October 10, 2018, 06:40 PM 
Singaporean singer Stella Huang broke into the Taiwanese pop market and into many teenage boys' hearts when she was 19 years old.
Her showbiz career started in 1999 and she was successful.
Her cherubic features and girl-next-door sensibilities made her one of the purest of pure artistes at that time to emerge from Singapore, who went on to make a mark overseas.
So good was her foray into the singing industry, and in the good company of the likes of Stefanie Sun and Tanya Chua, Stella was even dubbed "Music’s Little Sweetheart" back then at a time when she could still make money from selling cassette tapes of her music.
Short-lived six-year career
Her career was short-lived though.
She took an indefinite break after the release of her third album in 2004.
By the time she turned 25 in 2005, she was done with singing.
She then moved on and established herself as a business woman in the cake industry.
Failed business
However, her foray into bringing the Awfully Chocolate franchise into Taiwan failed and ended in a legal dispute that made headlines back then.
It was reported back then that she signed a franchise agreement with Awfully Chocolate in 2006.
However, the cake firm terminated her licence in July 2007 and sued her company for violating terms in the franchise contract.
As the guarantor of her company, she was ordered by the court to pay more than S$220,000 excluding interest payments. She was even declared a bankrupt after that episode.
Following that, she went on to set up her own bakery chain Black as Chocolate.
And it was after that point that she virtually dropped off the radar for good.
First time talking about Taiwan experience
At 37, and a full-time mother now, Stella has opened up to 8 Days for the first time about what she experienced while in Taiwan as a singer.
She recently moved from Taiwan to Vancouver with her husband, who she says is in the IT and app development business, and their six-year-old son Ashton. They live in the suburbs.
She had been living in Taiwan for the last 15 years. Her husband has both Canadian and Taiwanese citizenship.
Previously, the Singaporean singer grew up in Singapore and studied in Crescent Girls School and then Anglo-Chinese Junior College before becoming an English and Sociology major in the National University of Singapore.
Revealing for the first time what she faced
According to her phone interview with 8 Days, Stella said the turning point in her music career was when she had to face the increasingly intrusive Taiwanese paparazzi media that were more interested in her personal life than her music.
Their queries and coverage of female artistes crossed the line and became more sexualised over time.
And then the final straw came in the form of unwanted advances from industry people that she had to turn down multiple times.
According to Stella, young female artistes sleeping with high-powered industry executives to advance their careers was common 17 years ago.
When she felt pressured to do so, her ultimate response was to remain principled and leave the industry for good as a way of taking a stand and protecting herself.
On hindsight, she said she did not voice out back then due to many factors, such as the power imbalance, taboo factor and inability to cough up for lawyers and provide compelling proof that the advances happened.
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This is a short excerpt of her interview with 8 Days, which you can read in full here:
If things were going so well, why did you quit showbiz?
It was ’cos I was struggling with how showbiz was evolving. I would have loved to stay on. I was 24, going on to 25 and the whole showbiz scene in Taiwan changed. There was paparazzi coming in and doing music and selling albums wasn’t so much about the music anymore. We weren’t getting asked about our music during interviews. It was always questions like, “Oh, your boobs are bigger now. Did you get something done?” or “I hear you are close to someone recently, do you guys have something going on?” It was always about scandals and rumours and whether you did something to your body. Or [that I should] wear something more revealing. So it was all a bit difficult and also 'cos I experienced sexual harassment towards the end.
What happened?
It was quite bad. There were a few cases actually. I guess it’s something a lot of female artistes experience. And only recently did Hollywood come up with the Time’s Up movement. But back then, it wasn’t that I was weak to stand up to it — I felt like I stood up to it in my own sense. I said no when I could say no. And I tried to put off any kind of advances that were made at me. But it’s still very scary for a very young woman to be in this situation and when you have nobody to turn to... I’ve never really talked about this until now.
What were the scary situations did you find yourself in?
Like people trying to pressure you to... (pauses) sleep with them in order for you to... yeah. That wasn’t uncommon at all. I’m saying this ’cos I’m 37 and a mum now and I’m just glad I never said yes. I’m glad I never went down that road. And I’m glad I stuck to my principles. And maybe back then when people said, “Oh, Stella so wasted [for you to stop singing]!” But I never said anything. And it may have cost me my career advancement and my continuity in showbiz but I’m glad how it all turned out. Like now I’m happy I still get to do music and I stayed true to myself. And I can hold on to what I believe in. Yeah, so I think don’t be afraid to say no and don’t ever feel like you are being forced into doing something you don’t want to. Yeah, and never use your body or soul as an exchange for something else ’cos it’s priceless.
So who were those people?
People who are high up there basically. People with power and reputation, people with a lot of credit already. I feel sad that they didn’t protect all these blossoming young ladies. Then again, I feel like we also have to be able to protect ourselves.
Is there a part of you that wishes you had said something or reported what was happening?
Yes, definitely. And I feel like I tried to. I tried to rally some people together and I talked to a few lawyers but then again, it’s always my word against whosever word it was. It was very difficult and at that point in time, there wasn’t enough support and resources available for women. This was like 17 years ago. And you look at what people like Reese Witherspoon are doing in Hollywood now, but yet, it’s only all happening now.
People in showbiz in Asia still don’t seem ready to talk about sexual harassment.
Definitely. I feel like it’s still seen as a taboo and girls are also scared that the tables would be turned on them. That maybe the other party would say, “You threw yourself at me”. And that they have more power and more money, so there’s always things they can do. You definitely think about stuff like, “If it’s just me, it’s fine but what if my family gets hurt?” And you start to scare yourself ’cos there’s no one you can turn to and you’re powerless and you don’t have deep pockets like these people. You also can’t afford the best legal counsel unlike them. It’s tough.
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