Vivian Lai
Vivian Lai Yi-ling is a Taiwanese-born Singaporean actress & television host.
Vivian Lai | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
赖怡伶 | |||||||||||
 Vivian Lai in 2007. | |||||||||||
| Born | 18 December 1976 | ||||||||||
| Nationality | Taiwanese | ||||||||||
| Citizenship | Singaporean | ||||||||||
| Occupation | Actress, television host | ||||||||||
| Years active | 1987–Present | ||||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Alain Ong (m. 2001) | ||||||||||
| Children | Vera Ong (daughter) Ariel Ong (daughter) | ||||||||||
| Awards | Star Search 1999 : Overall Female Champion Star Awards 2015 : All-Time Favourite Artiste & Star Awards for YES 933 Best Speech | ||||||||||
| Musical career | |||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 賴怡伶 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 赖怡伶 | ||||||||||
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Life and career
Born in Taiwan, Lai migrated to Singapore with her Taiwanese family when she was still a student. She joined Star Search Singapore 1999 and was the winner in the Singapore edition and the overall champion in the female contestants' category.[1]
Lai started out as an actress, making her debut in Knotty Liaisons, and won good reviews. She eventually diversified into hosting and has hosted various kinds of programmes ranging from food reviews to travelogues. In 2012, after numerous nominations, she won her first professional award, the Best Supporting Actress award, at the Star Awards 2012 for her role as a Chinese immigrant in Love Thy Neighbour.
At the Star Awards 2015, Lai received the All-Time Favourite Artiste after winning the Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes award from 2001, 2003-2004, 2007-2014 respectively with Jeanette Aw.
Lai is also the brand ambassador for beverage brand Coca-Cola, 7-Eleven, Mannings, NSK and Osim.[2]
Personal life
Lai is married to Alain Ong and the couple have two daughters, Vera and Ariel.[3] Alain Ong is the CEO of Pokka International and Deputy Group CEO of Pokka Corporation which Lai has been brand ambassador for multiple years from around 2008. This has thus attracted its fair share of controversy, amid allegations of conflict of interest which in 2012, she was paid S$1 million to continue endorsing the brand.[4] On 15 February 2017, Ong became a non-executive director of Kimly, a coffee shop chain operator, for which he is a nephew of its lead independent director Ter Kim Cheu.[5]
In September 2018, her husband Ong was suspended from his posts by Pokka Corporation following an internal audit and would later take up a new appointment offered by Kimly, while Lai's contract as an ambassador was terminated in the following month, despite claims by Mediacorp that her contract would remain unchanged.[6]
Ong left Kimly in January 2019 due to the ongoing investigation. In August 2019, Ong was sued by the Pokka Group for alleging being part of a conspiracy which had caused the company to suffer a loss of S$10 million.[7]
Filmography
TV series
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Knotty Liaisons | jiaxuan |
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| Adam's Company | Elaine 怡绫 |
| |
| Dare To Strike |
| ||
| 2001 | Looking For Stars | Piggy 小猪 |
|
| The Hotel | Lai Meiling |
| |
| Three Women and A Half | xiaoping |
| |
| 2002 | Bukit Ho Swee | Wang Qing |
|
| Kopi-O II | Shuyun |
| |
| The Unbeatables III | Dong Mei Yao |
| |
| 2003 | Holland V | Mo Rou Rou 莫柔柔 |
|
| 2004 | Double Happiness | Luo Jia Qian 罗家茜 |
|
| Double Happiness II | Luo Jia Qian 罗家茜 |
| |
| 2005 | Love at 0°C | Liu Si Qi 刘思琦 |
|
| 2006 | Time to Heal |
| |
| 2007 | Live Again | Jenny 珍妮 |
|
| Making Miracles | Xu Xiu Yuan 许秀妍 |
| |
| The Homecoming | Qian Yi 倩仪 |
| |
| 2008 | Just in Singapore | Jin Yan 金艳 |
|
| Love Blossoms II | Fan Fan |
| |
| 2011 | Be Happy 生日快乐 | Mable |
|
| Love Thy Neighbour 四个门牌一个梦 | Shan Shan 姗姗 |
| |
| 2014 | World at Your Feet 球在你脚下 | Mo Lihua 茉莉花 |
|
| 2015 | Super Senior 长辈甜心 | Ivy Ji Shanzhong 纪姗钟 |
|
| 2016 | The Queen 复仇女王 | Zeng Jing 曾静 |
|
| 2019 | My One In A Million 我的万里挑一 | Vivian Lai 赖怡伶 |
|
| The Good Fight 致胜出击 | Rourou 柔柔 |
|
Variety shows
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Property Classified | |
| 2007 | On the Beat II | |
| My Beautiful Life | ||
| Star Awards Post-Show Party | ||
| 2008 | The NTUC Show | |
| Lunar New Year Eve Celebration | ||
| Dialect Delights | ||
| Bioskin Dreams Come True II | ||
| On the Beat III | ||
| Amuse Me | ||
| DIY My Home | ||
| 2009 | My House Husband's Journal | |
| Amuse U | ||
| 2010 | You Are The Man | |
| 2011 | Sizzling Woks 3 | |
| Ladies Nite | ||
| Home Makeover 2 | ||
| 2012 | My Fair Ladies | |
| Silver Carnival | ||
| Simply Exquisite | ||
| Dessert Time | ||
| 2013 | Say It! | |
| 2014 | Eat and Be Merry | |
| Black Rose 2 | ||
| Style: Check-In 4 | Guest Host | |
| Say It! 2 | ||
| Style: Check-In 5 | ||
| Ladies Nite 3 | ||
| 2015 | Hey Chef! | |
| Hey Gorgeous 2015 | ||
| The Successor | ||
| 2016 | Touch Screen Cuisine | |
| What's In The Fridge? | ||
| 2017 | A Gift for Mum | |
| 2019 | The Destined One | Guest Matchmaker |
Compilation album
| Year | English title | Mandarin title |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | MediaCorp Music Lunar New Year Album 12 | 新传媒群星金龙接财神 |
| 2018 | MediaCorp Music Lunar New Year Album 18 | 新传媒群星阿狗狗过好年 |
| 2019 | MediaCorp Music Lunar New Year Album 19 | 新传媒群星猪饱饱欢乐迎肥年 |
| 2020 | MediaCorp Music Lunar New Year Album 20 | 裕鼠鼠纳福迎春了 |
Accolades
References
- "Female Star Search Finalist Vivian Lai (right) who won the Female Star Search prize during the All-Asian Star Search grand final held in Television Corporation of Singapore TV Theatre". National Archives of Singapore. Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. 25 April 1999. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- "Awkward age? Not for 'aunty' Lai". The New Paper. 2 December 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- Ong, Sandra. "Vivian Lai Gives Birth". theAsianParent Singapore. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- "Vivian Lai, Alain Ong, and Pokka Corporation through the years". sg.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
- Tan, Angela (1 December 2018). "Seller of Asian Story to Kimly had links to Pokka". The Business Times. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
- hermesauto (28 September 2018). "Pokka CEO Alain Ong suspended in management reshuffle". The Straits Times. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
- hermesauto (28 August 2019). "Pokka sues actress Vivian Lai's husband, alleging he was part of conspiracy that caused $10m loss". The Straits Times. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
External links
- Archived Bio on MediaCorp TV website