Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Alternative Career Paths: Corrinne May

I've blogged about alternative career paths before, here. Definitely not as much as Tiara though. Those of you who are interested in an alternative take on education should definitely take a look at her blog. Wanted to highlight the story of Corrine May, a Singaporean singer and songwriter who's currently based in LA.

You can read about her here. She graduated with an English degree from NUS in Singapore and then went to pursue her dreams of making music by going to the Berklee School of Music, not to be confused with UCal at Berkeley. She's pretty accomplished by now and I think she's going to be a name which many people in the music industry will soon be familiar with. (She co-wrote a song with Carole King for a songwriting competition! How cool is that!)

You can listen to her music here and here. She definitely does NOT sound Singaporean or Asian and the content of her songs is also very 'unSingaporean'. Take a listen to see what I mean.

I know of another Singaporean, who's the wife of a friend, who gave up her newspaper career and is pursuing a PhD in Music / Opera at a US university (Apologies in advance for getting the exact name of your course wrong! You know who you are).

It's assuring when you know that you're not the only one who was chosen to take the path less traveled.

BTW, me highlighting Corrinne is no way influenced by the fact that she was from RGS and RJC.

P.S. The friend who introduced me to Corrinne also pointed out that many people who choose alternative career paths often have to leave their home countries to pursue their dreams. A little sad but it's a reflection of the economic, social and political realities of the world we live in.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tony, why you last time no go NUS?

Anonymous said...

Perhaps, he had an Oxon Dream, just like the American Dream. China Dream is just emerging.

Anonymous said...

Corrine May, yes, I love her music very much :) I have all collection of her music. Hey, I bought original not pasar malam version.

I have a friend completed a UK engineering degree but never practicing as an engineer. Today, he is charted accountant; done his ACCA and working with a MNC.

I am always agree on alternative career paths.

Anonymous said...

If alternative career path is the wisdom, then follow the advice of the author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki.

He said, "If he were to be unemployed, he would jump on the bandwagon to be self-employed -doing the MLM business. MLM is the future in business and marketing. It is the 4th Wave."

The uninitiated called MLM a Pyramid, a scam following the parrot cries of the Joneses.

Now what do people understand by Pyramid, other than some obscure scam?

Come tell me which traditional organizational structure is not a Pyramid.

From CEO down one would find the shape of a Pyramid.

If one can get throu

Anonymous said...

Tionghua, MLM and pyramid good? You betcha!

http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/11/11/The-End-of-Wall-Streets-Boom

Just read!

How the big banks created the credit crisis. By making bad loans into good, then duplicate the loans package into a collateral as an asset to loan against, ie creating a new totally same collateral which is bad to borrow from!

Wonderful isn't it?

How they do it?

MLM!

Call another person from another bank up, relationship and you buy from me, get commission, I buy from you get commission!

Wow! MLM and pyramid sure are the best solutions of mankind!

Anonymous said...

Robert Kiyosaki is an acclaimed author, therefore he is an authority. He is an icon widely discussed and followed by the hordes.

This is something like Mr Fowler, an authority of English.

When they say YES, it takes someone more than their authorities to say NO?

Bank collapsed not because of MLM. They collapsed because of many things.

If one declares an MLM as a Pyramid, which traditional business or factory is NOT a Pyramid.

Therefore, there are Good Pyramids and Bad Pyramids. Just like there are Good Students/Graduates and Bad Students/Graduates.

If MLM is conclusively and absolutely so bad, then where do Amway, Cosway or Mary Kay stand. Some are more or near half a century old.

Yet one wants to bet the worse?

One must spin the top to understand how it spins. Has one spun the top perfectly and excellently to condemn it so?

Now which alternative career is absolutely perfect in this turbulent world?

It would take half a century to come to a feasible and plausible conclusion. Less than that one is too early or too young.

Anonymous said...

I just passed by... love Corrinne May's music so much..
why say her music is 'unsingaporean'?
however, i think she's doing her music in her own way, and express her thoughts through her songs, didn't bother much whether it is 'asian' or not.

it takes a lot of courage to switch to a path less traveled. If you were given a chance, will u do it?