In 1994, songwriter and producer Tan Kah Beng organised a singing contest to scout for potential singers for his new record company. Hee entered the contest and was picked by Tan. She became the first Singaporean to win the Most Popular Female Singer award in HK Metro Hit awards, beating Faye Wong. In 1995, Hee acted in
Mediacorp's drama serial,
Tofu Street. She also released a compilation album,
Beginning To Listen: Review 1996-1999, which sold close to 500,000 copies in Taiwan. Its success is attributed to the only new song "The Cigarette You Smoke" () in the album as it is made popular by being featured in a Taiwanese TV series. Her last studio album to date is the electronic infused
Static Electricity (静电) in 2000. She remains best known for her ballads, some of which have become classic songs, such as "Regret" (), "Iron Window" (), "Living By Night" (), "Sunshine After the Rain" () and "Moonlight in the City" (). In 1998, Hee was handpicked by the cinematographer
Christopher Doyle to star in his directorial debut film
Away With Words. Hee faded out from the entertainment scene after 2001, when her record company, What's Music, was absorbed into
Universal Music Taiwan, and the company could not accommodate her artistic integrity within commercial considerations. Hee was also appointed a cultural ambassador for China in 2001. She also recorded the hit single "Watch TV" with fellow Singaporean singers
Tanya Chua and
Stefanie Sun and was a guest presenter at the
Star Awards 2002 as well as
Star Awards 2006. Her major public performances after 2006 include
CCTV's annual mega Mid-Autumn Show 2008 which raised Hee's profile briefly throughout China and Asia, as well as being a special guest during
Nanyang Technological University EMBA's 10th Anniversary Celebrations and
Stefanie Sun's concert in 2014. In 2015, Singapore's
Mediacorp released a drama serial titled
Crescendo that is loosely based on Hee's singing career. In 2021, Hee released a re-recording of "Moonlight in the City" in partnership with
Disney+, to promote the expanded library of Asian content on the platform. The release was accompanied by a music video featuring Hee performing the song with people of various ages. In an email interview with
8 Days, she also expressed her plans to release new music soon and tour China in the next year. In 2023, Hee performed at the National Day Concert held jointly by
Gardens by the Bay and
Mediacorp in Singapore. She was also part of the lineup for a number of music festivals in China in cities including
Hainan,
Xi'an and
Shanghai. On 20 April 2024, Hee performed in
Nanjing, China and has sparked controversy for performing for 30 minutes with one hour dedicated to an audience engagement session, with calls for refunds by her fans. The concert was originally intended to last for two and a half hours. In December 2025, Hee will perform at the Sing60 Music Festival at Singapore's
Fort Canning Park. ==Personal life==