Adelyn Koh (Singapore Musician)

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Adelyn Koh (born 1 October 2001) is a Singaporean singer-songwriter.[1][2] She has performed at numerous live events including the President’s Star Charity show. Alongside ShiGGa Shay and Danial Bawthan (Wheelsmith), she was the main voice for 'Fire In The Rain', a song that was collaboratively executed for the See True Me campaign by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS).[3]

Adelyn Koh
Adelyn Koh.jpg
Born1 October 2001
EducationNitec in Web Applications
Alma materInstitute of Technical Education (ITE) College East

Background

Early life & family

 
Adelyn Koh with her mother in 2018. Photo credit to Alvin Ho/ TNP Photo.

Adelyn Koh was born on 1 October 2001 with Peters’ anomaly, a rare congenital eye disease where one’s corneas are thinned and clouded, resulting in near-blindness.[4][2][5] As of 2020, she has undergone ten surgeries to correct her medical condition, four of which were done before she turned a year old, but none of them has been completely successful.[1][4] Although near-blind, Adelyn can discern colours, lights and shadows.[6] The oldest of three siblings, Adelyn and her sisters live with their mother, Mary Lim, who is self-employed and separated from the children's father.[1][4]

Education

Adelyn attended Lighthouse School, formerly known as Singapore School for the Visually Handicapped, for her primary education.[7][8] She was also a student at Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School from 2013 to 2016, where she took her GCE Normal (‘N’) Level exams and graduated.[9] Adelyn then studied at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College East from 2018 to 2020, graduating with a Nitec (national ITE certificate) in Web Applications.[6]

Music

Early beginnings

 
A young Adelyn Koh pictured in primary school. Photo from source.

Adelyn Koh learned to play the piano at three years old.[3] She then learnt how to sing and play the keyboard in primary school.[1] In secondary school, Adelyn became more invested in singing when she joined the school choir, using music as a way to deal with the bullying that she faced.[3] In an interview with The Pride by the Singapore Kindness Movement, Adelyn shared her about experience joining the choir in secondary school:

“People have the tendency to reject or exclude those with disabilities. They assume we can’t do things without giving us a chance to show what we are capable of. But being in choir allowed me to train my singing and feel like I’m a part of something I love; it made me feel more included in everyday life.”[1]

Album releases

To date, Adelyn has released two albums. She released her first album in 2012 and the second in 2015.

Little Dream (2012)

In 2012, Adelyn released a CD album titled Little Dream. It was composed of four songs that she wrote to raise funds for her corneal transplant surgery. According to a 2012 AsiaOne article, she had sold 1,000 copies at the time of writing, which equated to $20,000 raised for her operation.[4]

I Can See (2015)

Adelyn composed and released her second album titled I Can See in 2015. According to Adelyn’s mother, who authored a post commemorating the album release on her daughter’s blog, the song 'I See It!' described Adelyn’s feelings the moment she could see raindrops one night after a temporarily successful eye operation.[10]

Collaborations

 
Adelyn behind the scenes of 'Fire in the Rain'. Photo credit to Isabelle Lim/ The Pride.

Aside from releasing her albums, Adelyn has also collaborated with the National Council of Social Services (NCSS) to release a music video for their See True Me disability inclusion campaign in 2019.[3] Adelyn was featured as the lead singer for 'Fire In The Rain', which also featured other handicapped performers such as Danial Bawthan (aka Wheelsmith) and a hearing-impaired hip-hop dance group, Redeafination. Directed by Royston Tan with original music composed by Don Richmond, the video has received over 54,000 views on YouTube as of September 2020.[11]

Live performances

President’s Star Charity (2010)

At nine years old, Adelyn was selected to perform at the President’s Star Charity, an annual charity show to raise funds for selected beneficiaries.[12] She performed a duet with fellow Singaporean musician, Sezairi Sezali.[13]

Sunburst (2017)

In October 2017, Adelyn was one of the performers at Sunburst, a fundraising concert organised by The Business Times for the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Singapore (MDAS) and the School of The Arts Student Assistance Fund (SOTA SAF).[14] She played the piano and sang 'Imagine' by John Lennon.[15]

Blue Charity Gala (2019)

In August 2019, Adelyn performed at the Blue Charity Gala, an event supporting the SPD (formerly Society of the Physically Disabled) and the Business Times Budding Artists Fund (BT BAF). The gala was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat.[16]

Event appearances

 
Adelyn Koh with then-president Tony Tan and his wife, Mary at the 2012 PSC. Photo from source.

President’s Star Charity (2011) - Co-host

At ten years old, Adelyn appeared as a co-host alongside veteran television personalities, Soo Kui Jien, Gurmit Singh and news anchor, Glenda Chong.[17] According to a news report by AsiaOne, Adelyn had also performed classical piano pieces on the show.[18]

President’s Star Charity (2012) - Co-host

In 2012, Adelyn co-hosted the President’s Star Charity show once again alongside former Mediacorp actress, Sharon Au and TV host, Soo Kui Jien.[18] The event was attended by then-president Tony Tan.[10]

President’s Star Charity (2013) - Co-host

Adelyn co-hosted the President’s Star Charity show for the third consecutive year in 2013, this time alongside Mediacorp actress, Joanne Peh and TV host, Soo Kui Jien.[19] When asked about her third time co-hosting the annual charity show, Adelyn said the following:

“I’m not nervous at all. I’m just glad to be doing it again, because the whole point of the President’s Star Charity is to raise funds for the needy and I’m more than happy to be part of this.”[12]

National Young Leaders’ Day (2015) - Speaker

In 2015, Adelyn appeared as a speaker at the National Young Leaders’ Day (NYLD), a nationwide conference featuring inspiring youths from various fields.[20] During her segment, Adelyn shared her aspirations and her thought process, having gone through multiple corneal transplants. She said:

“I tell myself that it will all be okay and that however discomfort (sic) you’re feeling now, it’s only a day or something like that. The thought that it’s only lasting a day is a comforting thought. So I would try to tell myself not to give up, it’s just now, now you’re feeling it, but it will get better.”[21]

References/ Citations

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Leong, Cheryl. “Feature Local teen singer Adelyn Koh wants people to look beyond her visual disability and see the true her”. The Pride. June 4, 2019. Accessed on 27 August 2020.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Daley, Farah. “Kind Grab driver who gave free ride to blind student has given her "best birthday present", mum tells Stomp”. Stomp. October 4, 2018. Accessed on 27 August 2020.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Syazana. “Beating the Odds: Visually Impaired Singer Adelyn Koh & Her Mama On ‘Seeing the True Me’”. Sassy Mama. March 27, 2019. Accessed on 27 August, 2020.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Blind girl, 11, produces own CD to raise $80k for treatment”. AsiaOne. 2012. Accessed on 27 August 2020.
  5. Peters anomaly”. National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. n.d. Accessed on 27 August 2020.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Factsheet on ITE Visual Arts Show 2018 – “PERSPECTIVES”. Institute of Technical Education. n.d. Accessed on 27 August 2020.
  7. Yip, Wai Yee. “Charity show host once again”. The Straits Times. October 5, 2013. Accessed on 27 August 2020.
  8. Lighthouse School”. Enabling Guide. n.d. Accessed on 27 August 2020.
  9. Hamzah, Aqil. “Blind teenager a step closer to realising her music dream”. The New Paper. March 2, 2018. Accessed on 27 August 2020.
  10. 10.0 10.1 Adelyn's New Album " I can SEE!"”. Blogspot. May 9, 2015. Accessed on 28 August 2020.  
  11. National Council of Social Service. "Look Beyond My Disability, See The True Me - 'Fire in the Rain' Music Video". YouTube. February 22, 2019. Accessed on 8 September 2020.
  12. 12.0 12.1 Yip, Wai Yee. “Charity show host once again”. The Straits Times. October 5, 2013. Accessed on 27 August 2020.
  13. Mediacorp Channel 5. Facebook. October 15, 2010. Accessed on 27 August 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1432806140033
  14. Sunburst (2017)”. Global Cultural Alliance. n.d. Accessed on 28 August 2020.
  15. Global Cultural Alliance. “Sunburst 2017: Imagine, performed by Adelyn Koh”. YouTube. September 9, 2018. Accessed on 28 August 2020.
  16. Standing together in support of the young and people with disabilities”. Certis Group. August 30, 2019. Accessed on 27 August 2020.
  17. Sim, Fann. “Stellar cast for this year’s President’s Star Charity”. Yahoo! News. July 7, 2011. Accessed on 27 August 2020.
  18. 18.0 18.1 Yong, Charissa. “Star Charity pulls in $6.23m for needy”. AsiaOne. October 18, 2012. Accessed on 27 August 2020.
  19. Singh, Bryan. “President's Star Charity raises over $5 million”. The Straits Times. October 21, 2013. Accessed on 27 August 2020.
  20. National Youth Leaders' Day”. Halogen Foundation. n.d. Accessed on 28 August 2020.
  21. halogensgstories. “NYLDPE 2015 - Adelyn Koh Xin Hui”. YouTube. November 20, 2015. Accessed on 28 August 2020.