13 facts you didn't know about former actor Edmund Chen

Edmund Chen began acting after completing acting training with SBC — Singapore Broadcasting Corporation — the predecessor to Mediacorp. His first acting credits were back in 1987 for the drama Sunshine After Rain and Moving On.

The film is Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. He played the character Huang Xiang in the 2009 film, who was the father of Chun-Li played by Kristin Kruek.

Edmund Chen's rise in the entertainment industry experienced a brief pause when he opted for a hiatus from show business in the late 1990s. However, his comeback proved to be a resurgence, as he not only regained momentum but also clinched the Top 10 Most Popular Male Artists award seven times in a row. Aside from that, he has also won numerous awards for his work in the entertainment industry, including a Golden Horse Award and an Asian Film Award.

After his second child and daughter Chen Yixin was born, Edmund Chen made the decision in the 2000s to retire to spend more time with her after he regretted not being able to spend more time with his elder child and son Chen Yixi. "I didn’t have any concrete plans then. All I wanted was to be there for my daughter while she grows up."

Unless you've been living under a rock, you would know that Edmund Chen is married to actress Xiang Yun. The couple met on the set of the 1989 drama Patrol and got hitched after 1.5 months. They have been together for 34 years since.

Xiang Yun revealed on Rebecca Lim's show With Love, Becks that the two registered their marriage to get their house but ended up having to go public as reporters caught them outside the Registry of Marriages.

While both children Chen Yixi and Chen Yixin have now been in several productions, Edmund Chen and Xiang Yun were initially resistant to them following their paths into showbiz.

Sharing with Lianhe Zaobao in 2021, Xiang Yun explained, "I deliberately did not give them the chance to develop themselves further in showbiz. I didn’t wish for them to enter [this industry]. It’s a very tough job, [and I’ve] had to endure loads of suffering in order to make it to today. Their dad also understands, and isn’t active in the industry any more, [choosing] to do his own stuff instead. In order to walk on this path, you need to have a very strong heart, and loads of enthusiasm. I didn’t know if they’d be able to do so, therefore, I did not encourage them."

Edmund Chen might be in his '60s but that doesn't stop him from training a hot body that would put most of us to shame. He has shared multiple shots of his taut chest and six-packs on his Instagram. Edmund Chen shared in 2021 that the hardest part about his fitness journey is controlling his diet as he isn't a picky eater and loves hawker food. His slowing metabolism, however, doesn't allow him to have free rein on whatever he wants to eat.

According to the Pan Asia Publishing website, Edmund Chen has three books under his name - Rainbow Island, Little Otters to the Rescue and Maskee Bear. The former two are also available in English.

Hopping on the NFT trend, Edmund Chen sold an NFT painting in February 2022. Titled Spring — Cherish the Moment, the painting was sold for 15 Ether or around $53k and is part of a series he plans to complete. The work was bought during a private auction by an entrepreneur identified as Queenie Yang. The other three works slated are aptly named Summer, Autumn and Winter.

In case you couldn't tell from the previous point, Edmund Chen is quite the artist. One of his hobbies is pencil drawings. Another hobby he has is reading comics, especially when he is in the loo.

The record is for the longest drawing by an individual and Edmund Chen successfully made the Guinness World Record in 2013. The work spanned eight days and involved a 606-metre-long paper sheet with drawings of lotus flowers and koi fish. To complete the challenge, Edmund Chen underwent training and used painkillers and heat plasters to tide him through the days.

Referring to his Changi condo apartment, Edmund Chen's new home is a ground floor unit with a small garden and balcony that looks towards the condo's leisure corner. As a result of being adjacent to a very public location, Edmund Chen and Xiang Yun revealed that there were many neighbours who looked into the home when they first moved in. Edmund Chen also stated that the condo is the family's "staycation home" to chill and bond with each other.

In 2017, Edmund Chen got into a legal tussle with his former assistant Karen Ho. According to the reports, Karen Ho reached out to him to collaborate on a project that didn't materialise. Edmund Chen later employed her as she got close to his family and was facing financial difficulty. Their relationship later soured as Edmund Chen accused her of cheating him and Xiang Yun of almost $100k, capitalising on his reputation and sabotaging client relations by scamming about 10 victims. Eventually, the case was settled amicably.