Elva Hsiao and rumoured beau spotted at S'pore hawker centre

SINGAPORE - Taiwanese songbird Elva Hsiao was in town for a performance at Ion shopping mall last week.

After the event, her rumoured boyfriend, Singaporean Elroy Cheo, whisked Hsiao and her crew away to Newton food centre for a meal, reported Asian Pop News. According to the report, he treated them to local delights like chilli crab and cereal prawns.

A fellow patron at the food centre who spotted the pair said Cheo was nice to not just Hsiao but the crew as well.

In media interviews, Hsiao also praised Singaporean men for being gentlemanly, but are thinner compared to Taiwanese men.

"They are all very thin. It could be due to the hot weather, so they perspire more? Or is it because they eat spicy food more?" she mused.

candicec@sph.com.sg

Elva keeps mum about Singapore beau

By Gwendolyn Ng, The Straits Times

Here for a public event, the Taiwanese singer dodges queries about dating a Singapore man.

Taiwanese singer Elva Hsiao refused to talk to the local press about the only thing all reporters wanted to know, when she came here this week for an event: Would she confirm rumours that she is dating a Singaporean man?

Hsiao, 34, is widely thought to be in a relationship with Mr Elroy Cheo, the brother-in-law of American-born Taiwanese singer Van Ness Wu.

Media outlets in Hong Kong and Taiwan have published photos of the pair on what appeared to be an intimate date in Hong Kong; one picture showed them locking lips.

During her Taipei album promotions in July for Shut Up And Kiss Me, she was willing to talk about Mr Cheo.

According to Apple Daily, she said of him: "He is a good man who is worth getting to know."

But while in Singapore to attend Ion Orchard's fifth anniversary celebrations, she stonewalled the local media on the topic, declaring that she would not entertain personal questions.

Reporters tried anyway. At a press conference on Thursday, one asked if her trip here was "extra sweet". Another asked if she was ready to be a daughter- in-law of a Singaporean family.

Hsiao dodged the queries, saying with a laugh: "You guys are all thinking too much."

In fact, she might have been willing to let reporters believe she had arrived in Singapore on the day of the Ion event and only for the event, nothing more - if a social media user had not caught her at Changi Airport earlier in the week.

Dressed in a studded red leather jacket, Hsiao waltzed in fashionably late for the press event on Thursday.

The emcee for the event had earlier apologised and said her flight into Singapore was delayed.

But the reporters in the room knew that Hsiao had arrived here earlier in the week - thanks to a fan who had posted on Instagram a photo of Hsiao and her rumoured Singaporean beau wheeling their luggage at Changi Airport.

Later, Hsiao admitted: "I flew in earlier. My hairstylist and make-up artist flew in only today. Their flight was delayed."

"I had to wait for them to arrive to help me with my hair and make-up."

Although the Singapore media may not be as rabid as some of those in Hong Kong and Taiwan, she was still cautious, she confessed.

She said in a resigned tone: "I feel that everyone with a smartphone is a paparazzo. They snap a photo with their smartphone and upload it online to their social media account, which is public, and it goes viral. It was how I got photographed at the airport."

"I am used to people paying attention to my life, but I'm still trying to get used to living naturally in the public eye. I hope people will give me more personal space."

Further repelling the media's interest in her love life, she claimed to be too busy with her music career and newly launched fashion label Carry Me to think about settling down.

"When I see couples getting married, I feel happy for them. I do feel their happiness." she said.

"But reality sinks in once I look at the text messages on my phone related to work. It hits me that I still have 100 things to do."

She added: "I'm really busy with my work, especially since I have just launched my fashion line. I treat it as my baby. It is only learning how to walk now. Besides my music, I want to raise my 'baby' well and let it grow up well."

The closest she came to addressing personal matters was to describe how she behaves in a relationship.

Hsiao, who dated 23-year-old Taiwanese actor Kai Ko until news of their split emerged earlier this year, said: "I'm someone who is very straightforward, someone who follows my heart.

"I'm someone who will work at a relationship. However, if it doesn't work out despite my efforts, I will let it go."

nggwen@sph.com.sg

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This article was first published on Oct 18, 2014.
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