'It was cut so low': Xiang Yun remembers 'embarrassing' dress from Star Awards 2011
Beonson Ang
The Straits Times
July 2, 2025
Come July 6, a new batch of local actors will be celebrated at the annual Star Awards at The Theatre at Mediacorp.
But regardless of who wins, one honour will remain unchanged - Xiang Yun and Chen Hanwei are the female and male artistes who have scooped the most trophies in the ceremony's history respectively, since its inaugural edition in 1994.
Xiang Yun, 63, has received 21 Star Awards, including 11 popularity awards and 10 performance awards. Host Quan Yifeng is in second place with 20 awards (11 popularity, nine performance) and actress-host Kym Ng is third with 18 awards (11 popularity, seven performance).
Chen, 55, has won 20 Star Awards - 11 popularity awards and nine performance awards. Hot on his heels are actor Xie Shaoguang and actor-host-DJ Mark Lee, who each have 19 awards (11 popularity, eight performance).
Nominees of performance awards are determined by an expert panel, and judged by a group of industry veterans and established media practitioners. Popularity awards are qualification-based - all artistes who meet the stated criteria will be included in the race for public votes.
In separate interviews with The Straits Times on June 26, both stars said they have not kept track of their tallies, but that the awards take pride of place in their homes.
Xiang Yun showcases them in a cabinet, together with another seven Star Awards - all in the popularity category - clinched by her husband, actor and artist Edmund Chen, 64. The celebrity couple have two children - actor-artist Chen Xi, 34, and actress-influencer Chen Yixin, 25.
However, one award that has eluded her is Best Actress, famously won by fellow actresses Huang Biren five times and Zoe Tay on four occasions.
Xiang Yun has been nominated only once in this category in 2004, for playing a divorcee in the long-running drama Double Happiness. She has won Best Supporting Actress five times, and is not nominated for any award this year.
"Of course, everyone hopes to feel validated in all aspects," she said. "I sometimes look at the actors and actresses hard at work from morning to night, and ask myself if I can cope with that. But at my age, I am not sure if I am up to playing the lead character. You really have to put in a lot of time and energy."
In any case, she is thankful for her longevity in the vocation of her choice.
"If I weren't in this line, I might be a normal aunty and followed my parents to be hawkers," she said. "Being an artiste has allowed me to grow, pick up new skills like hosting and learn so much about the world. At this point in my life, I am just focused on acting well."
Among her most memorable highlights over the years was winning the Special Achievement Award in 1995. "Both Edmund and Chen Xi, who was then four years old and wearing a little coat, attended that year. The moment felt so special to me," she recalled.
"However, each win is a surprise, because it is never certain that you are the winner."
Most of Chen Hanwei's haul are displayed on his piano. Two trophies - for his Top 5 Most Popular Male Artistes wins in 1995 and 1996 - are in one of the Malaysia-born Singapore permanent resident's homes in Johor Bahru.
Of the past 29 ceremonies - Star Awards was not held in 2008 and 2020 - both Mediacorp artistes have turned up for every single one.
Xiang Yun said: "It is such a big and important event for the company. I don't want to miss any of it."
Chen added: "I don't dare to not show up. Even during the years when I was doing backstage work (in the late 1990s), I also handled outfits of the artistes attending the event."
Over the years, it has been a stress-free experience for him. The bachelor said: "Nowadays, I just style myself - in outfits that are unique and bought overseas. What is important is to wear the clothes, and not have the clothes wear you."
Xiang Yun relishes every part of the event, from getting dolled up in her finest to walking the pre-show red carpet. Doing the latter alongside Chen Xi for the first time in 2022 was when she felt "the most comfortable, relaxed and happy".
Every year, she also anticipates the outfits her stylists prepare for her. Her most memorable get-up was a cleavage-baring black dress she donned in 2011, when she was presented with the All-Time Favourite Artiste award by then Singapore president S R Nathan.
She recalled: "It was cut so low, and part of me did not dare to walk out wearing that. It was a bit embarrassing, but thankfully, it had a piece of skin-coloured mesh material in front."
And although Chen is a seven-time Best Actor recipient, he feels he is still growing from strength to strength. In 2025, he is up for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a former convict in the crime drama Unforgivable (2024). He has won in this category twice before, in 2015 and 2018.
One skill he has picked up in his long career is hosting, such as for the travelogue Away With My BFF (2018) and reality show House Everything? (2018, 2022 and 2024). He even hosted 2022's Star Awards, and picked up the Best Actor accolade that year.
He recalled: "That night, I felt very stressed because it was the first time I was hosting a full live show."
Another recent challenge was delivering most of his lines in Hokkien in the dialect drama Whatever Will Be, Will Be (2023), despite not knowing how to speak it. He said: "I relied very heavily on the dialect coaches. One of them, fellow actor Richard Low, recorded the script line by line for me, and I memorised the lines like crazy."
In addition, Chen has mentored younger actors, such as Tyler Ten, 29, who played a gangster in the period drama Emerald Hill - The Little Nyonya Story (2025).
Chen said: "Even before Tyler got the part, a few other actors and I were trying to help him develop his take on it. We really want the next generation to succeed.
"And when they do, the pride we feel as their mentors is priceless."
Xiang Yun's Star Awards:
1 Special Achievement Award (1995)
5 Best Supporting Actress Awards
- 1998 for Around People's Park
- 2000 for My Home Affairs
- 2001 for The Challenge
- 2009 for The Little Nyonya
- 2023 for Your World In Mine
4 Best Evergreen Artiste Awards (2017, 2019, 2022, 2023)
10 Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010)
1 All-Time Favourite Artiste (2011)
Chen Hanwei's Star Awards:
7 Best Actor Awards:
- 2001 for Love Me, Love Me Not
- 2005 for A Life Of Hope
- 2009 for By My Side
- 2010 for Daddy At Home
- 2017 for The Gentlemen
- 2019 for A Million Dollar Dream
- 2022 for Recipe Of Life
2 Best Supporting Actor Awards
- 2015 for The Journey: Tumultuous Times
- 2018 for The Lead
2 Top 5 Most Popular Male Artistes Awards (1995, 1996)
8 Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes (2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
1 All-Time Favourite Artiste (2014)
- Star Awards 2025 will be shown on July 6 on Channel 8, Channel U, mewatch and the Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube Channel from 7 to 10pm. There will be a red carpet pre-show from 5 to 6.30pm. The Backstage Live behind-the-scenes live stream will take place from 3.30 to 10pm, and a Post-Awards Party from 10 to 10.30pm. Both will be showing on mewatch and the Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube Channel.
