- Sarah Lian
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Sarah Lian Born Sarah Lian Lay Ting
May 12, 1983
Taiping, MalaysiaOccupation actress, television host Sarah Lian (simplified Chinese: 连丽婷, born May 12, 1983), is a Chinese Malaysian actress and television personality based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She was born in Taiping, Perak Malaysia but mainly grew up in Vancouver, Canada. Lian is an actor versatile in film, television and theatre. Currently, her entertainment career spans across North America and Asia. In 2008, just a few months after coming back to Malaysia to begin her career in the entertainment industry.[1] Lian gained fame when she was voted FHM Malaysia's #1 Most Wanted Woman on their Top 100 list. Since then, she has been visible in a variety of magazines such as Stuff, Clive, New Man, Shape and Men's Health Malaysia.
Contents
Personal life
Of Chinese heritage; both parents being Chinese Malaysian, Lian is the third of four children in her family.[2] Living in a multilingual country and moving abroad, it is no surprise that she speaks a variety of languages. While proficient in English, Lian also speaks Hokkien, Cantonese, Mandarin, Malay, French and a smattering of Japanese.
Lian has lived in California, Hong Kong, Vancouver, and Toronto before moving to Kuala Lumpur in 2008.
Lian holds an Undergraduate Bachelors of Design: Fashion Communications degree at Ryerson University.[3] She has a fascination with product packaging and typography. Lian is a self-taught web designer and is frequently updating and designing her own website.
A huge fan of the durian fruit, Lian claims that it is one of the reasons why she has moved back to Malaysia.[4]
In a recent interview, Lian will be returning to Canada in March 2011 to pursue bigger opportunities in film and television.[5]
Career in Hosting
In 2007, Lian first hosted a show for college students in Canada called UTours. UTours was a resource for students interested in the Top 20 Universities. Schools covered by Lian were University of Victoria, University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, Ryerson University, York University and The University of Western Ontario.
In 2008, Lian moved to Malaysia and began working closely with Media Prima's online portal gua.com.my for their event-based show, Randommania.
The program gave Lian the opportunity to interview various personalities from local artisteMaya Karin, Fasha Sandha and Ning Baizura to international musicians such as Shayne Ward, The D.E.Y. and Machi.
As she became closely associated with GuaTV; this entertainment program escalated Lian as a recognisable face in the media world, also making her known as one of Gua's Homegrown Hotties![6][7]
At the same time, she was also enlisted as the host and writer for NTV7's informative program NUVO-where popular Taiwanese boy band Fahrenheit specifically flew down to Kuala Lumpur collaborate on their endorsement with Canon IXUS.
On October 2008, The Ultimate Prom Nite (Season 2) a Malaysian reality TV series produced by Primeworks Studios in cooperation with skincare maker Nivea kicked off. Lian co-hosted the program with Hansen Lee. The inter-campus prom night aimed at seeking students in various colleges and universities throughout Malaysia who were worthy to be crowned the "Ultimate Prom King and Queen". The following year in 2009, Lian worked on 8TV's first-online reality show Simply Fabulous by Maybelline, which was featured on 23 webisodes and its finale broadcast on television.[8]
In early 2010, Lian hosted a mobile travel guide “Ask Ting Ting” for travellers visiting the city of Hong Kong. She then returned to Kuala Lumpur in September 2010 to join ESPN’s sport gossip program MyEG Xtra Time with co-hosts Marion Caunter, Cheryl Samad and Lisa Surihani. Since November 2010, Lian is hosting Astro Hitz Radar, an hour-long talk show on music channel Astro Hitz. The program previews upcoming movie trailers, discusses trends, highlights events around town and showcases exclusive live performances from local acts.
The vivacious and bubbly Lian has been invited to emcee major events including 8TV's Shout! Awards 2010, Homegrown tribute to Michael Jackson,[9] Johnnie Walker Black Circuit Party and many of the Hennessy Artistry parties featuring international acts such as Kardinal Offishall, the Ying Yang Twins and Fatman Scoop, who have performed in Kuala Lumpur. Within a short period of time, Lian is already known to be a reliable host for hyping up crowds and commanding their attention with her sultry image and entertaining sense of humour.
Career in Acting
Lian has been acting from the age of 10. With numerous plays and productions under her belt from community productions, she made her professional debut in the Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre's production of Sex in Vancouver: Episode One-Deceptions and Reflections in August 2003. Sex in Vancouver (created by Serin Ngai and Kathy Hsieh) was an adapted version of Sex in Seattle. Lian played Elizabeth, one of four lead roles in this Asian-centric production.[10]
While finishing her degree in Toronto, Lian earned her first credit in the American Pie film franchise, American Pie Presents: Beta House featured as the "Hot Asian Girl". Although Lian filmed the movie in July 2007, her scene did not make the final cut upon the film's release in December 2007.
In August 2007, Lian also worked on the pilot episode of Home and Garden Network (HGTV Canada)’s newly launched series Mansions as the stern designer for the Fall 2008 line up.[11] Mansions;reality-based show, unveiled the realities of luxury residential construction where viewers would discover how multi-million dollar homes are designed and built, from rough sketches to jaw-dropping completion.
In Malaysia, Lian began working on a spoof-comedy news program called The Gua Centre in April 2008. She worked alongside actors and hosts Douglas Lim, Razif Hashim, Zalfian Fuzi, and Hansen Lee. Lian played the over-sexualised reporter Fanny Golightly and was notably remembered for delivering the weather report in a suggestive manner.
In 2009, Lian has been featured in a cameo-appearance as Miss Chic-Kut-Teh alongside actress Adibah Noor in Liew Seng Tat's short film Halal for 15Malaysia (a Malaysian Filmmaker's Showcase by P1 WiMAX). Later that year, Lian was cast as Anna, a supporting role in an independant feature film, directed by Dax Phelan titled Jasmine.
Lian has also been featured in a range of commercials shot for various countries. Among those include a couple advertisements McCafe and Standard Chartered-shot with Hong Kong TVB actor Moses Chan, Adidas’ 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup Shaolin Soccer commercial featuring players from Team China and Team USA, Cadbury Soft Centres, Tic Tac, Hong Leong Bank, and Celcom Euro 2008. More recently, Lian has been applauded for her role as “Ah Moi” in the latest localized myEG commercial in late 2010.[12]
Notes
- ^ Celebrating Beauty, The Star, 2008-08-19
- ^ The Real Truth Sarah Lian's Blog
- ^ Budding Talent, The Sun, 2009-01-22
- ^ Lian falling in love with KL, The Star, 2008-10-11
- ^ 'Ah Moi' is off to Canada, The Star 2011-2-2
- ^ 8 Babes GUA Loved in 2008, gua.com.my, 2009-01-09
- ^ Babe Bits: Episode 17-Sarah Lian, gua.com.my
- ^ Maybelline’s Simply Fabulous goes online, Marketing-Interactive.com, 2009-07-22
- ^ Konsert Tribut MJ 'tersekat-sekat' tapi tetap berkesan, mStar Online, 2009-08-10
- ^ Sex in Vancouver comedy offers Asians acting opportunities, Burnaby NewsLeader, 2003-08-16
- ^ HGTV:Mansions
- ^ Sar-ah Lian is an Internet hit, The Star Online, 2010-10-29
External links
Categories:- Living people
- Malaysian Chinese people
- Malaysian actors
- Malaysian television personalities
- 1983 births
- Malaysian people
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