Then, over the years, local singers such as Kit Chan, Stefanie Sun and JJ Lin have gone on to achieve huge success in the capital of Mandopop.

Sun, 30, has sold more than 10 million albums in Asia since her 2000 debut. As for pop idol Lin, 28, his latest album Sixology has been in Taiwan's top 20 album sales charts there for 12 weeks running.

Now, more home-grown talent is making waves in Taiwan, where the domestic market alone is about 10 times bigger than Singapore's in terms of album sales. There are other rewards: regional exposure by appearing on television variety shows and securing lucrative product endorsement deals.

In the last year alone, Singaporean newcomers Huang Jinglun, 25, Kelly Poon, 26, and Derrick Hoh, 24, all became famous in the region after launching albums in Taiwan. Huang made it big after being a finalist in the third series of Taiwan's hugely popular singing contest on television, One Million Star, which is airing here on E City (StarHub Channel 56) on Thursdays at 8pm and Sundays at 9pm.

His debut album, Jing's Note, released in Taiwan just last December, has been in the top 20 on the G-music billboard, Taiwan's most reputable album sales chart, for seven weeks running. So far, he has sold more than 40,000 copies there and 4,000 in Singapore.

In Taiwan, a figure of 40,000 is regarded as impressive for an overseas newcomer. For example, sales of popular Taiwanese singer Aska Yang's debut album Dove, totalled 60,000 copies there for the whole of last year.

As for Poon, she was handpicked by Taiwan's top music producer Yao Chien, who is now grooming her for success. She has already released two albums there.

Sales figures were unavailable but she has generated enough buzz to be in demand to appear on variety shows in Taiwan and make inroads into the China Mandopop market.

Last year, she was named Best Newcomer at the Sprite Chinese Original Music Awards in Shanghai.And boy-next-door Hoh's debut album Unclassified made it to the top 20 album sales charts in Taiwan for five weeks.

He has 30,000 fans on his fansite (http://www.heweijian.com/forums) now, compared to a mere 10 in Taiwan when he first ventured there. The website is currently undergoing a revamp.

Read the full report in Friday's edition of The Straits Times' LIFE!