ALL OR NOTHING

STAND AND SALUTE THIS MONTH'S SECOND AUGUSTWOMAN: HAVEN, THE BUDDING CHANTEUSE WITH AN ENCHANTING SWAY.

- INDRAN PARAMASIVAM

NO HOMESTEAD IS EASY on the arts. That said, Singapore gets no prizes for being a palpably brutal environment for artists pursuing music as both a muse-nourishing and life-sustaining proposition. This is home, truly, but it is not without extreme challenges for those who don’t follow the directions of the” Career” section of the national script. Still, as glorious proof that some fires cannot be quelled, Made In Singapore music continues to be produced, thankfully undeterred. In this regard, singer-songwriter Haven, a honey –voiced singer-songwriter, is a cause for celebration in this regard.

Haven began when a young women born Teo Cher Win had an existential moment of self-reckoning when she was just 13 years old. The monumental ‘Who am I?” question revealed itself after she was convinced that she wanted to devote most of her hours to making music. A new moniker was needed to walk a new path after the fork in the road had been passed. “I wanted an artist name because it signified a fresh, new beginning”, she says with a steely glint in her now 20-year-old eyes.