Simone Khoo

Soprano

(Not-so) Secret Identity: Lecturer

My love for singing began at a very early age, with my mum singing to me all the nursery rhymes and my dad playing Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr at home and in the car on his 4-cartridge player (pre-cursor of the cassette tape!). I remember enlisting my cousin in an act called The S&W Sisters, and forcing my brother to be the ‘follow-spot’ with a torchlight while we sang songs and danced on the bed!

In secondary school, aside from being in the band and choir and drama society, I formed a 4-girl quartet, singing for numerous school occasions. In Temasek Junior College, I was thrilled to be part of the choir and Champagne (a vocal group created by Ivan Heng), having ‘legitimate’ reasons for skipping classes as we prepared for concerts and other school performances. The group continued even into university days and we even produced concerts for our alma mater.

Many years later, I joined Full Circle, but we sadly disbanded after the death of Suzanna Paul, a wonderful singer and friend. I then joined Vocaluptuous and was very quickly coerced into the thankless job of President (aka ‘pau-ka-liau’ gopher).

Get inside Simone's head!

• What are your musical influences?

Definitely the jazz and pop greats of the past: Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Sammy Davis Jr, Tony Bennett and lots of influence from the hippy 60s and disco 70s, from The Carpenters, Joni Mitchell, The Manhattan Transfer, Earth, Wind and Fire and The Osmonds ( I was nuts over Donny Osmond, and used to avidly watch the Donny and Marie show, taking down details like opening and closing songs, guest stars, jokes, skits etc etc! ) and the Jackson Five! I still love Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall album, when he was still black and had a nose!

• What do you think about the Singapore music scene?

I think it seemed to have a lot more local support in the 60s and 70s. People could really make a living making music then. Nowadays, radio stations play us songs that record labels want to market, so we get force-fed a diet of American pop, some of which isn’t bad, but then again, we also get Paris Hilton! It’s sad but true, that most times, Singaporean musicians need to ‘make it’ abroad before they get recognized back home. There is a lot of talent here, but they lack local support, both financial and artistic.

• What do you think about a cappella music in general and in Singapore?

Modern a cappella music is really so different from traditional choral music, that there are times when you won’t even realize that a piece of music is a cappella! It is still mostly perceived as a collegiate activity, and it’s a pity that it is still quite niche, since there are amazing groups out there that push the boundaries of a cappella. I love groups that specialize in lush harmonies with interesting rhythms, like Take 6 or The Blenders or M-pact. Locally, it is hard to find a cappella groups that survive ‘growing up’, i.e., when members leave school and enter into the working phase of their lives. I would love to be able to sing with Vocaluptuous full-time, but we all need a good steady income! The local a cappella scene has but a small handful of long-term groups, and I’m proud to say that Vocaluptuous is one of the very few!

• How were you introduced to Voc?

I was singing with another group at the time when Vocaluptuous was first formed, and both groups performed at an a cappella concert that year. I was impressed with the energy and direction of the group, led at that time by Sam Kan and Andy Quek. It had a very different lineup then; 2 females and 7 males! The following year, one of the girls left, and Sam and Andy asked me to join them. I happily agreed, little knowing what I was in for, especially in terms of managing the group!

• What is your full-time career?

I’m working at the Singapore Polytechnic in the School of Communication, Arts and Social Sciences. I used to teach in a secondary school, then moved to the poly for 10 years before quitting full-time work in 2000. Then, for about 7 years, I was part-timing at NUS and at SP before returning to full-time work at the end of 2006. I currently teach drama and communication skills for work.

• How do you balance your full-time career with singing with Voc?

Sigh… with some difficulty, I confess! It was different when I was part-timing; I had a lot more time to do all the necessary administrative and management stuff for Vocaluptuous. But now, I hardly have time to do that in addition to learning new songs and choreography! It makes all the difference in the world that Gerald, my love and life-partner sings with Vocaluptuous as well! At least we get to spend all our rehearsal and performance times together, which is wonderful!

• What are your most memorable/embarrassing moments with Vocaluptuous?

Yikes… my most embarrassing moment has to be when we were rehearsing in a little stairwell-like area at the Ritz Carlton! The guys will never let me forget that while we were singing A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, I started to unzip what I thought was my jacket, but was my top instead!!! Needless to say, I was very glad I was wearing a bra at that time, much as I hate wearing bras! The guys had a field day laughing till they cried, and it’s always hard to sing that song with a straight face nowadays!

There have been many memorable moments, both off and on stage, from our overseas performances in Taiwan and Japan, as well as performances for royalty, presidents and politicians, but I’d have to say that in recent memory, our series of concerts at the Esplanade Theatre Studio stands out. All the time to prepare for them, all the anxieties and stress all melted away once we got on stage and started singing, for 8 shows over 5 days! I thought we would just collapse from exhaustion, (especially the last two days, when we did 2 shows on Friday and 3 shows on Saturday!) but each and every time we started singing, the adrenalin would start pumping and we would be completely energized as though we were singing for the first time!

• What other interests do you have besides singing?

I enjoy walking with my dogs, and I find it particularly exciting to explore unknown paths and routes! I love reading and cooking and baking and gardening as well! And I really like DIY projects, especially those involving carpentry! I go nuts in a DIY shop drooling over all the wonderful tools that are displayed! I just wish I had more time to do these things nowadays!

• What other hidden talents do you have?

Hidden talents?? The Peranakan in me can cook although my preference is for Western food (‘cos my mum cooks Peranakan food so well!) and bake sugee cakes, kueh lapis and cashew nut cookies that have been praised by family and friends alike! I do decent house repair, from fixing leaky faucets to cement work and aircon servicing, and I can also give a pretty decent massage but my most unrecognized talent is my ability to wiggle my ears!

• What five words best sum up your character?

I’d like to believe that I am spirited, warm, loving, sensible and joyful!

• Which part of your body do you like best/worst?

Ugh… my worst body part has to be my waist, or lack of! My best used to be my legs; now, I don’t think I have any part that deserves that praise… L

• If you could be of the opposite sex for one day, what would you do?

Hahaha, I’d go into a male toilet and ascertain whether guys check each other’s equipment out when they’re at the urinals! How can guys stand right next to each other without staring at the other’s tool on display?!

•  What qualities do you find attractive in a partner?

Intelligence and common sense rank really high up on my list of must-haves. Aside from the usual loving and caring natures that we all want, I need a man who’s a man’s man, an alpha male who likes women to be women and naturally takes charge. I’m not a firm believer in women’s rights especially those which end up with both sexes competing who can do better. I like a man who appreciates my independence, but loves making me feel all pampered and coddled and spoilt! Gerald has all these qualities and more!

•  What is your worst dating nightmare?

Arrogant and ignorant, with bad breath, bad B.O. and bad manners.

•  What is your favourite food?

I can’t decide!! I like food way too much, hence my growing size, sideways! Chicken rice, a good steak, sashimi… overall, though, I have to confess to a serious Japanese food inclination. There is very little that I dislike where Japanese food is concerned. Hence, our Japan trip, with an amazing Kobe beef and Hokkaido crab dinner (courtesy of Auntie Liz, John’s wonderfully generous mum) will stay in my memory a long, long time!

•  What is your most sinful indulgence?

Shopping for designer clothes… and shopping for my sweet love! He looks so good in (and out of!) clothes that it’s always difficult to resist buying clothes for him!

•  What do you enjoy reading?

Fantasy and science fiction have been my favourite genres for as long as I can remember.  I love Tolkien, Neil Gaiman, Stephen Donaldson, Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury. I enjoy young adult’s fiction from Harry Potter to Artemis Fowl, and was recently introduced to a lovely series by Jacqueline Carey about a most unusual heroine named Phedré, whose name I share (spelt differently, though).

•  If you could do anything in your life without having to worry about money or consequences, what would it be?

I would want to make Vocaluptuous take flight, singing and performing around the world! That would a dream come true, and I would get to spend all my time with Gerald, my one true love!

•  What do you like/ dislike about Singapore?

I dislike ugly Singaporeans who do nothing but complain, and gripe about anything and everything. I hate selfish and thoughtless people who litter and abuse maids and animals, and racists who look at foreigners with suspicion. I can’t stand Singaporean drivers who think that they have a licence to thrill. I hate sky-rocketing prices of everything!

I love our city-state where things run like they should, where road works are constantly being done, but also quickly completed, and our beautiful clean and green landscape is kept in shape by unsung heroes. I love our rojak culture, our amazing food varieties, even our humid climate which is great for skin!

•  If you had one month to live…

I would want to go on all the best roller-coaster rides in the world, and cherish every moment I have left with the man I love.