Rui En

Lu Rui En (born 29 January 1981), better known by her stage name Rui En (瑞恩), is a Singaporean actress and was named as one of the Seven Princesses of Mediacorp in 2006. She was contracted under MediaCorp and managed under Hype Records.

In 2001, Rui En was talent-spotted after appearing in a SingTel hi!Card commercial as the "running girl". She was offered a contract by Artiste Networks, which is under Hype Records, a record label company based in Singapore. In 2002, Rui En debuted her acting career with her first drama, No Problem!. In late 2002, Rui En launched her music career in Taiwan, with the album Rui ∑n vol. 01, distributed by Alfa Music. Rui En released her second album in Singapore under Hype Records, titled United Nations, in late 2008.

Rui En first won the 'Best Actress Award' at the Singapore Star Awards 2011 with her role as a young widow in With You, the highest-rated Singapore drama in year 2010. Rui En was awarded the 'Best Actress in Leading Role' at the 2012 Asian Television Awards, for her role as a tough cop in crime drama Unriddle 2. She went on to win her third acting award in the following year at the Star Awards 2013 for the same role in Unriddle 2, earning her second 'Best Actress Award' at Star Awards.

In 2013, Rui En was appointed the spokesperson for L'Oréal Paris Youth Code, making her the first Singaporean spokesperson for the international cosmetics brand.

Education

Rui En studied at Singapore Chinese Girls' School for both her primary and secondary education. She took up ballet as a co-curricular activity in Primary Five but gave up in Secondary One, citing the pressure of coming from a wrong socio-economic class as the reason. She then joined the choir in Secondary Three and Four.

She completed her A Levels at the pre-tertiary education in Raffles Junior College, in which she won the championship in National Schools’ Hockey Tournament. Despite claiming to be her Chinese teacher's worst nightmare because she was never good in her Chinese, Rui En penned all the lyrics to her second Chinese album, titled United Nations.

Rui En graduated from Nanyang Technological University with a Bachelor of Business in 2004, specialising in Banking and Finance. In 2007, Rui En was presented with the "Nanyang Outstanding Young People Award" by her alma mater Nanyang Technological University.

Early life

In December 2001, Rui En did an interview with The Straits Times. She confessed that she used to smoke and drink occasionally, and how she grew up feeling weird as the only child in her broken family. Her parents subsequently divorced when she was seventeen.

Music career

Rui En ventured into Taiwan in 2002 with the stage name 芮恩 (pinyin: Ruì'ēn). She made her first appearance as the female lead in label mate Jay Chou's music video for "Secret Sign" and went on to co-endorse Panasonic GD68 with him. Rui En subsequently released her debut regional Chinese album, Rui ∑n vol. 01, in the same year under the co-production of Hype Records and Alfa Music. Chou composed the song "White Feather" for her debut album, Rui ∑n vol. 01' .

Rui En was nominated as the Best Local Singer in the Singapore Hits Awards 2003 and was selected alongside Taufik Batisah to perform both the English and Mandarin versions of the 2005 National Day Parade's theme song – "Reach Out for the Skies".

After a six years' break, Rui En released her second Chinese album in late 2008 under Hype Records, titled United Nations. This album was only released in Singapore, with all lyrics penned by Rui En herself. Since then, she resumed the use of her original name, 瑞恩 (pinyin: Ruì'ēn). In April 2009, Rui En was invited to perform at Singapore Day 2009 at London's Hampton Court Palace, a yearly event organised by the Overseas Singaporean Unit in the Prime Minister's Office to engage overseas Singaporeans.

Acting career

Rui En made her acting debut in MediaCorp drama, No Problem, in 2002. She landed her first leading role in 2005, with A Promise for Tomorrow. In the following year, she was identified as one of the most promising young actresses in the Singapore Entertainment Industry by local entertainment magazine I-Weekly and was hence labelled as one of the Seven Princesses of Mediacorp.

After playing a social service worker and AIDS patient in By My Side (2008), Rui En started to gain recognition, winning one of the eight 'Top 8 Likable Female Lead Characters' awards with her only production that year at the 2009 televised countdown event. In 2010, Rui En was labelled as one of the 10 Faces to watch in 2010 by MediaCorp's Buzz. Rui En also won several awards for the characters she portrayed, for instance her role as Zhang Luoyun in My School Daze which emerged as the 'Top 10 Favourite Female Characters' in Star Awards 2010, and Lin Jiaqi in The Dream Catchers which emerged as the 'Top 5 Favourite Female Characters'. In 2011, Rui En won the 'Most Favourite Female Character' award with her role as Yang Xiaodong (Happy Family).Rui En was also credited for her outstanding performance in portraying a widow in With You, winning the 'Best Actress' award in Star Awards 2011.

Rui En received the All-Time Favourite Artiste award in the 2016 star awards after winning the Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes award from 2005 to 2016 respectively with Qi Yu Wu.

In addition to her roles in dramas, Rui En has starred in a three-part docudrama produced by Channel NewsAsia, as one of Singapore's pioneer painters, Georgette Chen. The English-language series, which was also adapted into Mandarin, aired on Channel NewsAsia, MediaCorp Channel 5 and MediaCorp Channel 8 in April 2015.

Role rejection

In March 2008, Rui En was involved in a high-profile rejection of the role as an ambitious businesswoman struggling with mental illness in The Defining Moment, which subsequently went to Fann Wong instead. She was reported to have rejected the role due to a rape scene in the script. Rui En is known to be firm on her stance against intimate, revealing or kissing scenes and has been criticised by some as unprofessional. She is reported to have been blacklisted by some producers after this role-rejection incident.

2016 traffic violations

On 13 April 2016, Rui En was involved in a car accident entering a carpark near her home. Her car knocked over a stationary motorcycle. On 14 April it was reported that Rui En was assisting the police with investigations into the accident She subsequently apologised and responded with an official statement regarding the accident. The owner of the motorcycle accepted Rui En's apology through Wanbao on 15 April. For this incident, Rui En was fined S$700.

In January 2016, Rui En was also involved in a hit and run accident. There were no casualties involved, and both parties agreed to make a private settlement.

After the incident, at 12pm on 23rd December, Rui En flouted traffic rules after she drove straight on a Right Turn Only Lane in Orchard road, then cutting into the second lane. The incident was captured by the car camera of the oncoming vehicle on the second lane, which she had cut into. According to a video uploaded on Beh Chia Lor's Facebook page, the other car's driver was approaching a cross junction and slowed his vehicle to about 30 km/h when Rui En's car jumped his lane and overtook his vehicle.

The 35-year-old celebrity apologised for her actions.

Rui En is the theme song singer for The Community Chest of Singapore. The song, titled "Listen to Your Heart", has been released in the form of EP in years 2003 and 2009.

She is also a regular volunteer at "Beyond Social Services".

She has also volunteered for several children welfare organizations. Notably, in 2016, she volunteered her services together with her fan club to commemorate their 9th anniversary.

Her fanclub, RBKD does regular volunteering service to the elderly, Chinese New Year, being one of the occasions.

Solo albums

• Rui ∑n vol. 01 芮恩Rui ∑n同名專輯 (December 2002)
• United Nations 共和國 (October 2008)

Compilations

• Morning Express VI 阳光系列6 (2003)

This compilation album consists of Rui En's The Way To Be Happy 快乐方式 (Track 3) and Test 考验 (Track 9). The songs were released under Rui En's birth name – 卢瑞恩 (Lú Ruì'ēn).

• Celebrating 25 Years of Chinese Drama Collector's Edition 戏剧情牵25 (2007)

This album is a Collector's Edition composed of memorable theme songs spanning across the Singapore Chinese Drama's Twenty-Five years' History. Tracks from Rui En include a remix version of "The Way To Be Happy 快乐方式" and "Unfreeze 解冻". The songs were released under Rui En's stage name – 芮恩 (Ruì'ēn).

Singles

• Listen to Your Heart

This is the theme song for The Community Chest of Singapore and there are English and Mandarin versions to this song. The songs were released in the form of a Single.

• Reach Out for the Skies (2005)

This is the theme song for National Day Parade, 2005 and there are English and Mandarin versions to this song. Music videos were produced for both versions.

• Listen to Your Heart – Remix (2009)

A remix version of the theme song for The Community Chest of Singapore, the Mandarin track was first performed on televised charity show, TrueHearts Show 2009. The EP released in November 2009 consisted of the original tracks and the remixes in both English and Mandarin. This graphic artwork for this single was designed by Rui En's fan club, RBKD, on behalf of The Community Chest of Singapore.

• Sky's The Limit

A single by Taufik Batisah featuring Rui En.

• Numb 麻木 (2013)

A single by Rui En.

Drama theme songs

• Beautiful Connection – "The Way To Be Happy 快乐方式 "(2002)

This song was nominated as Best Drama Theme Song in Star Awards 2002 and was first released in Morning Express VI. A remix version was released in Celebrating 25 Years of Chinese Drama Collector's Edition.

• No Problem! – "Test 考验" (2003)

This is an insert song released in Morning Express VI.

• Love at 0 °C – "Unfreeze 解冻" (2006)

This was Rui En's first set of self-penned lyrics published and also her first and only theme song for the drama she is starring in. This song is released in Celebrating 25 Years of Chinese Drama Collecter's Edition.

• By My Side – "Slow Dance 慢舞" (2008)

This is an insert song found in Rui En's United Nations.

Singles