Veteran Taiwanese singer Frankie Kao Ling-feng dies

Taiwanese singer Frankie Kao Ling-feng, who was stricken with leukaemia, died on Monday evening. He was 63 years old.

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Cancer did not stop Gao Ling Feng from performing in S'pore concert

In his heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, Taiwanese singer Frankie Kao Ling-feng was known for his dance hits and energetic performances.

He continued to sing although he was 63 years old and stricken with leukaemia, because performing gave him strength to cope with the pain of his illness.

Kao performed in Singapore last November at Resorts World Convention Centre's Compass Ballroom, along with fellow veteran Taiwanese artists Shen Wen-cheng, Chang Ti and Yeh Chi-tien.

According to a Chinese video report, Kao sang seven songs at the show, which included his classic hits A Fire Torch In Winter and A Girl's Dimples.

While Kao spoke jovially during his interviews with the media, his white hair, frail appearance and weakened immune system were very worrying.

Online video footage of the concert showed him emerging on stage seated in a wheelchair.

Kao later stood up and crooned to the adoring audience in close proximity. Heartened by their enthusiastic response, Kao performed an upbeat number and raised his mic stand while he sang together with his fans.

The 40-minute performance exhausted Kao, but left him in high spirits.

Since his diagnosis in 2012, Kao underwent three rounds of chemotherapy but he said: "I don't believe I can still count on that to treat my illness."

Before his death, Kao lived together with three children and he mused: "In a sense, I'm quite rich. You can't keep thinking each day about what you've lost, you also have to look at what you still have."

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