Mavis Hee, born Xu Meifeng, and also known as Xu Meijing, is a Singaporean singer-songwriter and actress. She was the second runner-up and also Miss Photogenic and Miss Amity for Singapore's Miss Chinatown Pageant 1992.
Entertainment career
Hee's first album Knowingly was released in August 1994. After the release, Taiwanese singer-composer Jonathan Lee invited her to join his production company. However, Hee rejected the offer so that she could continue working with her mentor, Chen Jiaming. Hee went on to release other chart topping albums. Her debut album in Taiwan, Regret, propelled her to regional stardom. She was labelled "Heavenly Queen Killer" for having beaten Faye Wong and the 'Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop' in sales charts. Her best-selling album to date, Living By Night, chalked an impressive 300,000 copies in Taiwan. Following the success, Hee broke into the competitive Cantonese market with the release of Listen Quietly 静听精彩13首. The album topped the Hong Kong International Federation of Phonographic Industry sales chart for 3 consecutive weeks, beating other Hong Kong singer, Andy Lau, Leon Lai and Sammi Cheng. She became the first Singaporean to win the Most Popular Female Singer award in HK Metro Hit awards, beating Faye Wong. She also released a compilation album, Beginning To Listen: Review 1996-1999, which sold more than 250,000 copies in Taiwan. Her last studio album to date is the electronic infused Static Electricity in 2000. She remains best known for her ballads, some of which have become classic songs, such as "Regret", "Iron Window", "Living By Night", "Sunshine After the Rain" and "Moonlight in the City". In 1998, Hee was handpicked by the cinematographer Christopher Doyle to star in his directorial debut film Away With Words.
Mavis Hee became the ambassador of Singapore's National Kidney Foundation in 1999 and also a volunteer in Youth Challenge in the same year. She was the singer for Singapore's National Day Parade 2000 theme song, "Shine on Me", together with fellow Singaporean Jai. Hee made a conscious decision to fade out from the commercial entertainment scene after 2001, when her record company, What's Music, was absorbed into Universal Music Taiwan, and the company could not accommodate her artistic integrity within commercial considerations. Mavis was also appointed a cultural ambassador for China in 2001. She also recorded the hit singleWatch TV with fellow Singaporean singers Tanya Chua and Stefanie Sun and was a guest presenter at the Star Awards 2002 as well as Star Awards 2006. Mavis appeared as a special guest on 13 February 2007 at a Charity Concert for Silver Ribbon and sang "Moonlight in the City". On 27 September 2007, Hee's 33rd birthday, she released two new singles after a hiatus of seven years. They were the theme songs of the movie, Anna & Anna, "Remain Behind" and "Unknown Location". In June 2008, Mavis performed the opening act for a charity concert with other Singaporean singers to raise funds to help the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, she sang "Moonlight in the City" and "Sunshine After the Rain". Her last known public performances include CCTV's annual mega Mid-Autumn Show 2008 which raised Hee's profile briefly throughout China and Asia, as well as being a special guest during Nanyang Technological University EMBA's 10th Anniversary Celebrations and Stefanie Sun's concert in 2014. In 2019, Mavis' songs won 3 out of the top 10 placing in 96.3好FM "The Good Chart", making her the biggest winner of the chart thus far.
Personal life
From 2003 to 2004, Mavis Hee was known as having travelled around Italy. In June 2006, Hee hit the headlines briefly in Singapore when she was arrested after harassing two hotel guests at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. She was initially warded at Singapore's Institute of Mental Health and diagnosed with clinical depression after a short stay of four weeks. After thanking her fans for their immense support in late 2006, Mavis maintained a low profile away from showbiz over the recent years. Mavis received the NHG Exemplary Patient Award from IMH on 27 October 2014 where she discussed her experience with clinical depression openly and has strongly advocated for mental wellness, encouraging people to seek treatment early. In 2015, Mediacorp released a drama serial titled 'Crescendo' that described the entertainment career of Mavis Hee. As of December 2015, Mavis is known as alive and well. After the passing of her mother in 2015, she may also have become better known as a devout Christian as well as a gospel singer and an active volunteer with the Salvation Army in Singapore.
