10 facts you might not know of local songbird Narelle Kheng

Most of us would know Narelle Kheng as a singer-songwriter. But in her past life, Narelle was a national youth team swimmer. She trained at the Singapore Sports School like her brother Benjamin Kheng, who also swam.

In May 2019, The Sam Willows made headlines when the band announced their indefinite hiatus. Since then, Narelle Kheng has pursued a solo music career with various singles and solo EP Part 1 (2019), Part 2 (2019) and Part 3 (2021).

In 2016 and 2017, Narelle Kheng scored her first lead role in a film and television respectively. For the former, she played Min Yuan in the Tamil romcom film Parandhu Sella Vaa while in the latter, she played Cindy in LifeSpam. The lead roles come after a slew of supporting and cameo roles in productions such as Against the Tide (2014), Peace & Prosperity (2016) and Young & Fabulous (2016),

In 2014, Narelle and Benjamin Kheng co-fronted a variety infotainment show called Do It Yourself where they created unique, DIY furniture pieces.

Narelle Kheng has opened up multiple times about her struggles with depression and mental health since her time at Singapore Sports School. The unstable lifestyle of a freelancer didn’t help either. “Sometimes you’re juggling a lot of projects, and there are some days where there is not a second where your brain can turn off. As a freelancer, there is no cut-off time to work. So you can literally be working from morning all the way until the next morning. And as long as you have stuff to do, you’re still going to keep going.”

Narelle has since sought help from a therapist and begun to accept her condition. One piece of advice is to speak kindly and positively to yourself. She has also started prioritising her mental health and well-being, using methods such as meditation, journalling and exercise.

Narelle also actively advocates for mental health wellness on her Instagram, “I believe that we should talk more about this. I think when you start caring for yourself, like truly caring for yourself, it doesn’t stop with you.” Her mental health growth has also been charted through the three EPs she has released.

In the same Zula interview, Narelle Kheng also shared her share of toxic relationships. She talked about how both parties indulged in toxic behaviour such as escapism. This has also made Narelle acutely aware of her penchant for bad boys and made her grow up to become a better person and partner and seek out “more wholesome people”.

In July 2020, Narelle Kheng got into an online tousle after she highlighted influencer Xiaxue’s support for then-president Donald Trump. The two went on to exchange a couple of jabs online.

A month later, Narelle took to her Instagram Stories posting “Imbalance of power is what allows for abuse” as the allegations of sexual harassment came to light against radio DJ and YouTuber Dee Kosh.

Despite viewing astrology as a “pseudoscience”, Narelle Kheng is still a firm believer in astrology as “a good infrastructure of human behaviour.” Horoscope has helped Narelle understand herself and others better. For instance, as a Libra, Narelle seeks balance in life. So in order to balance her “wholesome Christian family vibe”, she looks toward bad boys.

In July 2017, Narelle Kheng, together with three friends, opened up Moonstone Bar located along Amoy Street. The space was first a studio for creatives and later became a co-working and events space for millennial creatives as well. Now, Moonstone plays host to dinner and rooftop parties, serving up food and alcoholic beverages alike.

In October 2021, Narelle Kheng announced a collaboration with her friend Valerie Wang of the local womenswear label Unda. The four-piece collection, titled Threads, contained essentials – a buttoned shirt, maxi dress, cargo pants and a corset.

Together with The Sam Willows members, Narelle, Benjamin, Jonathan Chua and Sandra Riley Tang were placed in the list under the Entertainment & Sports category in 2019. The annual list spotlights 300 young innovators and disruptors under the age of 30 across Asia.

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