Selena Tan

Last updated
Selena Tan
Born (1971-07-29) 29 July 1971 (age 53)
NationalitySingaporean
Other namesChen Meilin
Education
Alma mater National University of Singapore
Occupations
AgentDream Academy (founder)
Spouse
John Pok
(m. 2005)
Children1
Parent(s)Charles Tan (father)
Daisy Lim (mother)
Musical career
Member of Dim Sum Dollies
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 陳美廩
Simplified Chinese 陈美廪
Hanyu Pinyin Chén Měilǐn

Selena Tan (born 29 July 1971) [1] is a Singaporean executive producer, director, writer, actress, businesswoman and former lawyer. She is best known as one of the cabaret trio, the Dim Sum Dollies. [2] [3] In 2000, Selena founded Dream Academy, which produced a variety of performance shows.

Contents

Early life

Tan was born in 1971 in Singapore, to army officer Lieutenant Colonel Charles Tan, of the Singapore Armed Forces, and gold broker Daisy Lim. As the eldest of her siblings, she had two brothers and two sisters. She studied at Fairfield Methodist Secondary School, Raffles Junior College and graduated with a law degree from National University of Singapore.

She started acting at age 14 and was taught by the late theatre actress and director Christina Sergeant. [4]

Tan also appeared in school productions and community theatre pieces until her undergraduate years. She also acted in plays and performances while working full-time as a general litigation lawyer. [5]

Career

Tan left the legal profession in 1997 to fully immerse herself full-time in the local arts and entertainment scene. [6]

In 1998, Tan staged her own standup with Selena Exposed! [7] Theatre company Action Theatre subsequently restaged Selena Exposed! for its comedy festival in 1999 and reinterpreted her piece as Broadway Baby Kailan. Dr Low Guat Tin, then a teacher-trainer director with the National Institute of Education (NIE), was so impressed with Selena's performance in Broadway Baby Kailan that she invited Selena to stage a show for Teachers' Day – The Other Side of the Teacher's Table. The three-night show enjoyed mild success. [8]

In 2000, Tan utilised her life savings to set up Dream Academy, an independent arts and entertainment company. Dream Academy has since produced the Crazy Christmas series, Happy Ever Laughter, Broadway Beng, Meenah and Cheenah, The Hossan Leong Show, Kumar's standup comedies at the Esplanade and later the Dim Sum Dollies in 2002. [9]

In 2022, Tan set up a Peranakan-food stall known as Daisy's Dream (named after her mother) at Urban Hawker in New York City, a hawker center that sells Singapore-themed dishes. She manages the stall along with her and mother and brother, Roy. [10]

Personal life

Tan has been married to lawyer John Pok since 2005. They have one son. [11]

Filmography

Film and television

Theatre

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North East MRT line</span> Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore

The North East Line (NEL) is a high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in Singapore. Operated by SBS Transit, the 20-kilometre (12 mi) line is the MRT's shortest. It runs from HarbourFront station in southern Singapore to Punggol station in the northeast, serving 16 stations via Chinatown, Little India, Serangoon and Hougang. Coloured purple on official maps, it is Singapore's third MRT line and the world's first fully-automated underground driverless heavy rail line.

<i>Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd</i> Singaporean TV sitcom

Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd was a Singaporean sitcom. The sitcom centres on an eccentric general contractor with his trademark yellow boots, curly afro hair and large facial mole. While it carries the traditions of a sitcom, many unusual elements were used such as flashbacks, quick gags and celebrity cameo appearances. It is also the second locally produced English sitcom after Under One Roof. It paved the way for the third and final future Singaporean local sitcom named Police & Thief. It was also one of the most popular locally produced television series in Singapore alongside Under One Roof and Growing Up.

Triple Nine is an English language dystopian fiction television police procedural telecast on what was then the Television Corporation of Singapore's Channel 5 from 1995 to 1999. As the station's earliest attempt in an action-based drama series, the series revolved around the lives of a group of police officers, namely Inspector Mike Chin, Inspector Elaine Tay, and Sergeant Alan Leong from the Special Investigation Section of the CID.

<i>I Not Stupid</i> 2002 Singaporean comedy film directed by Jack Neo

I Not Stupid is a 2002 Singaporean comedy film about the lives, struggles and adventures of three Primary 6 pupils who are placed in the academically inferior EM3 stream. Written and directed by Jack Neo, and produced by Mediacorp Raintree Pictures, the film stars Huang Po Ju, Shawn Lee, Joshua Ang, Cheryl Desiree Chan, Xiang Yun, Jack Neo, Richard Low and Selena Tan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buangkok MRT station</span> Mass Rapid Transit station in Singapore

Buangkok MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the North East Line (NEL) in Singapore. Serving the residential neighbourhood of Buangkok, the station is near the intersection of Sengkang Central with Compassvale Bow. It is also planned to serve a future bus interchange and Sengkang Grand Residencies, an integrated commercial and residential development. The station is operated by SBS Transit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kovan MRT station</span> Mass Rapid Transit station in Singapore

Kovan MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the North East line (NEL) in Hougang, Singapore. Located underneath Upper Serangoon Road, the station serves the retail development of Heartland Mall and surrounding public and private residences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Lee</span> Singaporean singer-songwriter, playwright, film director (born 1956)

Richard Lee Peng Boon is a Singaporean singer-songwriter, playwright and film director. Lee was awarded the Cultural Medallion, Singapore's pinnacle arts award, for music in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Png</span> Singaporean actor (born 1973)

Pierre Png Tiang Huat is a Singaporean actor, comedian and businessman. He is known for starring in multiple Singaporean MediaCorp's Channel 5 and Channel 8's dramas which include The Gentlemen and When Duty Calls.

Tan Kheng Hua is a Singaporean actress. She is best known for her supporting roles in the 2018 Hollywood film Crazy Rich Asians and in American television network the CW's martial arts television series Kung Fu (2021-2023).

Singapore Day is an event organised by the Overseas Singaporean Unit under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (Singapore) to engage Overseas Singaporeans and their families. Held in cities with a significant community of Overseas Singaporeans, it is a single-day annual event designed to give Singaporeans a "slice of home while overseas" through food, performances, information updates on the situation in Singapore and career options to entice them to return to the country. Political leaders would often make unannounced visits, such as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's visit to the London event in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dim Sum Dollies</span> Singaporean musical cabaret trio

The Dim Sum Dollies is a musical cabaret trio group in Singapore, founded in 2002 by Selena Tan, Emma Yong and Pamela Oei. The Dollies are known for their loud and colourful costumes, spectacular dance scenes and their comical but incisive approach to contemporary social issues in Singapore. Denise Tan completed the trio after the death of Emma Yong in 2012; however she left the Dollies in 2016 to focus on radio hosting and replaced by Jo Tan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glen Goei</span>

Glen Goei is one of Singapore's leading film and theatre directors. His broad ranging body of work embraces the full gamut of the performing and visual arts and includes film, theatre, musicals, large scale shows, World Expos, dance, music, and architectural design.

Pamela Oei is a Singaporean theatre actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punggol MRT/LRT station</span> Mass Rapid Transit and light rail station in Singapore

Punggol MRT/LRT station is a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) interchange station in Punggol, Singapore. It is an interchange station between the North East Line (NEL) and Punggol LRT (PGLRT), and the only MRT station located within Punggol planning area. Stretching across Punggol Central, the station is situated next to Punggol Temporary Bus Interchange and the retail development of Waterway Point.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vivian Balakrishnan</span> Singaporean politician

Vivian Balakrishnan is a Singaporean politician, diplomat and former ophthalmologist who has been serving as Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2015. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Cashew division of Holland–Bukit Timah GRC since 2006, and previously the Ulu Pandan division of Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC between 2001 and 2006.

Emma Yong Oi-Mun was a Singaporean actress and singer. She was an actress for MediaCorp from the late 1990s until her death. She appeared in the film, The Blue Mansion, in 2009 and she was in the music group called Dim Sum Dollies. She died of stomach cancer.

Neo Swee Lin is a Singaporean actress who has appeared in several Asian media productions and theatrical works since the 1980s.

Koh Chieng Mun is a Singaporean actress and comedian. She is best known for her role as Dolly Tan on the English-language popular and award-winning Singaporean local sitcom Under One Roof. In 2018 she was cast in the American romantic comedy-drama film Crazy Rich Asians.

The following lists events that happened during 1975 in Singapore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City Developments Limited</span> Singaporean real estate organisation

City Developments Limited (CDL), sometimes also known as CityDev, is a Singaporean multinational real estate operating organisation. Founded in 1963, CDL first developed projects in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, as well as in Singapore. Due to geo-political changes, CDL was making a loss before being controlled by Hong Leong Bank via shares acquisition in 1969. Since then, CDL has developed many types of properties from shopping malls to integrated developments. CDL is currently headquartered in Republic Plaza, Singapore. Kwek Leng Beng is its current chairman and Sherman Kwek, Kwek Leng Beng's son, is its current chief executive officer.

References

  1. "Selena Tan". Facebook. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  2. A blast from the past for the Dim Sum Dollies
  3. Model child
  4. Mayo, M. (2013, February 23). Drama teachers group to hold a memorial for Christina Sergeant. Today Online
  5. Kwok, Y. (2005, March 28). Laws of attraction. The Straits Times, p. 2. Retrieved from NewspaperSG
  6. Yong, S. C. (2002, July 30). A flair for transformation. The Straits Times, p. 25, Retrieved from NewspaperSG
  7. Chia, C. (2006, July 31). Selena exposed. The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved from NewspaperSG
  8. Oon, C. (2000, January 26). The world's now her stage. The Straits Times. Retrieved from Factiva.
  9. About us. Dream Academy website
  10. Cole, Kirstin; Jondonero, AJ (28 September 2022). "Daisy's Dream serves up Singaporean favorites at Manhattan's Urban Hawker". WPIX . Midtown Manhattan, New York City . Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  11. Singapore, National Library Board. "Selena Tan | Infopedia". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 2018-05-04.