfin's Golden Castle (小妖的金色城堡), of which Chou starred in.
• A medley of three Joker Xue (薛之谦) songs - 其实、天外来物、像风一样
  • Joker Xue held a concert during the same period for two shows on 14 and 15 February 2025, at the Singapore National Stadium.

专属天使 [originally performed by Tank (呂建中)]

过了几天 [originally performed by Trevor Kuo (郭家玮)]

永不失联的爱 [originally performed by Eric Chou (周兴哲)]

Joker Xue medley (其实、天外来物、像风一样)