Ivy, 55, was a stunner on stage at Spottiswoode Park’s Christmas Party. Between her performances, she shared some wisdom from her own experiences: “You must expose yourself in small ways, then you can get ready for other things.” She used the example of her starting out with karaoke with friends before embarking on singing competitions and performances in front of a bigger audience to explain how she managed to get over her nerves.

Her friend actually signs her up for these competitions, Ivy explains modestly. Thus far, she has realised that singing in big spaces is nowhere near as scary as singing in a small room, with the judges right in front of you. She likes having the room to perform, and true to her word, demonstrates some tango steps as she sings. It turns out that not only is Ivy a great singer, she and her husband have recently started attending social dancing classes. She is one talented lady!

A lifelong lover of singing, Ivy started out with popular English songs, as were her preference, but had to include more Mandarin and Hokkien songs in her repertoire to keep up with demand. She is currently preparing for a singing competition in Indonesia in January – the participants from Indonesia, she explains, always come out on top at competitions in Asia, so she hopes to learn from them. All the best, Ivy!