Kit Chan left music industry in 2007 because she was 'severely burnt out'
The Singapore singer-songwriter also talked about an incident while she was starring in Jacky Cheung’s Snow.Wolf.Lake musical that changed her mindset.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and it was certainly the case for local songbird Kit Chan and her love for music.
In an interview with Her World Singapore, published 1 Aug, the 50-year-old revealed that she stepped away from the music industry in 2007 because she felt “severely burnt out”.
Signs of burnout and a career switch
She said, “Despite appearing confident on stage, I gradually began losing confidence in myself as a person. With age, ignorance is no longer endearing; what might have been forgivable at 21 is no longer amusing at 35. I started to sense my inadequacy as a person in the real world.”
Aside from the fact that the decade preceding the burn out (when she was in her 20s) was “physically and mentally exhausting” and “the most challenging phase of my career”, Chan also felt that she couldn’t relate to her close friends who had “regular jobs”.
“As we grew older, I started to feel a disconnect when we met and they discussed their work. I realised that I wasn't truly relating to their experiences,” said Chan, who also recently released a remake of her National Day classic Home.
At the peak of her career, Chan decided to leave to become a PR professional at international PR company Hill + Knowlton.
However, after a year - and despite an offer to be groomed for the position of a regional director - Chan decided to return to the stage.
She shared, “I think [being in PR] really changed my life. Sometimes, you have to do things that might not become your favourite thing, but you feel like you've conquered [your fear]. I think it also helped take the stress out of my performance.”
'I was very hard on myself'
Chan also told Her World Singapore that she was very hard on herself as a performer, but only changed her mindset after specific incident.
When Chan was starring in Jacky Cheung’s Snow.Wolf.Lake musical in Hong Kong, she didn’t get any notes from the producer, who would offer feedback to everyone else after each performance.
Yet, this caused her to be upset.
After a couple nights of reassuring her about her performance, the producer finally asked what she was expecting and if she wanted “100 marks”.
When Chan said no, he asked if 85 marks was “acceptable”.
“I said yes, and he replied, 'But most nights, you hit above 90.' He continued, 'If you go on like this, you're not going to survive.' That really changed [things for me]. I am a bit of a perfectionist and, over the years, I've become less so. I still [work hard], but I'm like what's the big deal, I still get above 85.”
However, Chan clarified that she’s not a “super high achiever”.
“You may think at this point that I am a super high achiever. I am not. I am only like that for things that matter to me,” she told Her World Singapore.
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