# Serene Koong

Serene Koong (born 21 September 1988) is a Singaporean singer, songwriter and producer. She is a three time Global Chinese Golden Chart Award, three time Singapore Hit Awards, Star Awards winner, and Asian Academy Creative Awards National Winner.

## Career
### 2010-2013

In May 2010, Koong released her debut Mandarin album, 55:38:7, composed of ten original compositions. Her single "明知我愛你" peaked at number 3 on YES 933 醉心龙虎榜. The single was nominated for Best Local Composition at the 2010 Singapore Hit Awards; Koong received four nominations total and won the Most Popular Newcomer award and the Meritorious Newcomer award.
Koong was also involved in song production for television series and films with "在我左右" for Mediacorp Channel 8's television series New Beginnings and "手中线" for the film Love Cuts starring Zoe Tay and Kenny Ho. Same year, Koong had filmed two advertisements with Fraser and Neave, one of which featured her original song "Lala" performed with Jiahui Wu.
In March 2012, Koong made her debut in Taiwan with the album 聲.體.輿言, distributed by Warner Music Taiwan. In the same year, she performed at the Esplanade's Huayi Chinese Festival of Arts.
In 2013, Koong formed her music company, GoodGirlMusic, to manage her career. She produced, wrote, and performed the theme song "Happiness Isn’t Hard" (幸福不难) for Mediacorp Channel 8's television series The Dream Makers. Her song was selected from 55 musicians who submitted their work to Mediacorp. That year, Koong was named "Top Downloaded Female Artist" by MeRadio at the 18th Singapore Hit Awards [zh] for the song "Happiness isn’t Hard".

### 2014-2017

In 2014, Koong won the Best Theme Song at the Star Awards for "Happiness Isn't Hard." The song was also named the Top Dedicated Hit Song by UFM1003 and reached number one on the Singapore iTunes Mandopop chart. Koong received two Global Chinese Golden Chart Awards including "Outstanding Artiste Award" (Singapore, UFM1003) for the song and a nomination for Best Theme Song at the 19th Asian Television Awards. Koong was the Mandarin lead singer for the theme song, "网织同心" (Knit with One Heart), of the Singapore Chingay Parade 2014, which was presented at the parade with Lee Wei Song as music director.
In July 2015, Koong wrote a song "Precious" (心肝) for Kelvin Tong's film (Grandma Positioning System) in the SG50 anthology film 7Letters. She was inspired by the eulogy of Lee Kuan Yew to his wife Kwa Geok Choo. She was the producer, vocal producer, songwriter and performer of the song, which peaked at number five on the Singapore iTunes Mandopop chart. In December, her single "All Alone" (当世界只剩下我一个人), which she wrote, produced, and performed for The Dream Makers II, peaked at number two on the Singapore iTunes Mandopop chart.
In August 2016, Koong was among the three Singaporean artists whose works charted on the Global Chinese Golden Charts TOP 20 (first half of 2016). On 7 May 2017, Koong received the Outstanding Artist of The Year presented by UFM100.3 award at the Global Chinese Golden Chart Awards.

### 2018-Present

On 9 August 2018, Koong appeared on the prelude episode of SPOP Sing!, a singing competition the search for the next homegrown talent. She also served the series as a vocal and performance Mentor to the Top 20 contestants.
In 2021, Koong served as the Vocal and Performance Mentor on SPOP Wave!. On 30 September, Koong was announced as the National Winner for Best Theme Song / Title at the Asian Academy Creative Awards, with her work "When It Leads Me Back To You", which she wrote, performed and produced for Mediacorp Channel 5's drama series Slow Dancing.
In 2023, Koong wrote, performed and produced the ending theme song for All That Glitters which began airing on September 18.
In 2024, "TENDER", written by Koong, Lai Zhenming, and Ferry, was presented on Melody Journey by Lai. The song was chosen and performed by Shan Yichun.

## Discography
### Studio albums

| Title | Album details |
| 55:38:7 | Released: 2010 Label: Rock Records |
| 聲 . 體 . 輿言 | Released: 2012 Label: Warner Music Taiwan |

### Singles

| Title | Year | Album |
| "Happiness Isn’t Hard" (幸福不难) | 2013 | Non-album single |
| "心肝" | 2015 | Non-album single |
| "当世界只剩下我一个人" | 2016 | Non-album single |
| "酸甜苦澀" | 2018 | Non-album single |
| "Save Me From Myself" | 2019 | Non-album single |
| "When It Leads Me Back To You" | 2021 | Non-album single |
| "Breathe Again" | 2023 | Non-album single |
| "直到最后 Eternally" | 2023 | Non-album single |

### Other songwriting credits

| Year | Credit | Title | Artist | Album |
| 2016 | Writer | "独家献映" | BBF | 王者之路 |
| 2017 | Writer | "想象空间" | Janice Vidal | 衛蘭 |
| 2018 | Writer | "北极光" | Su Miaoling | 北极光 |
| 2018 | Writer | "Honeymoon" (蜂蜜月亮) | Valen Hsu | 绽放的绽放的绽放 |
| 2024 | Writer | "TENDER" | 单依纯 | 音乐缘计划 |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2010 | Singapore Hit Awards 第16屆新加坡金曲奖 | Most Popular Newcomer 最受歡迎新人奖 | — | Won |
| 2010 | Singapore Hit Awards 第16屆新加坡金曲奖 | Meritorious Newcomer 優秀新人獎 | — | Won |
| 2010 | Singapore Hit Awards 第16屆新加坡金曲奖 | Best Local Composition 最佳本地作曲 | "明知我爱你" | Nominated |
| 2010 | Singapore Hit Awards 第16屆新加坡金曲奖 | Best Local Singer 最佳本地歌手 | — | Nominated |
| 2011 | Star Awards | Best Theme Song | "在我左右" (Theme song for New Beginnings) | Nominated |
| 2011 | Singapore e-Awards 新加坡 e乐大赏 | Best Lyrics 最佳作詞 | "平行線" | Nominated |
| 2011 | FreshMusic Awards | Best Local Singer 最佳本地歌手奖 | — | Won |
| 2013 | Singapore Hit Awards 第十八届新加坡金曲奖 | MeRadio Top Downloaded Hit Award (Female Artiste) 下载率最高金曲 | "Happiness isn’t Hard" (幸福不难) | Won |
| 2013 | Singapore Hit Awards 第十八届新加坡金曲奖 | Best Composition 最佳本地作曲 | "Happiness isn’t Hard" (幸福不难) | Nominated |
| 2013 | Singapore Hit Awards 第十八届新加坡金曲奖 | Best Lyrics 最佳本地作词 | "Happiness isn’t Hard" (幸福不难) | Nominated |
| 2014 | Global Chinese Golden Chart Awards | Top Dedicated Hit Song 年度各各电台点播冠军(UFM1003) | "Happiness isn’t Hard" (幸福不难) | Won |
| 2014 | Global Chinese Golden Chart Awards | Outstanding Artist Award 年度各各电台推崇大奖(UFM1003) | — | Won |
| 2014 | Star Awards | Best Theme Song | "Happiness isn’t Hard" (幸福不难) (Theme song for The Dream Makers) | Won |
| 2014 | Asian Television Awards | Best Theme Song 最佳主题曲 | "Happiness isn’t Hard" (幸福不难) (Theme song for The Dream Makers) | Nominated |
| 2015 | Global Chinese Golden Chart Awards | Outstanding Artist of The Year 年度推崇大歌手 (Presented by UFM1003) | "当世界只剩下我一个人" | Won |
| 2018 | 23rd Compass Awards | Top Local Soundtrack | "Happiness isn’t Hard" (幸福不难) (Theme song for The Dream Makers) | Won |
| 2021 | Asian Academy Creative Awards | Best Theme Song / Title Theme (National level) | "When It Leads Me Back To You" for Slow Dancing | Won |