Cass Phang Ling looks ultra-casual when she walks into the coffee shop. Her hair is tied up in a ponytail and she is dressed in a sleeveless top and jeans. There is only the barest hint of make-up on her face but there is a glow that makes her look good.
It is the same confident glow that accompanies major, happy changes in one's life and the past few months have certainly seen Phang embark on a new course in both her personal and professional lives.
'At one point near the end of my contract with EMI last year, I was very unsure of which direction I was going professionally. I was under a lot of pressure, most of which I put on myself. It seems as if I was working very hard but seeing no progress at all. So I really didn't know what to do. Do I stay with my old company or go to a new one? Should I consider just tackling the Taiwan market?' she said.
'It was then that the idea of getting married came up so we did it. But still, even after marriage, I would still have to think about work. I'm only 29 and maybe lived a third of my life. I couldn't imagine not working for the next 30 years!' The singer tied the knot with long-time beau Jan Lamb Hoi-fung at a private ceremony at the end of last year, after eight years of courtship, and took some time off to decide on her career.
Marriage is not an easy step for any Canto-pop singer to take, especially when he or she intends to still fight for a share of the market. Local fans can turn against their idol if they disapprove of the marriage or their choice of partner.
'If I said I hadn't been worried at all, I would be lying. But I realised that since I wasn't an idol singer, my fans were not the type who dreamed of being my boyfriend or anything like that,' she adds.