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VERSATILE READER
StarMag, Dec 25, 2005
SOMETIMES, versatility seeps from one aspect of our lives into every other. Actress/producer Chae Lian’s versatility as an actress may not only be attributable to her acting skills. It could also be partly due to her love for all things, especially when it comes to reading. This young lady doesn’t just stick to one genre.
As a child, Chae Lian read mainly Enid Blyton books. “I think it was because she was so prolific and wrote such a wide range of things. I read her books until probably 12.
“Next, I read Judy Blume. Then, because I took Literature, I started to read serious books because they were part of the syllabus.”
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Chae Lian: 'If I had the time, I could cook this.' |
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Then there were the romance novels. Chae Lian unabashedly admits she had a whole wall full of them. Her favourite romance novelist is Judith Mcnaught – she read all of her books until there was nothing more to read.
She also used to read Sidney Sheldon and other really light stuff. “I guess because I was studying Shakespeare and John Steinbeck in school, I felt in my own time I needed to read more trashy stuff.”
Then she had to study Ulysses by James Joyce at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States. This book was part of her Modern Novels class – both of which bring back fond memories.
“It was actually quite difficult for all of us in the drama department, because in the performing arts and fine arts departments, we got in based on an audition or our work, not our academic results. Many of my classmates had to struggle a bit because not all of them were ‘A’ students in high school.
“For this particular course, we had a very nice teacher who said, ‘When I give you assignments, you don’t have to write it as a paper. If you feel that you can express yourself better by presenting something you make or anything which is not written, that’s fine as well.’
“So when we studied Ulysses it was a lot of fun. Some of my classmates came up with very interesting interpretations,” says Chae Lian . It gave modern literature a 3D effect and brought it to life for her.
Today, the petite actress says she also likes reading cookbooks. Does she cook?
“Not a lot, actually. That’s why I like to read them. I’d like to think, ‘If I had the time, I could cook this’.
“I like One-Pot, Slow-Pot & Clay-Pot Cooking by Jenni Fleetwood because I don’t have to cook different dishes. I can just dump everything into one dish and that’s my meal. I also like (British lifestyle guru) Nigella Lawson’s cookbooks. Now that she has a TV show, I don’t bother reading her books; I just watch her shows.”
Chae Lian has just finished reading Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card, currently her favourite author.
“About 15 years ago a friend introduced me to Card’s books. His Ender’s Game sort of made him very famous. A friend gave me the book and said, ‘I don’t like science fiction. I don’t read science fiction. But I liked this book. You should read it. It’s very interesting.’
“That’s what got me started. Then I started to read his other books as well and really enjoyed them. Normally, I don’t read science fiction, but I do enjoy Card’s work. Maybe it’s his style of writing – he’s a very good storyteller. I would like to think it’s because he trained as a playwright, so he knows how to tell stories in a very dramatic fashion.
“The other thing I find particularly interesting is that he brings in biblical allegories and bases a lot of questions on morality and ethics. Many of his sagas are about the struggle between leaving things alone and trying to improve on them, and what that entails. I like them because they make me think. And this gives science a more human perspective.”
To help her with her theatre business – she’s the “wife” in Gardner & Wife Theatre – Chae Lian has started reading arts marketing books like Stage Directions Guide to Getting and Keeping Your Audience, edited by Stephen Peithman and Neil Offen.
People in the theatre business need to know more and more about how to sell their product, she says. “You can’t be flying by the seat of your pants.”
Copyright Star Publications (M) Bhd
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