SINGAPORE: It has been 20 years since Taiwan crooner Jeff Chang won a singing contest and released his debut album in 1989.
It has been 20 years of writing and recording albums as well as performing for his legion of fans.
And as I found out in our recent conversation, for Chang, it has also been 20 years of fulfillment without an ounce of regret.
"This is a job I love. When you do what you love to do, it doesn't feel like work. You won't feel any regrets. Instead, you will pour yourself into it, even to the point of forgetting yourself," he said.
To commemorate his 20th year in showbiz and celebrate the creative freedom he gained after setting up of his own production company, Chang has embarked on his Happiness Choice World Tour and will perform at The Max Pavillion @ Singapore Expo on August 14.
According to Chang, the concert will be slightly different from what his fans are used to.
Unlike his previous concerts, he will not be focusing on special stage designs and will instead pay special attention to the list of songs he will perform, which will include classics such as "Love like the tide waters" and "Forgiving".
"The main focus will be on my most popular songs through the past 20 years, the key songs from my various albums and some songs requested by my fans.
"These are songs that helped people know me over these past 20 years. So I have not done any rearrangement of the music and wish to share these songs in their original form as much as possible," explained Chang, who added that his goal is to bring his fans back to the time when they first heard those songs.
"Music is a little like a time capsule. It can crystallise a time period such that when you hear a certain song, it really brings you back to that time period."
Mature Love
But does Chang, who is known as the "Prince of Love Ballads" for the string of hit ballads he had done, ever get tired of writing them?
"No. I don't really feel that I am trapped writing an endless series of love songs," he said, laughing heartily over the phone.
"Looking at it objectively, whether it is dance, rock or R&B or hip hop, most songs are still talking about relationships anyway, so it's really not any limitation."
However, the crooner believed that his music should evolve and will go in a new musical direction with his as yet unnamed new album that is scheduled for a September release.
"I hope the album expresses the relationships between people who are a little more mature and reflect their emotional states, as I have also reached a certain age," said the 43-year-old with a chuckle. "There is no need to hide it (his age)."
"I find that nowadays, music is geared towards the youth, talking about the love life of the younger people. People at my age, what kind of songs should we listen to? I hope to release songs that will reflect our lifestyles and views on relationships."
After all his talk about love, I couldn't resist the urge to pry into his personal life. Has the "Prince of Ballads" managed to snag someone or is he all talk (or song as the case may be)?
He laughed, as though he was anticipating this question, and then the phone fell silent for a few moments before coming to life again with his very short reply.
"Still like that," said Chang.
When I probed further, he finally relented.
"My love life has not been a vacuum. I am currently still single, but I had a number of relationships though they are in the past now," he said reluctantly.
When I commented that his love life must have been pretty eventful these recent years, he quickly corrected himself.
"There weren't that many (relationships)!" said Chang before graciously ending the interview.
张信哲（阿哲）昨晚在Max Pavilion举行“幸福觉哲张信哲20巡回演唱会”全场爆满。阿哲和6500粉丝一同回味他20年的成长之路。除了回顾从1989年到现在的专辑和造型，以及他参与演出的电影和话剧，演唱会导演郭子还挖出了阿哲当年综艺节目打歌的画面。 
