09 June 2002

TAKE 5

THIS former SingTel girl has run into good luck these days.

You’ll remember Lu Rui En as the gutsy babe in the ad who raced up a sweat just to top up her handphone’s stored value card.

Now, she could even be the next Stefanie Sun or Tanya Chua.

The 21-year-old NTU business student has signed on with Hype Records after crooning Mariah Carey and Faye Wong tunes at her audition. She is recording her debut Mandarin album – even though she doesn’t really listen to Chinese music.

And all this while finishing up her attachment at an IT firm.

Meanwhile, the showbiz ingenue makes her small screen debut in the new Channel 8 drama No Problem, which starts tomorrow. Rui En plays Chen Hanwei’s longtime sweetie-pie girlfriend – until Ivy Lee comes between them.

Do you go ga-ga over guys made from the F4 mould?

No! I’m not so much into the long-hair, idol look. For me, it’s more of character and sei (Hokkien for style). But now I really like Hayden Christensen. Which girl wouldn’t?
You take pride in your proficiency in…

Doing imitations. I’m pretty good at a Malay rocker accent.

How do you feel about the whole slimming pill scandal that dogged your co-stars Chen Liping or Andrea De Cruz?

Actually I was told to lose weight, because I have baby fat on my cheeks. But after the Slim 10 thing I was pretty disturbed. No way would I take pills. It’s all about exercise and a healthy diet.
Women don’t get football: True or false?

False. Then again, I think they get it only because of the cute guys. Other than that there’s no other attraction for us.

What’s the wildest thing you’ve ever done?

While I was in secondary school, my parents were very strict and I had an early curfew. I would sneak out of the house by the back gate in the middle of the night. Once, when I came back early in the morning, my mum was waiting for me! That was the scariest thing in the world.
I was grounded for half a year and couldn’t even use the phone!

– Jeanmarie Tan

Categorised in The New Paper.