Kaira Gong (, born 25 July 1981) is a

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

an singer. She sang the theme song for Singapore's National Day Parade in 2006, titled "

My Island Home "My Island Home" is a rock song written by Neil Murray and George Burarrwanga. It was originally performed by the Warumpi Band. The song references lead singer's ( George Burarrwanga) home up at Elcho Island off the coast of Arnhem Land in th ...

". She was previously signed with

HIM International Music HIM International Music () is a Taiwanese independent record label and artist management company established in 1999. It was previously known as Grand Music International Inc. (宇宙國際音樂股份有限公司). It is an International Federat ...

, and is best known as the protégé of Taiwanese musician

David Tao David Tao (), born Tao Xuzhong () (born 11 July 1969), is a Taiwanese Golden Melody Award-winning singer-songwriter. He is well known for creating a crossover genre of R&B and hard rock tunes which has now become his signature style and for havin ...

, as well as the label-mate of pop group

S.H.E S.H.E is a Taiwanese girl group whose members are Selina Jen, Hebe Tien, and Ella Chen. They formed in 2001 and are managed by HIM International Music but decided not to renew their contract in 2019 due to having their own management company. Si ...

. On 25 December 2007, HIM International terminated its contract with Gong's management company.

Life and career

Gong was born and grew up in Singapore. She is the number two and the only female child in the family. Her father is an engineer while her mother is a housewife. She was highly active and rebellious during her childhood days and was involved in a fight with one of her secondary 4 classmates. She has loved to sing since her childhood due to the influence of her elder brother but she never thought of becoming a singer. She was in the school choir from standard one until standard six. She also learned piano for six years. She later pursued her studies in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

and planned to become a primary school teacher. Gong studied at

Pei Chun Public School Toa Payoh (, ta, தோ பாயோ) is a planning area and matured residential town located in the northern part of the Central Region of Singapore. Toa Payoh planning area borders Bishan and Serangoon to the north, the Central Water Catc ...

Nanyang Girls' High School Nanyang Girls' High School (NYGH) is an independent girls' secondary school in Bukit Timah, Singapore. Founded in 1917, it is one of the oldest schools in the country. NYGH offers a six-year Integrated Programme, which allows students to skip the ...

Raffles Junior College The Raffles Junior College (RJC) was a junior college in Singapore offering pre-university education. The college was founded in 1982, following a separation from the pre-university section of Raffles Institution (RI). Raffles Junior College ...

, and the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

. In 2000, Gong's senior who wanted to participate in a songwriting competition at National University of Singapore approached her and asked if Gong could sing on a music piece for him because he could not reach high notes in the song piece. Gong agreed to help and she won the "Best Performance Award" in that competition. She was then invited by Goh Kheng Long (吳慶隆) to sign a recording contract for her debut album production in Taiwan. Gong had never travelled outside Singapore before and she admitted that she was shy in nature. However, after some thoughts and encouragement from her family and friends, she accepted the offer two years after she was invited by Goh and before her graduation in 2003. Since then, the senior whom Gong only wanted to be identified as "Carl" has lost contact with her. Gong prepared for five months for the production of her debut album ''Kaira'' (好,詩嘉). She was involved in the production of seven songs in her album, most of which are based on the theme of love. Goh became the producer of her album.

was also signed to co-write the song "Far Apart but together" (遠遠在一起).

Ella Chen Ella Chen Chia-hwa (; born 18 June 1981) is a Taiwanese singer, actress, and television host. She is a member of the Taiwanese girl group S.H.E. Career On 8 August 2000, HIM International Music held a 'Universal 2000 Talent and Beauty Girl Co ...

of the S.H.E group also made a guest appearance of the music video of her first single, "To Have It Once Again" (再一次擁有). She cared for Gong's well-being and also taught Gong some tips and tricks of acting. Gong's album has been listed on Taiwan's G-Music Chart at No 16. The song "To Have It Once Again" remained in the UFM 100.3's top 20 chart for 2 months. The title of her debut album () is a play on the Chinese name for

Scarlett O'Hara Katie Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler is a fictional character and the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel ''Gone with the Wind'' and in the 1939 film of the same name, where she is portrayed by Vivien Leigh. She also is the m ...

(), the protagonist of

Margaret Mitchell Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (November 8, 1900 – August 16, 1949) was an American novelist and journalist. Mitchell wrote only one novel, published during her lifetime, the American Civil War-era novel '' Gone with the Wind'', for which she wo ...

's 1936 novel ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Win ...

'' and 1939 film of the same title. In January 2006, Gong was reported to have cried on a Taiwanese TV show Love 9.30 (愛上九點半) hosted by

Jacky Wu use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinat ...

, after the latter asked her some tough questions. However Gong was quick to emphasise that she was just homesick at that time. Gong admitted that she was still nervous in front of the camera and she will keep quiet when she cannot speak fast enough like her Taiwan counterparts. During her performance in 2009 Singapore Entertainment Awards, Gong indicated that she was busy working on her second album. Goh was also expected to participate in the production but the expected release date has not been determined.

Other works

Gong became a spokesperson for

Ragnarok Online ''Ragnarok Online'' ( ko, 라그나로크 온라인, marketed as ''Ragnarök'', and alternatively subtitled ''The Final Destiny of the Gods'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) created by Gravity based on the manhwa '' ...

in December 2005, and also filmed a promotional video for the game. During the 2011 Singapore Total Defence campaign, Gong was one of the 39 artists who took part in the production of "Home" music video.

Discography

Albums

* ''Kaira'' 好,詩嘉 (November 2005) * ''Kaira'', repackaged with

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...

tracks and MTV DVD (July 2006)

Soundtrack contributions

* ''The Ties That Bind'' 《家财万贯》 ("Running" 奔跑, "Missed" 思念), 2004 * ''Reaching for the Stars'' 《真命天女》 ("To Have It Once Again" 再一次擁有 ), December 2005 * ''Tokyo Juliet'' 《東方茱麗葉》 ("Cannot Let Go" 放不下), July 2006 * ''The Hospital'' 《白色巨塔》 ("When You Leave for a Little While" 妳要離開一些時候), August 2006 * ''

Her Many Faces Her Many Faces ( simplified Chinese: 有你终生美丽) is a Singaporean and Malaysian co-production Chinese drama which was being telecast on Malaysia's free-to-air channel, ntv7. It stars Wayne Chua, Cynthia Koh, Phyllis Sim, Lavin Seow, ...

'' 《有你终生美丽》 ("Raining Tears" 哭雨), July 2008

References

External links

*
Kaira's personal blog

Kaira's fan page

Kaira's unofficial fan page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gong, Kaira 1981 births Living people Mandopop singer-songwriters National University of Singapore alumni Raffles Junior College alumni 21st-century Singaporean women singers Singaporean Mandopop singers Singaporean people of Chinese descent Singaporean singer-songwriters