Joi Chua (born 3 August 1978) is a Singaporean singer, songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. She is known for the hits "Waiting for a Sunny Day" (等一个晴天), "One Day I Will" (有一天我會), and "Watching the Sunrise With Me" (陪我看日出), a Mandarin cover of "Nada Soso".

Early life

Chua attended Raffles Girls' Primary School and Clementi Town Secondary School. She graduated from Singapore Polytechnic, majoring in optometry. Originally majoring in business administration, she shifted her major to optometry 3 months later into the course. She was influenced by her elder brother to pick up singing from a young age. She joined and led the choir in her secondary school and later joined budding singers in The Ark, a café with live performances, which molded the most important part of Chua's singing career. Her mother died when she was 19. Both her mother and one of her aunts died from breast cancer.

Career

Chua debuted as a commercial singer in 1996 in "Extraordinary Singers Course" organized by Ocean Butterflies Production Company, where she was chosen from over 2,000 candidates at its premiere audition to join the label as a trainee singer. Her first album under the same name, was however only launched in 2000 as she decided to complete her education before embarking on her singing career. Unfortunately, the album did not receive its desired response, and Chua returned to the hospital to work as an optometrist between 2001 and 2003 after her short stint. Chua released her second album Sunrise (日出) with Play Music in 2003. This album helped her pick up the merit award under the cultural achievement category for The Outstanding Young Person Award for 2006. Play Music was later acquired by Warner Music and Chua came under the wings of the global music label till 2010 before switching to her own management. Chua was later commissioned by Mediacorp to sing many Channel 8 NKF Drama Series theme songs and the sub-theme songs like There is Hope for Life (梦在手里), and she also performed at the Singapore National Day Parade in 2005 and 2008. She also led the music Craze Concert in 2005, 2006 and was the anchor performer for Chingay Parade 2012. Chua started her own music label "Joi Music" and produced her latest EP, Perspectives in 2012. In China, Chua sang at the CCTV big annual show Mid-Autumn Festival Gala Evening (中秋晚会) in 2007 2008 and 2014. She starred in Royston Tan's 3688 in 2015. On 29 November 2019, Chua held her first solo concert in Singapore, titled Joi Chua Flow Concert, at the Suntec Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Business venture

Trained as an optometrist, Chua started her own optical practice Eyecare People in Holland Village in 2011, which later moved to Royal Square Medical Centre in Novena in 2019.

Social causes

Chua was appointed the ambassador for the Singapore Speak Mandarin Campaign 2005 which involved her in concerts held in 12 primary and secondary schools to promote the campaign. She performed the Chinese theme song of Uniquely You (非常特别的你), as part of Singapore Tourism Board's campaign to promote Singapore as a choice destination for both locals and foreign travellers. Chua was also appointed an ambassador for World Vision and Mercy Relief.

Personal life

In December 2009, Chua married her boyfriend of 10 years.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Filmography

Awards and nominations

In 2008, Chua was nominated for Best Female Mandarin Singer in Mandopop industry's most prestigious Golden Melody Awards for the album Joi Blessed (庆幸拥有蔡淳佳). She later went on to win Best Asia-Pacific Vocalist in the Original Chinese Music Awards held in China in 2010 with her album Back to Basics (回到最初). Her co-written work "Darkness" (不透光) from this EP, with prolific composer-producer Jim Lim won her, her first "Best Melody Composition" award in Singapore e-Award in 2012.