Canto-pop star Joyce Cheng opens up to Tatler about championing self-esteem, female empowerment—and her continuing journey towards loving herself unconditionally
Joyce Cheng emerges from the shadows in a va-va-voom glittering emerald number and stares down the lens, her fingers curled around a crystal-encrusted, apple-shaped clutch like a fairytale queen. In a shoot at The Magistracy, Black Sheep Group’s gorgeous new restaurant in Tai Kwun, Cheng fills the room with energy, sashaying in flowing skirts and gasping in awe as she holds up a butterfly-embellished dress. She strikes up banter with the crew, makes sure everyone has had a chance to eat, and sings Happy Birthday to her hair stylist, while playing up to a parody of a difficult diva persona and provoking laughter in between shots with jocular antics. “I am Batman!” she growls as she stands in an alcove, holding up the edges of a yellow gown like wings. Benjamin Teh, her best friend and a fixture of her YouTube channel, cheers her on from the sidelines.
While she has acted and presented, she is best known as a singer and champion of body positivity and diversity. “I think I’ve just been very lucky with the timing,” she says, reflecting on her particularly stellar past year of accolades, awards and endorsements, driven by fresh, big-hitting songs and a pandemic spent growing a formidable online following. “Of course, there’s hard work. But everyone in the industry works hard. It just so happens that it’s been a trend to be authentic and not need to fit into a cookie cutter mould for a pop singer. When I was a kid, the entertainment industry was very different: if I had debuted during that era, I don’t think I would have stood a chance. [My success is] just circumstance combined with my unwillingness to stop.”
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