Big crowds, big dreams: Meet Jeff Ng, the ‘Cathay busker’ who became a TikTok phenomenon

Two weekends ago, a busker walked out to the steps outside of The Cathay and plugged in for one of his regular performances. He was expecting the usual handful of people who knew him from his pre-pandemic Chinatown gigs and curious random passersby.

Ng’s musical career had been building up to this. Having grown up in a Chinese-speaking family, he recalled spending most of his time listening to Mandopop – Ng is an avid fan of Singaporean artiste JJ Lin and Taiwanese singer-songwriter Jay Chou.At 17, Ng knew he wanted to be a musician, and started to learn how to play musical instruments. In an interview with

He also performed at various outdoor and indoor events, including hotel weddings, and directed shows at the cafe where it all began for him. At some point, he also released a self-funded EP of original songs.Thank you notes, flowers, smiles: What drives Singapore's young buskers to play their hearts out

Ng took his music online and began freelancing as a music instructor. “ forced me to grow out of my comfort zone,” he shared. “I started livestreaming on various apps and platforms. This allowed me to reach out to international viewers and I even managed to get international students to attend my lessons via web classes.”And when the busking rules started to slowly relax, he jumped right back in. “The first thing I did was get a busking license,” Ng said.

“We are quite into Mandarin Chinese songs so the songs he sings are suitable and very relatable to us.”Fans gathering to watch Jeff Ng's performance at Marina Bay Sands' Mist Walk on Jun 22.

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