Singapore singer JJ Lin's health on red alert
Posted: 20 May 2009 1152 hrs

	Photos  of

SINGAPORE : Singapore singer-songwriter Lin Jun Jie, popularly known as JJ Lin, has been ordered to rest or risk severly damaging his vocal cords.

The popular singer has been suffering a bout of flu since last year and there were times when he even coughed blood. But JJ, 28, did not seek proper treatment and barely got any rest as he was busy promoting his album "Sixology".

It was only when he returned to Singapore to attend the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (Compass) Awards last weekend that his condition got so bad that he had difficulty talking.

According to his doctor, his vocal chords had been corroded by gastric acid and an endoscopy revealed that they were very swollen and badly damaged.

JJ was advised to take at least a week off singing but the ever-professional singer still took to the stage to perform with Singaporean jazz maestro Jeremy Monterio during the awards ceremony on Sunday.

He admitted that the illness has affected his morale and he was worried that the condition will deteriorate, "I am afraid that I might not recover from it. If it worsens, it can lead to a bacterial infection which will then require an operation. That is probably the last thing on my mind as singing is my rice bowl."

JJ's record company, Ocean Butterflies, said it will reduce the star's workload so he can get sufficient rest and recover. However, JJ is still required to perform at ten commercial events in China as these offers were accepted some time back.

The singer's upcoming album which is scheduled to be released in August, is also likely be postponed.

Adding insult to injury, JJ was snubbed at this year's Golden Melody Awards which has been dubbed the Chinese Grammys. His album "Sixology" did not receive any nominations despite positive reviews and JJ revealed that he was a tad disappointed but will not dwell on it.

However, his hard work did not go unrecognised as the talented singer bagged three major awards - Top Local Artiste of The Year, Top Local Composer of the Year and Top Local Soundtrack - at the Compass awards last week.

- CNA/fa