SINGAPORE – During my days in university in the United States, an innocent Chinese student approached me and asked me where I was from. It was the opportunity I had been waiting for all my life. Instead of informing her that I was from Singapore, like a normal person, I immediately broke into song and, with my best falsetto, belted out the first line to the 1979 song, Olive Tree: “Don’t ask me where I am from; my hometown is far from here!”

I don’t think that student spoke to me ever again. But the fact that I could sing the song – which happens to be almost a decade older than I am – is testament to its ability to speak to listeners from different generations and cultures. It’s also why its original singer, Chyi Yu, has still got singers singing covers of the song at reality singing competitions, and young fans thronging her concerts.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” the affable Taiwanese singer told us in a phone interview ahead of her first solo concert in Singapore on Dec 20. “Olive Tree really transcends time. These young people – they may not know any of my other songs, but they know how to sing Olive Tree. I think it’s really interesting, because there are many people in their 20s, or even high school kids, who are fans. And I think that’s quite nice.”

The sheer popularity of the song is one of the reasons why the notoriously low-key singer, who has only held a handful of concerts in the last 15 years, will be performing it during her show here after all – even though she had previously announced that she would never sing the song nor hold a commercial concert again.

“I found it very tiring to be responsible for ticket sales, and to have to worry about whether (the organizers) would lose money. It’s as if I had to keep proving myself,” said Chyi Yu, explaining her previous decision to stop holding commercial concerts. “It was also a setback, if ticket sales didn’t do so well.”

But the 57-year-old decided to return to the stage this year to celebrate the life and works of her mentor, Olive Tree composer Li Tai-Hsiang, who passed away earlier in January. And if you listen carefully, you may be able to tell that Chyi’s own interpretation of the song and its lyrics have evolved over the last 35 years.

“When I was young, I didn’t really consider what the Olive Tree represented,” she explained. “I thought Sanmao’s lyrics about wandering on her own sounded really romantic. It was a very simple way of approaching the song. But then in 2002, at one of my concerts, I realized that the Olive Tree represents an ideal. I was in my 40s, and I thought that I had found my Olive Tree – all those dreams and ideals that I had been pursing in my youth – and that is what I told my audience.”

She added: “But then in 2004, I released my first Buddhist music album and went through a huge change in perspective. I realized I had thought too much of myself. How is it possible to ever find your Olive Tree? When I was on my journey of self-cultivation, many, many, many more Olive Trees popped up, and I found myself pursing them again. Perhaps I had found the material forms of the Olive Tree, like you can buy a car, a house, or even find success. But then there are those intangible ideals that I hadn’t found, and greater ideals I still could pursue.”

“Then, in 2009, when I sang the song again, I realized that you can never attain the Olive Tree. You have to let it go, before you become the Olive Tree. Or maybe the Olive Tree becomes you. You don’t pursue or look for it. And I guess that will be my final definition of the Olive Tree,” she concluded.

Chyi Yu’s 2014 Singapore Concert will be held at 8pm, Saturday, Dec 20 at the Grand Theatre, MasterCard Theatres at Marina Bay Sands. Tickets from S$88 to S$168 from SISTIC.