KEYS TO SUCCESS

Not yet 22 and he has already topped seven international piano competitions. Meet Full-time National Serviceman (NSF) Lance Corporal (LCP) Shaun Choo, a musician who has soldiers marching to his tunes.

At the age of seven, it was apparent that he wasn't an average kid who just had fun tinkling the ivories at his weekly piano lessons.

"In the first year I learnt to play the piano, I started composing tunes. Before I learnt my first scales, I was already improvising on the white keys," said LCP Choo.

After attaining a music diploma at the age of 14, he moved to Salzburg, Austria, where he studied under acclaimed German piano teachers - the late Professor Karl-Heinz Kammerling and the University Mozarteum's Professor Andreas Weber.

Since then, his list of achievements has not stopped growing. Besides performing at prestigious piano festivals around Asia and Europe, he has also bagged prizes in various international piano competitions - he achieved all these while pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Music in Austria.

Instead of riding on his successes overseas, he chose to defer his studies and return to Singapore for National Service (NS) when he turned 20. His talent did not go unnoticed during his NS; the Administrative Support Assistant in Headquarters Signals was recently commissioned to compose a song for the Signals Formation.

Before his Operationally Ready Date (ORD) this March, he chats with PIONEER about his journey as a professional musician and his NS experience:

When did your music education start?

"At six, I picked up guitar from my dad and after learning some chords, I was playing better than him. The following year, my parents switched me to piano because they liked Richard Clayderman (a famous French pianist) and they thought that the piano looked grander than the guitar."

When did you realise that you could make a career out of music?

"I think my parents realised it first. My mum decided that I should be home-schooled after three weeks in Primary One, because she knew that playing the piano would require a lot of concentration and time. My diploma teacher, Ms Lena Ching, showed me a DVD of a performance by the winner of one of the biggest piano competitions in Warsaw (Germany), and after that first lesson, I told my parents that I wanted to be like that winner one day."

Why did you choose to return to Singapore?

"I think local talents lack opportunities to shine in Singapore, that's why many develop their careers overseas, and once they're famous overseas, they have no reason to come back.

But I think differently. If I get to experience success abroad, I want to bring it back to my home country and contribute to the country s Arts scene in a way no one has ever done. This, I think, is more meaningful."

What was BMT (Basic Military Training) like for you, since you never did PE (Physical Education) in school?

"I did the eight-week PTP (Physical Training Phase) on top of BMT, because being home-schooled, I didn't take the NAPFA (National Physical Fitness Award) test. I never did any exercise prior to NS, but I decided that I was going to make BMT benefit me, so I trained very hard and gradually improved. In the six IPPTs (Individual Physical Proficiency Tests) I took, I failed the first two, passed the next two, and got silver for the final two. If I'd stayed a bit longer (at the PTP), maybe I could have gotten gold!"

How was your overall NS experience?

"The disadvantage was not being able to practise my piano for six hours a day. During BMT, I was so tired that I didn't really touch the piano. In my current vocation, I manage about one to two hours of practice daily...I think my NS experience has been very positive because of good superiors who have been very understanding and supportive."

Tell us about how you wrote the Signals Formation song.

"Chief Signal Officer Colonel Foo Khee Loon asked if I could write a song that would strengthen the identity of the Signals Formation. There was a Signals song written a long time ago, but nobody remembered it, so I guess it wasn't too catchy. I was more than happy to contribute so I was very quick to say yes, and I composed the song within a week.

The challenge was the lyrics, because I didn't go through the Signals course but had to know what Signallers believe in and what makes them different from other Formations. I studied other formations' songs and looked at motivational posters in Signals, then let my imagination flow."

What's being done with the song now?

"Many Signallers have been taught the song, and they're singing it during their morning runs and marches to the cookhouse. I also directed an MTV for this song, which will be launched later this year. I feel honoured to hear people singing the song, and I'm proud that I did something for the formation."