COVER STORY
Before Television
The Packaging
Born and raised in the country to
a Taiwanese mother and a Cantonese
dad who has his own restaurant called
Mr. Poon, he wanted to be an engineer
when he grew up. “As a child, I would
destroy my toys and then rebuild them
again,” he says. After earning the
degree Business Management from
De La Salle College, he initially helped
out in the family business for six years
– cooking Oriental dishes for their
customers. He was already singing
back then with his band and playing
the guitar. It was when he picked up
his sister from one show that he was
discovered by a talent scout.
Unfortunately, his father was
against the whole music business. “He
had wanted me to be just working for
our family chain,” Poon says. “But I
wanted to try this out and so I pursued
it.”
“I was told I would sing standard
songs, but not like those sang by
older people,” Poon says. “I was also
told that I would sing classic songs,
but I would change it a bit. I would
make this more appealing to children
– energetic in which the chords and
melodies are soft.” So when he was
launched at ASAP back in 2008, it was
an exhilarating experience since not too
many people have gone this same path.
To be admiringly different and unique is
what sets Poon apart from the rest.
Show Bands
Poon started with a show band for
awhile, and then in 2002, U-Turn was
formed which was supposed to be a
contender for MYMP. This acoustic
group lasted for four years when Poon
felt that his artistic freedom was being
restricted. He had wanted to sing
original songs in the group but wasn’t
allowed to. So he bid goodbye to the
group and after the disbandment in
2006, he chanced upon the manager
of Sam Milby and Yeng Constantino,
and wanted to pursue singing again. “I
wanted to start a band again, but my
manager wanted a solo career for me,”
he says. “So I refused.” It was only
during one riveting performance in his
church that he finally realized that he
was fit to sing solo, after all.
The Challenges
In showbiz, criticisms are a way of
life. Some people in the industry and
certain close friends have said that he
wouldn’t make it, which surprisingly,
even Poon had told himself once in a
while. Since he had wanted to be part of
a band in the first place, going solo was
already a challenge in itself. “So I just
went on with the show,” he says. “If you
are to learn how to swim, sometimes
you just have to be pushed. In my case,
I was like that. So that was what they did
to me – I was pushed.”
He was also advised that he would
be getting a lot of flak, especially from
the jazz community, saying that maybe
he was too young to be singing these
kinds of songs. “But I am open to
criticisms,” he says. “You just need to
learn, and learn. And when you make
mistakes, you bounce back.” Once, he
actually missed the lyrics on cam, but
just like any other performer, he didn’t
let this get in the way of his singing.