Thursday, January 24, 2008

Singapore Visit: News Article

Some news article from Singapore Newspaper on Charmaine's visit to Singapore last week :

Photo Credit - Channel News Asia Singapore / TODAY


Sheh's so lovely

22 January 2008

TODAY newspaper - Singapore

Despite a headache and gastric pains, Charmaine Sheh shines

By Karman Tse

POOR Charmaine Sheh was not feeling well on Saturday.

The Hong Kong actress was nursing both a headache and gastric pains, and even had to pull out of an event earlier that morning where she was scheduled to spread the Lunar New Year cheer to disadvantaged senior citizens with fellow TVB star Bobby Au Yeung.

Sitting face-to-face with her at the Conrad Centennial, though, it was terribly hard to feel much sympathy for the comely 32-year-old star.

The former Miss Hong Kong second runner-up has pretty eyes that sparkle, a brilliant smile that's always good to go, and confidence wafting from every pore. Which makes what she had to say all the more hard to believe: "Before the (Miss Hong Kong) pageant, I was a very shy and soft-spoken girl."

Yup, it turns out beauty pageants are a good boost for your inner beauty. Who would have thought?

"The competition was very good training for me — it has taught me to be confident," the current "It" girl of TVB told Today.

Sheh was in town with her fellow actors — Bobby Au Yeung, Kevin Cheng, Myolie Wu, Bosco Wong, and Wang Xi — to promote TVB's new channel on StarHub Digital Cable, TVBS News.

The former beauty queen may be the blue-eyed girl du jour — and she was reported to be one of the highest paid TVB artiste, too — but Sheh's start in the business was anything but pretty.

Despite her hard work and enthusiasm, viewers and especially the media were very unforgiving, criticising the then-newbie for her "lousy acting" and "squeaky voice".

"It's a fact that I couldn't act. I had no acting background," said Sheh, who read Hotel Management in Switzerland for three years pre-pageant.

"But I worked very hard. I had very little sleep — I've never not have enough sleep my whole life before that! So, after a while, I thought, maybe I'm not cut out to be an actress, and that I should give it up."

Good thing giving up was a one-sided affair on Sheh's part. Had TVB let her go, she would never have gone on to prove her detractors wrong by winning Best Actress in 2006 (Maiden's Vow) at the station's annual anniversary awards ceremony.

But winning awards, to the grounded actress, is no more than "a good form of encouragement".

Just because you win an award doesn't mean you're the best. I'm happy with what I've achieved so far. But I won't say I'm satisfied — once I allow myself to be, then there would be nothing left to strive for."

Part of that goal is to "grow" as an actress — literally.

"I don't mind being 'uglified' if it means I get to stretch my acting chops. But not getting fat," said the actress who has a reputation for being a hopeless vainpot. "I'm the type — touch wood — who can eat and eat but won't get fat."

You want to roll your eyes and walk away at this point of the conversation, but she has been so polite and obliging, the most you can do — with much glee — is smile back and secretly hope for her metabolism to slow to a crawl.

Catch Charmaine Sheh in The Drive of Life, which is available on StarHub's Demand TV from March. MaxOnline customers can also download episodes of the drama from StarHub's Play Video portal from March.

Charmaine: Acting's out when kids come

22 January 2008

THE NEW PAPER - Singapore

By Avis Wong

SHE may have cemented her status as the new generation 'bigsister' at TVB, but Charmaine Sheh would willingly give up everything to mind children and enjoy family life.

'I used to want to have three children... If I have children, I will devote a lot of my time to them, 365 days a year. So I would quit my job for that,' she told The New Paper.

However, the actress said there's no need for such drastic measures yet as she's still single.

'My resolution last year (of finding a boyfriend) is up in smoke. I'll just have to continue with it (the resolution) this year. Hopefully, I can have the best of both worlds, to have both romance and a smooth career,' she added with a chuckle.

Charmaine was probably inspired by fellow actress AdaChoi after attending the latter's recent wedding in China.

'I was so touched (by their love), I cried a few times,' she said.

Charmaine, 32, joined TVB after coming in third in the Miss Hong Kong pageant in 1997.

Her early years at the station were plagued by criticisms of her bad acting and squeaky voice.
But she hit the big time after appearing in popular drama serials such as Country Spirit, Perish In The Name Of Love, War And Beauty and most recently, Dance Of Passion and The Drive Of Life.

Maiden's Vow, in which she juggled four characters over different generations, sealed her position as one of TVB's leading actresses after she won the Best Actress and My Favourite Female TV Character awards in 2006.

But unlucky-in-love Charmaine is still searching for Mr Right, especially after reportedly breaking up with actor Benny Chan in 2006 as she could not stand his philandering ways.

LINKED TO MARRIED MEN

The Hong Kong paparazzi has since linked her with her other co-stars such as Joe Ma and Michael Miu, who are both married.

When she received a bouquet of 99 roses on her birthday last year and it was signed off from 'lo sam' (old third in Cantonese), the media speculated that the sender was Michael as he was known as 'sam gor' (third brother).

She laughed the reports off and said 'they were never true', adding that the flowers were from a friend who didn't know what to give her and so sent a bouquet.

Support from friends and family is what Charmaine counts on in the meantime.

'Naturally, everyone hopes to have a companion, someone to share their joy and worries. For now, my friends and family will have to do the job.'

Ivy: Got these articles from Melanie. Again, thanks Melanie and also thank you for the support. Personally, I feel this Karman's way of writing is pretty hmmm...better keep quiet. But she hoping for Charmaine's metabolism rate to slow down? Hey thats not that nice! I sense some jealousy..lolz. The second article was better. Well, hope Charmaine does find Mr. Right soon. At least the Singaporean reporters don't write silly fake rumors like what they have in Gossip Magazines in Hong Kong. The "doggie" team in HK is really too much at times.

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