Singaporean singer Ling Xiao, a familiar name in Singapore’s 1970s music scene, died at the age of 75 on Dec 13, Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao reported.

The entertainer, whose real name is Tan Choon Huat, became partially paralysed in 2022 after suffering a stroke, and eventually faded from the entertainment industry as well as out of the public eye.

Prior to this, he dealt with a range of diseases, including hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes, his younger sister Jeci, who had been staying with him in the last three years, told local media outlet 8world.

Ling initially managed the diabetes with medication before starting on insulin injections later.

He was scheduled to perform at a concert with his peers Marcus Chin and Huang Qingyuan in September 2021. But he withdrew at the last minute after he fell in the bathroom early that month and sustained a head injury. Singaporean singer Wu Gang stepped in as his replacement.

Shin Min Daily News reported that doctors found a blood clot in Ling’s head and he underwent surgery.

He also had to go for dialysis in 2022 and suffered a sudden stroke that same year, resulting in paralysis of the right side of his body.

He initially maintained an optimistic outlook on his condition and actively adopted traditional Chinese medicine treatments and acupuncture to stabilise his health. However, he turned down physiotherapy later, saying he was “too old to start over like a child”.

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Jeci told 8world that over the past three years, Ling had to be hospitalised repeatedly. Prolonged bed rest led to bedsores on his body, while vascular compression in his left calf led to poor blood circulation and edema, leading to the amputation of his toes.

Furthermore, he had to undergo dialysis three times a week. He complained of pain in several parts of his body during a recent hospitalisation and was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.

After assessing his condition, the doctors found that his heart was too weak to withstand treatments like chemotherapy, and he was given six months to live. Ling requested to spend his remaining time at home.

Jeci said her brother was discharged on Nov 25. His family was unable to take him to a dialysis centre due to severe inflammation in his knees and his extreme weakness, making it difficult for him to sit up. He was unable to eat anything in the 10 days or so before his death.

Ling’s lifelong career began in his late teens.

He was 17 when he placed second in a singing competition organised by radio station Rediffusion, or Li Di Hu Sheng in Mandarin, according to the National Heritage Board’s Roots.sg website.

Soon after his debut in 1967, he landed a contract with Happy Records, and his song Ku Qing Hua (Melancholic Flower) became a local favourite and one of his biggest hits.

The evergreen crooner later turned lead actor in the 1998 Channel 8 drama serial Facing The Music – a breakthrough that ended a career slump which saw him singing in small bars in Bencoolen Street and Middle Road, according to previous reports in The Straits Times.

He went on to star in Kampong Ties (2011) and The Quarters (2012), and served as a long-term mentor on Mediacorp’s Golden Age Talentime programme for several years.

He marked his 50-year milestone in the entertainment industry with a concert at Resorts World Theatre in 2017, performing 38 songs from more than 100 Mandarin albums.

A year later, at the same venue, he joined the star-studded cast of the Mandarin musical Taru, which also featured Singaporean singer-actor Huang Jinglun and Malaysian Mandopop star Freya Lim.

Ling’s wake is held at Block 116A Bukit Merah Central, with the funeral to take place on Dec 17. - The Straits Times/Asia News Network