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Singapore pop culture champion, BigO co-founder Michael Cheah dies at 68
Michael Cheah co-founded music and pop culture magazine BigO, which ran as a magazine from 1985 to 2002 and continued as a website until it closed down in 2023. PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE CHEAH FAMILY
Eddino Abdul Hadi
Music Correspondent
UPDATED
JUL 13, 2024, 05:57 PM
SINGAPORE – Michael Cheah, co-founder of Singapore magazine BigO and champion of home-grown music and pop culture, has died of heart complications at Singapore General Hospital on July 12. He was 68.
According to BigO co-founder Stephen Tan, Cheah had been ill for three weeks before his death.
He leaves behind his wife, who is 68 and retired, and their daughter, 30.
BigO, which stands for Before I Get Old, ran as a print magazine from 1985 to 2002. It continued as a website until it closed down in 2023.
Hailed as “Singapore’s only independent rock ’n’ roll magazine”, it regularly carried news and features on home-grown music and pop culture, and featured acts such as indie music pioneers The Oddfellows and film-maker Eric Khoo on its covers.
BigO was started by journalists from the now-defunct newspaper Singapore Monitor, including Cheah’s brother Philip, and Tan. Michael was the publisher, while Philip and Tan were its co-editors.
The magazine’s founders also ran a record label, organised concerts and published books under the same name, BigO.
The record label released home-grown music on cassettes and later CDs. Some of its more prominent releases include the New School Rock compilation CDs in the early 1990s that featured bands such as hardcore veterans Stompin’ Ground and indie rock group The Padres.
BigO held concerts such as the New School Rock – The Gig show at the now-closed arts centre The Substation in 1991.
Its books included Skew Me, You Rebel Meh? Thoughts Of A Disavowed Rebel In Singapore, written by the late singer, musician, DJ and music and pop culture critic Chris Ho.
The frontman of indie rock band The Oddfellows, Patrick Chng, tells The Straits Times that Cheah “was always a joy to hang out with” and that he will miss him.
The 56-year-old says: “Michael was a pop culture enthusiast with a sharp mind. He was the businessman behind BigO, but he also helped artists connect with labels in the early days of the magazine.”
Musician, sound designer and actor Joe Ng, who fronted bands such as The Padres and starred in Khoo’s 1995 horror film Mee Pok Man, says Cheah played a pivotal role in Singapore’s pop culture landscape.
The 57-year-old adds: “He was a giant of a man who worked fearlessly behind the scenes and facilitated a cause greater than we can imagine. The sum of it all still reverberates today.”
Cheah’s wake is at St Joseph’s Church in Victoria Street and his funeral service will be held there on July 15, 4pm.
