Fish Leong

Leong was born in Bahau, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.^[1] R&B singer Z-Chen is her older cousin. She debuted her singing career in Taiwan and signed to Rock Records in October 1997. She then adopted the English name "Fish", because the last character of her Chinese name "茹" sounds the same as "魚" (fish) in Cantonese.^[1] She was discovered by Jonathan Lee, who later also became her godfather. She received Mandarin training upon arriving in Taiwan as her mother tongue is Cantonese. Her debut album, Grown Up Overnight, was released in September 1999, but had many promotions cancelled due to the 1999 Taiwan earthquake. Her singing career managed to take off after the release of her second album, Courage (2000).^[2]

In February 2010, Leong married Taiwanese wine merchant Tony Chao in Boracay, Philippines, and their child Anderson Chao was born in April 2014.^[3] On September 8, 2019, Leong announced their divorce at a press conference for her new album in Taipei.^[4] She declined further comments on alleged cheating by Chao.^[4]

Shortly after her divorce, Leong briefly dated Taiwanese entrepreneur Darwin Lin, but that relationship concluded by early 2020.^[1]

Leong collaborated with singer Eve Ai on a remake of the song “Piao Yang Guo Hai Lai Kan Ni” (“Sea You Soon”), which was used in a campaign advocating the legalization of same-sex marriages for transnational couples in Taiwan.^[5]

In an October 2021 mental health forum hosted by a Malaysian NGO, Leong spoke candidly about the mental health challenges she faced during the pandemic and shared the coping strategies she adopted. One method was establishing a daily routine with her young son: she would have them wake up at 8 A.M. to “sit in the sunshine” by the window to draw or read, joking that they would behave like plants basking in sunlight.^[6]