Being a kid is the best. I talked to myself a lot, made up my own language and sang songs using that language.

Walking through a market or hawker center and smelling every culture of food from otak-otak and satay to curry and of course chicken rice, is one of my fondest memories of Singapore.

I learned to be an entrepreneur in Primary Two. I went to Methodist Girls’ School (MGS) and we used to have to wear an MGS pin on the uniform or we’d get into trouble with the monitors. I‘d buy the stickers that looked just like the MGS pin from the tuckshop for 10 cents and would sell them at 20 cents a pop to girls that lost or forgot their pin.

I’m really a Singapore girl, but with an international outlook. I feel that no matter where I go, I’ll always be Singaporean at heart.

The cover of my first album Mississauga was inspired by the mascot of Singapore, the Merlion.

The world wasn’t ready for an Asian female rapper and Hollywood didn’t know what to do with me. At first, they wanted to promote me as some sexy, exotic girl but I didn’t want that so it pushed me to be more independent.

I feel like as a Singaporean, I know what it means to be small yet self-sufficient and that’s the approach I adopt while making music.

People used to think I was one of Snoop Dogg’s music video hoes trying to get her big break. There was a lot of sexism going on and nobody actually thought there was more to me than just a pretty face.

I started tweaking my voice to sound like a man in the songs I’d written just so that the big names would take my songwriting seriously.

I lived my first eight years in Singapore and come from a typical Singaporean family. It was the competitive “must be No. 1” attitude of Singaporeans that drove me and kept me striving for more.

Living in Canada definitely exposed me to a great variety of influences and gave me a wider perspective on things but at the end of the day, I still believe I wouldn’t have been so motivated and as successful if I wasn’t a Singaporean.

When I first started out, I worked with many underground artists and producers from many genres like dubstep and even reggae. It was a wholesome experience and very inspiring.

It can be discouraging at first to work with people better than you and with so much more experience, but it challenged me to up my game and try to match their standards.

Teaching in ghettos and being so close to poverty while in Jamaica really woke me up to the rest of the world and its problems. It made me realize how lucky I was to have been born into a country that values and places emphasis on proper education.

The moral of The Emperor’s New Clothes might be that vanity blinds us, not all that glitters is gold or that an excellent sales pitch will get you everywhere. However you look at it, it’s a good story.

The Lion City girl is coming home.

When I taught classes at Le Cordon Bleu, I remember Chef Wan always volunteered to help. In fact, I was the one who gave his certificate to him.

Nobody is funnier than Chef Wan—I love him. He's a genuinely funny man. Even when he's sleeping, he's funny.

I do television, write books, make personal appearances for charity, open restaurants, consult for restaurants, and conduct lectures and seminars. I’m not just a chef.

There is no such thing as a 100% perfect match.

The perfect taste is in the eye of the beholder. If you like it, then it’s the perfect pairing for you.

I’m a person who has total confidence and belief in himself. I believe I’m not even close to perfect. I never expect too much from myself. I feel no pressure. I’m not like other celebrities. If I go somewhere, nobody knows I’m there.

I’m happy as long as I get to share what I do. It’s not about being rich and famous.

I look at life very positively. If you live life fully and follow your passions, you’re all set.

Life is not about how long you live; it’s about how you live it.

One of the greatest chefs in Singapore to me is Sam Leong. He’s very talented. Daniel Koh is another accomplished chef. I always admire how these culinary professionals try to do the best they can—this is why Singapore is a gourmet mecca.

I always say, “I hope you like it. If you don’t like it, go do it yourself.”

I always look at my audience. If they don’t laugh or smile, something’s wrong with my presentation.

If I had to marry an ingredient, it’d be crab. Chili crab or pepper crab—whatever; you can do anything you want with crab. You can serve it chilled, grilled, in soup, in chowder, in Thai green curry or Indian curry, classic, contemporary, as a salad with avocado, and even in fried rice. Crab is a very, very good ingredient.

I can never be miserable over what people say about me. As much as I tried, I couldn’t care less.

I was once criticized for not being able to speak Mandarin well. How many people in Singapore speak perfect Mandarin, anyway?

Some people complain so much. You’re wasting time complaining! Why waste time when you don’t improve anything? When you appreciate other people, there’s a chance for you to learn from them.

I don’t care about being famous.

If Yan can cook, so can you!

Catch True Passion—Martin Yan every Wed starting Jul 13, 8.30pm on Starhub Channel 435.

To paraphrase Gertrude Stein: Malaysia is my country, but Singapore is my city.

My relationship with photography started at the age of 10 when I got a Kodak Instamatic box camera from my dad as a birthday gift.

My very first photos are of my pets. I was curious about them and wanted to understand more about them. The camera came in handy.

One can put your mind to making art but if you are not spiritually ready, I don’t think the work could be considered art. Making art is a process and almost like a pilgrimage of sorts.

We cannot short circuit the processes of improvement and exploration with material wealth, although perhaps it could make the process more comfortable. But comfort could be a hindrance as well.

I think one would have to master the craft of an art form before embarking on the journey towards art. Art only happens when the craft becomes invisible, unconscious and thus forgotten.

I took a path following my heart and instincts, not knowing where it would lead me. So it is a very pleasant surprise to know that my work is appreciated by my peers and the artistic community in Singapore.

I am not good at drawing.

Some photos grow on the viewer over time and as long as they are made with a purity of intent, for me, they are memorable. A photo I would favor would be one that can stand the test of time through repeated viewings, offering different possibilities each time.

People like Andre Tarkovsky, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Abbas Kiarostami, Ingmar Bergman and Salvador Dali, as well as the authors of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature, are my spiritual mentors. They all contributed in one way or another towards helping us observe the world in a different light and to understand the complexities of being human.

Singapore has the talent and infrastructure to make good art. It just takes more time for the nation as a whole to mature, and artists as a subset of that whole have to have the temerity to voice their thoughts and create work that is relevant and that resonates with their zeitgeist.

Time and the freedom to explore, criticize, make mistakes and create are all our society needs. Art needs time.

We cannot short circuit the processes of improvement and exploration with material wealth, although perhaps it could make the process more comfortable. But comfort could be a hindrance as well.

I have spent more than half of my adult life in Singapore. I had my formative years in Malaysia and started my career in Singapore. So both places are part of my being. I can’t choose one or the other.

Art came much later in my life and was also much more gradual because I think one cannot choose to do art—it has to come naturally to the individual.

I have no regrets following my heart. Like all things in life, we can plan but we can never know the final outcome.

In 10 years, hopefully I will still be doing the things I love doing and have my place in the sun.

The furthest I’ve ever gone for a picture is Rio de Janeiro. But I’ve also pushed myself mentally to the limit.

Everyone was in high spirits on the night of Kylie Minogue’s concert—girls and boys came dressed for a masquerade (think pink feathers, gold sequined dresses and winged headbands), green balloon lightsticks were waving in the dark and each time someone’s eagerly anticipating face was flashed on the double screens, the crowd cheered.

The energy was amazing. And it certainly helped that Minogue took to the stage minutes earlier than we’d expected (the Queen opened the show one hour after the scheduled time in 2008 when she was last here), looking every bit the Greek goddess as she'd intended.

Set against a palatial backdrop of white-washed columns, pillars and cascading stairs, Minogue set the tone for the rest of the show with “Aphrodite,” appearing onstage in a giant golden clamshell while swathed in heavy linen. She was every bit the agile and sprightly pop pixie we’d always remembered, even though it’s been years and then some since we started jiving to her palpable energy in “I Should Be So Lucky,” which she later performed in acoustic format while prancing about in a tank top and skimpy shorts. She also performed “Better Than Today” and “Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)” from her latest album Aphrodite, which the crowd was plainly still unfamiliar with but gamely sang along to anyway. It was when she brought back all the years of disco with “Spinning Around,” a rock version of club favorite “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” and even a cabaret spoof of “Slow” that things really started to heat up at the full-house venue.

While we were extremely impressed by the night’s setlist (Minogue even did a quickie of gay anthem “The Locomotion” and gave us a blast of heart-wrenching “I Believe In You”), what really made our jaw drop was the use of multimedia throughout the concert. The audience was treated to almost 3D projections of magical blue waters (so real it made us unbelievably thirsty), sexy synchronized (female) swimmers and men—massive, perfectly sculpted, toast brown (and sometimes black and shiny) men, all of whom were practically nude; all of whom looked like they’d just stepped out of a makeover in Athens. Gay, straight, bi—who the hell cares. Each time the adoring princess stepped backstage for a quick wardrobe change, everyone secretly thanked her and feasted on the giant screens (which as it happens, was quite often).

And as if the sexual connotations throughout the two and a half hour concert were not enough, Minogue just had to wave us goodbye with “On a Night Like This” and “All the Lovers” (if you’d seen the music video, you’d know exactly what we’re talking about).

Let’s just say we think a lot of people barely slept that night.

If you missed it, see this video of what went down (posted on Kylie Minogue's official Youtube channel). 

What is it like living in parts of the world torn by civil war and poverty? The month-long Wall Between Peoples exhibition may give you some insight.

Surrender your hair for a good cause and check out acts like Inch Chua and Typewriter at the Ignite! Music Festival 2011.

Learn how to take thought-provoking photos from National Geographic's Mathias Klum at his Photography Seminar.

Find out what male beauty pageants are all about in Dick Lee's latest play Beauty Kings.

Experience Bach like never before at Pluck: Musical Arson!, a hilarious gag show by this much hyped about UK comedy trio.

The best of K-pop will be in town for the Korean Music Wave, a mega concert featuring headliners Big Bang and 2NE1.

Plan a romantic night out at this year's Ballet Under The Stars.

Down Under funnies are making their way here for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow.

Still haven't seen Voyage de la Vie? Well now's about time—this theatrical highlight stars our very own Jonathan Leong.

See how British artist David Hockney sizes up the world around him in the David Hockney: Singapore Art Museum Tyler Collection show.