The little voice inside me never went away, even when I tried to bury it.
There is a particular courage in returning to a dream you once buried — not in defiance, but in quiet recognition that it never left you. Frances Tan, a 25-year-old Singaporean who trained as a lawyer at one of the world's most prestigious institutions, has chosen instead to follow a childhood calling she once swore to silence. Her original song Just Me now stands among seven finalists in the Commonwealth Song Contest 2026, a moment that measures not just musical merit, but the distance between who we are told to become and who we actually are.
- A decade of suppressed longing finally broke through during Tan's final year at LSE, when she could no longer ignore the voice she had deliberately buried since age 11.
- Walking away from internships at top law firms to pursue a master's in songwriting at NYU was a gamble that left her without the safety net her education had promised.
- Just Me — written in a single sitting and born from the joy of imagining herself fully alive in New York — now competes against six nations in the Commonwealth Song Contest, with public voting closing May 31.
- Her momentum is real: a tribute song performed over 30 times across three countries, a BOLD Award, school tours, a published book, and a debut album all signal that the pivot has taken hold.
- On May 31, the same day voting closes, Tan launches her album I Am Frances at a free concert in Toa Payoh — a convergence of milestones that feels less like a career event and more like a public reckoning with her former self.
Frances Tan is 25 and has already lived two lives. She holds a law degree from the London School of Economics, interned at respected Singapore firms, and then walked away from all of it to make music — a dream she had once promised herself never to speak of again.
The silence began at 11, when a Justin Bieber concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium lit something in her. She told her parents she wanted to pursue music. They laughed and told her it should stay a hobby. Embarrassed, she buried the dream and went to law school as if it had never existed. But in her final year at LSE, the small voice she had ignored for a decade refused to stay quiet. She asked herself, for the first time, whether this was fantasy or something truer — and the question changed everything.
She went to New York University and completed a master's in songwriting. Her entry for the Commonwealth Song Contest 2026, Just Me, was written there in a single sitting — a song about the joy of finally chasing the life she had always wanted. It now competes against entries from Australia, India, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Saint Lucia, and South Africa, with public voting open until May 31.
The momentum since has been steady and real. Her tribute to Lee Kuan Yew, Ride Into The Sun, was performed more than 30 times across Singapore, Taiwan, and San Francisco, screened in schools and cinemas, and earned her the SG100 Foundation's BOLD Award. She has since visited primary schools to speak on character and purpose, and published a book, Discover Your Passion, tracing her own journey for readers navigating similar crossroads.
On May 31 — the same day voting closes — Tan will hold a free concert at Toa Payoh SAFRA to launch her debut album, I Am Frances, performing with a live band and string quartet. For someone who once made a silent pact never to mention music again, the evening carries the weight of a long-overdue conversation with herself.
Frances Tan is 25 years old and has already abandoned one life for another. She holds a law degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She interned at respected Singapore firms. Then she left it all behind to make music.
Right now, her original song Just Me is competing in the Commonwealth Song Contest 2026, one of seven finalists vying for recognition alongside entries from Australia, India, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Saint Lucia, and South Africa. Public voting closes on May 31. The contest represents a kind of validation for a choice that, until recently, felt impossible to make.
Tan wrote her first song at 13, but she kept it secret. At 11, she had attended a Justin Bieber concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium—My World 2.0—and the experience crystallized something in her. She told her parents she wanted to pursue music. They laughed. They said music should remain a hobby, nothing more. Embarrassed and discouraged, she made a silent pact with herself: she would never speak of this dream again. She went to law school instead, as if the dream had never existed.
But during her final year at LSE, something shifted. She was thinking about what came next, about the shape her life would take after graduation. And she realized that the small voice inside her—the one she had deliberately ignored for a decade—had never actually gone quiet. It had been there the whole time, waiting. For the first time, she asked herself a question that felt dangerous: what if this wasn't just a fantasy? What if it was actually part of who she was?
That question led her to New York University, where she completed a master's degree in songwriting last year. Just Me emerged from that period of study and self-discovery. She wrote it in a single sitting, inspired by the sheer joy of imagining herself living alone in New York City in her twenties, finally chasing the thing she had wanted her whole life. The melody and lyrics arrived together, almost without effort, as if they had been waiting for her to be ready.
Since then, Tan has built momentum. Last year, she wrote a tribute song called Ride Into The Sun to mark the tenth anniversary of Lee Kuan Yew's death, performed as part of Singapore's SG60 celebrations. She performed it more than 30 times across Singapore, Taiwan, and San Francisco. The music video played in schools, at Shaw Theatres, at Our Tampines Hub, and on local radio including 987FM. The song earned her the SG100 Foundation's BOLD Award and a position as the foundation's youth ambassador.
More recently, she has been visiting primary schools across Singapore to speak at Character and Citizenship Education programs. She also published her first book, Discover Your Passion, which traces her own career journey, explains the stories behind her songs, and includes reflection prompts for readers navigating their own choices.
On May 31—the same day voting closes for the Commonwealth Song Contest—Tan will hold a free launch concert at the Jubilee Garden Restaurant at Toa Payoh SAFRA. She will debut her first album, I Am Frances, performing with a live band and string quartet, with a Chinese buffet dinner included. Copies of her book, physical CDs, and merchandise will be available for purchase. The album officially releases on June 1 at midnight across all streaming platforms. Doors open at 6pm; the show begins at 6:30pm. For someone who once promised herself never to speak of music again, the moment feels like a reckoning—not with anyone else, but with the person she was before she learned to listen to herself.
Citações Notáveis
Music should only ever be a hobby— Her parents, when she expressed her dream at age 11
For the first time, I wondered: what if it is not a figment of my imagination, but actually a part of me?— Frances Tan, reflecting on her final year of law school
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
What made her actually leave? The law degree was real, the internships were real. That's not a small thing to walk away from.
It wasn't a sudden break. It was ten years of that voice not going away, even when she tried to bury it. By the time she was finishing law school, she couldn't ignore it anymore. The question became: what if I don't try?
Her parents laughed at her when she was 11. That's a hard thing to come back from.
It is. She internalized that laughter, made a vow to never mention it again. But somewhere in her, the dream didn't accept that vow. It just waited.
The timing of the album launch and the voting deadline—that feels deliberate.
It does. May 31 is the day she's putting her debut album into the world while the Commonwealth Song Contest voting closes. It's like she's saying: this is who I am now, and I'm not hiding it anymore.
What does Just Me actually say? What's the song about?
The source doesn't give us the lyrics, but the title itself is telling. After a decade of silencing herself, of trying to be what others wanted, the song is called Just Me. It's about claiming that space—the one that's only yours.
Do you think she'll win the contest?
I don't know. But winning or not, she's already won something bigger. She's living the life she was too afraid to claim.