Wong Li Lin

Wong Li Lin (born 30 August 1972)^[1] is a Singaporean media personality and businesswoman. She was formerly an actress and host on Singaporean television.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Wong (黄).

Wong Li Lin
Born	(1972-08-30) 30 August 1972 (age 52) Singapore
Education	Haig Girls' School Temasek Secondary School
Alma mater	Royal Ballet School University of Surrey
Occupations	Actress host businesswoman dancer pilates trainer corporate executive
Years active	1993–present
Spouse	Allan Wu ​ ​ (m. 2003; div. 2013)​
Children	2
Parents	Wong Chee Kit (father) Leong Get Goh (mother)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	黃麗玲
Simplified Chinese	黄丽玲
Hanyu Pinyin	Huáng Lìlíng

Early life and education

Wong is born to Wong Chee Kit, a carpenter and furniture company owner from Senai, Malaysia, and Leong Get Goh, a housewife.^[2] She is the youngest in a family of four children and has three elder brothers.^[2] She was educated at Haig Girls' School and Temasek Secondary School.^[2] She started ballet by chance at age 9 and started teaching at the age of 13 to supplement her fees. Wong was awarded the Loke Cheng Kim scholarship to the Royal Ballet School in London.^[3] Wong's parents separated when she is 13 and later divorced when she in her 20s.^[2]

Wong took time away from showbiz when she was awarded a second scholarship for her Master's degree in Anthropology at University of Surrey.^[3] She wrote her dissertation on Falun Gong as it combined her interests in movement, spirituality and her heritage as an ethnic Chinese. Wong graduated in 2001.^[2]

Career

Wong was one of the pioneers in promoting pilates in Singapore,^[3] training many trainers who subsequently started their own studios. She continued teaching prolifically and founded several dance projects. She taught at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and founded several dance centres. It was while teaching at Singapore's television station that she was discovered and started a career in the media.

Wong Li Lin made her television debut in 1994 and has acted in dramas such as Masters of the Sea (1994) and Rising Expectations (长河) (1997). She became a household name for her lead role as Inspector Elaine Tay in Mediacorp Channel 5 cop drama Triple Nine (Season 1 and 2) from 1995 to 1997.^[2] After a brief hiatus from acting in 1999, she returned in 2001 and started acting frequently in Mediacorp Channel 8 dramas such as Love Me, Love Me Not (2001),^[4] The Challenge (谁与争锋) (2001)^[5] and The Reunion (顶天立地) (2001).^[5] She was also one of the four judges of the reality TV series, The Dance Floor.^[1]

In 2008, Wong starred in the Singapore romance film The Leap Years alongside Ananda Everingham,^[6] and was nominated for Best Performer in the Singapore Film Awards 2009.^[5] The movie was directed by Jean Yeo.^[6] She has also starred in several European movies and telemovies such as Love Under the Sign of the Dragon (2008),^[7] Tiger Team: The Mountain of the 1000 Dragons [de] (2010), Love in the Lion City (2009), and The Last Patriarch [de] (2010).^{[citation needed]}

Wong has held leadership roles across multiple sectors and served organisations such as Parkway Pantai,^[5] Thomson Medical as deputy director^[8] and in 2017, executive director of the Public Hygiene Council under National Environment Agency.^[8] She was most recently chief operating officer at a real estate and F&B firm and currently holds the position of Chief Executive at Mint Media.^[9]

Personal life

Wong married Chinese-American actor and host Allan Wu in Los Angeles, California, United States in December 2003.^[10] They have a daughter and a son.^[1] Wong and Wu divorced in June 2013.^[11]

Filmography

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
1994	Masters of the Sea
1995–1996	Triple Nine	Inspector Elaine Tay		[2]
1997	Rising Expectations (长河)	Yu Tingting
2001	Love Me, Love Me Not	Song Jingjing		[4]
	The Challenge (谁与争锋)	Bai Zhengyu		[5]
	The Reunion			[5]
	The Hotel	Song Leling	Episode 12
2002	Springs of Life	Su Fangfang

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
2008	The Leap Years	Li-Ann	As young Li-Ann	[6]
	Love Under the Sign of the Dragon	Li Lin	Telemovie	[7]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref
1997	Star Awards	Best Newcomer	—	Nominated
		Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes	—	Won

References

1. "12 Celebs Like Felicia Chin & Diana Ser Born In The Year Of The Rat". The Singapore Women's Weekly. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
2. Michelle Tay (18 February 2008). "Leap of love". The Straits Times. Singapore. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
3. "Actress Wong Li Lin reveals fitness programme behind her fabulous figure". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
4. "Former actress turned public servant Wong Li Lin vows to keep Singapore clean". Archived from the original on 8 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
5. "Extraordinary Women: Ms Wong Li-Lin: The Dance of My Life". KoreKulture. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
6. "First Look: 'The Leap Years'". Sinema.SG. 13 September 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
7. "Love Under the Sign of the Dragon (2008)". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
8. "Wong Li Lin: former ballerina, actress, entrepreneur, and now a public servant". Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
9. "'When did I touch his other parts?' - Cristiano Ronaldo 'groping' criticism addressed by Wong Li Lin | Goal.com Singapore". www.goal.com. 11 June 2023. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
10. "Wong Li Lin & Allan Wu go for mediation". AsiaOne. 2 August 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
11. "Wong Li Lin: I saw prostitutes and a fatal fight growing up". The New Paper. 3 August 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2023.