Aimee Chan Gained Perspective Since Becoming an Actress
Before Aimee Chan (陳茵媺) joined the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry, she was a graphic designer making a decent living in Canada. But why did she leave her job and a career with good prospects to enter the Miss Hong Kong pageant? Aimee explained, “I had many dreams and one of them was to travel the world. When I was in Hong Kong, my cousin suggested that I enter the pageant. The Miss Hong Kong pageant was considered very prestigious in Canada and I’ve considered it before, so one thing lead to another and I applied!
“I never thought about leaving the entertainment industry to pursue design again because I never really felt like I abandoned design. To me, design is a lifestyle and can be applied to many aspects of life and interpreted in many ways. For example, for each script that I read, I treat the producer as my client and my portrayal of the role is my resulting work. Throughout the process, it is up to me to add different elements to the character to make it my own.”
Regarding her 6-year journey at TVB, Aimee considers herself very lucky. “When I first joined the industry, many others suggested that I return to Canada to pursue my design career because my personality is not very fitting for the entertainment industry, they felt that I have to work much harder than others to make it in this industry. But even so, I felt like I wanted to give acting a try and although it was very difficult to adjust in the beginning, I found that I loved it – and when you love something, it doesn’t matter how hard you have to work to achieve it.”
How has the past 6 years changed Aimee as a person? “Basically it hasn’t changed me much – I’m still the happy-go-lucky type, but I’ve been exposed to much more. I used to think very naïvely where there was just black and white, now I know better and I’m much more mature.”
This article is written by Natalie for JayneStars.com.
I think she is a very sweet girl despite her lack of acting skills.
Personally I think she is trying very hard, and her acting is improving. She is another Bernice Liu. It took Bernice a long time to improve, due to language problems.
I have to agree with that, but I think her Cantonese is a bit better than when she first started. I remember watching her interviews and she had to speak English majority of the time. I honestly thought to myself that the host probably was just nodding her head but had no idea what she was saying.
Aimee Chan was from Toronto, Canada, where a lot of Hongkongers are located. She had more chances to speak Cantonese, though she did not go to a typical high school in Toronto with numerous Hongkong- Chinese students. Bernice Liu was brought up in northern part of British Coulmbia; she just went to UBC, Vancouver, for her university education where she started learning Chinese.
Actually, Miss Hong Kong isn’t really prestigious in Canada, LOL. Don’t know what Aimee is talking about but I live in Canada.. and only Miss Chinese Vancouver & toronto are prestigious.. along with miss world canada, miss world, etc. :/
and it’s only prestigious to hongkongers who actually cares and follows.
My mom was from HK and she does not care about it. So um Aimee, maybe you should survey people here before making a false generalization.
Old generations don’t care about Miss Hong Kong. Miss Hong Kong in old days meant nothing at all …… no qualifications, no education, just some so-called pretty faces. However, 99% of the contestants for Miss Hong Kong now are highly educated and well-qualified beauties, and the competitions are pretty tough. Of course, it is an honour to be crowned Miss Hong Kong.
But there is no honour in being Miss HK in HK because they don’t represent HK at international level since some are not even residents in HK. It is just a competition for skin and next step towards an acting career.
Ditto. Almost all speak mandarin. And some venture into acting without the basics such as language aka Christine miss toronto pageant winner.
Um LOL I’m from Toronto, it’s a laughing matter now. Majority of the contestants are porkchops or daddy financially backing you up. Majority of the contestants are now Mandarin girls who are visa students…
Correct. Almost 90% of them cannot speak Cantonese and they are visa students.
Are you referring to the contestants of Miss Chinese Toronto or Miss Chinese Vancouver?
Both unfortunately.
Miss Vancouver and Miss Toronto are only considered prestigious cause if you win, you get the chance to go to honkers MCI and pretty much gain a free pass into TVB……….think of off the MCI’s from Vancouver….Linda, Bernice, Candy, Eliza, Aimee, Carat (yeah she first participated in Vancouver pageants but didn’t win first prize lolz).
Miss Vancouver and Miss Toronto are only considered prestigious cause if you win, you get the chance to go to honkers MCI and pretty much gain a free pass into TVB…
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It is absolutely right. In fact, Miss Hong Kong has a higher status and gets to film drama series quicker, like Rebecca Zhu.
Personally I think judges in Hong Kong know better how to select pretty faces than judges in Toronto and Vancouver. The panels of judges in Hong Kong usually consist of pretty TVB artistes, movie stars, etc., while panels of judges here are usually some funny art people or businessmen.
I agree with you guys.
But either way.. Pageants here are overated. No one really cares! =P
Candy, Aimee were from Toronto.
Only Linda, Bernice, Eliza, Carat is from Vancouver. But out of all of them, I think Bernice and Linda are the most successful.I mean, Bernice Liu was recently awarded Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (which is pretty prestigious) here in Vancouver.
You don’t see Aimee getting it, LOL.
Aimee competed in Miss Chinese Toronto pageant before but failed to win anything but then went on to compete in Miss Hong Kong.
This might be why she said Miss Hong Kong is more prestigious even thought its obviously not.
Both Aimee Chan and Janet Chow competed for Miss Chinese Toronto Pageant in 2004, and both of them failed to win. They both were winners in Miss Hong Kong Pageant the year after.
First, the winner in 2004 was a big winner (LENA MA) who also won Miss World Canada in 2009. Secondly, I don’t think we have good judges in Canada to pick the most beautiful girls for Miss Chinese Toronto/Vancouver. Very often the winners were not pretty at all.
I agree ! Have you seen the outfits the girls have to wear every year in the Miss Toronto Pageant? Horrible! Dominic Lam ‘s wife is the designer and “force” behind it. I am so alarmed by the tacky decorations and colors she uses. Lena Ma is beautiful but I suspect hat she got her eyelids done. Her eyes are now bigger and the double eyelids are more apparent. Back in Miss Toronto 2004, she looked as though she had monolids. She has a lovely voice too.
Uni
I felt it the same way. Lena Ma was not that pretty when she was crowned Miss Chinese Toronto in 2004. She was prettier when she won Miss World Canada in 2009. It is for that reason that I said the judges in Canada were not as strong as the ones in Hong Kong. Many of the winners were not the most beautiful girls in the competitions. Fairchild TV used to hire arts and musical people and local Chinese business sponsors to be the judges. Their expectations of prettiness were sometimes very weird.
Miss Hong Kong, Miss Chinese Vancouver Pageant, Miss Chinese Toronto Pageant are quite similar. Only the places they represent and the way they are treated afterwards are different.
No, I don’t quite agree. Not many Chinese girls, who are locally born, would like to compete in Miss Chinese Toronto/Vancouver. In the last few years most of contestants are visa students or new immigrants from Mainland China. The rewards are not as great as the ones in Miss Hong Kong – a contract with TVB, not only for winners but even for some final contestants. Moreover, the contestants will have a chance to travel to compete in new places. In both Toronto and Vancouver, only the top 1 winner will be able to compete in Hong Kong. Fairchild TV usually hosts the pageant shows in end of November or early December, and the contestants have to take one semester or term off from university in order to go through all the preparations. I think Miss Hong Kong Pageant is done during summer holidays, and the contestants (usually university students) can easily participate in the competitions during their summer holidays. It seems that the rewards are bigger and less “critical” time is needed.
sandcherry:
Some stuff you mentioned is right. Miss Chinese Toronto/Vancouver pageant is hosted by Fairchild TV (only a portion is owned by TVB). Although it seems that the MCTP/MCVP winners do not have much rewards, the hosts are different. That influences the rewards. However, some contestants from MCVP/MCTP can get a contract with Fairchild TV, which is also pretty good. Both Miss Hong Kong and MCI are hosted by TVB. They have a much larger resource base than Fairchild. Larger resource base= more rewards, more places to go to.
At the same time, Fairchild TV does not have a choice on when to do the pageants. And also, I do not agree that they have to give a whole term. Usually, an university student in Vancouver would be done by end of Nov/early December. (at least for SFU) Fairchild have to do it during that time because MCI is held quite early before the summer months.
The contestants have to go through some 3 months’ training before they compete in Miss Chinese Toronto/Vancouver Pageant Shows. Therefore, the contestants usually take off one semester, starting from September to go through the training before the actual competition in mid to end November in Toronto, and early December in Vancouver. It is very hard for them to go to school and training at the same time for a 3-month period.
I think it all comes down to managing time and whatnot. I do know that this year’s MCVP winner is a fulltime Business student. Some universities doesn’t give that flexibility to let you enroll in one term over the other. Usually, they would force you to enroll in both terms unless their university lets them.
not to mention the enrollment for both terms are usually before the signup for pageants.
It was mentioned here: ” This year, with a less intensive school schedule, Tang decided to give it a shot.”
so not all contestants do give up school to go to pageants.
source: http://www.richmondreview.com/entertainment/183538331.html
And not to mention, some universities do offer a summer term as well.
A contract with Fairchild TV means nothing. Kayi Cheung and many others winners had worked for Fairchild TV, but only on a part-time basis. Fairchild TV cannot afford to hire hosts full-time even for “大城小聚”. The winners/contestants were usually hired to do “熒幕八爪娛” which is just a mini-program.
It may mean nothing to you or small to you. With the economy like this, any job is better than none. I would love it if I had the opportunity to work with Fairchild TV.
By entering into fairchild, it’s a good starting point to enter into entertainment industry. It’s better than having zero experience.
And besides, you can use networking from working at Fairchild to get into TVB as well.
you can use networking from working at Fairchild to get into TVB as well.
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It is true though. I believe that many hosts had already done it.
yeah, that’s what I’m hoping for. Dream job= go to Hong Kong and work for TVB! But I would be satisfied if I could work work Fairchild after finishing this communications degree.
Sorry Bubblez, I don’t agree with you. Even the full time hosts like Dominic Lam made barely anything. The reason why he owns a three garage home today is because of his investments in Tea 168( a large bubble tea franchise but has been renamed since). My uncle and dad told me that seniors like him barely made anything. It was 20,000-30,000. So imagine what the newcomers would make. It also makes you wonder why he still goes back to HK to act every now and then (AND NO it’s not cause he has a passion for acting).
Also, bridging connections through Fairchild to Hong Kong’s TVB isn’t an easy task. It’s easier said than done. Girls like Elva Ni who won the pageant many years ago only recently went back (about two or three years). And even now I’ve only see her as a “Ke lei fei” e.g. My Sassy Husband.
And @Sandcherry, it is possible to juggle school and the pageant. I knew a few participants myself and the recent Vancouver winner is a prime example. She goes to school with my friend at UBC. She was vigorously involved in the Saunders Business School there! But I agree with your comment about the rewards.
I did not say it is not possible. It is just hard on the contestants. I think they have to go for a few hours of training each day or 3 times a week for about 3 months. It depends on individual contestants if they can take so much workload for 3 months. I found out about this from the winners’ interviews at 大城小聚. Many of them mentioned that they had to skip one semester in order to concentrate in the competition.
The pay is very low at Fairchild TV and they do not have any locally produced programs, except 大城小聚, 熒幕八爪娛, 社團簡訊/亞省面面觀, daily local news and maybe one or two mini-shows. They cannot afford to hire anyone full-time.
Kayi Cheung worked for them for a few months and she even won Miss Hong Kong, she is still not popular in TVB.
Not only Kayi but Skye Chan and Toby Chan are also nowhere to be seen.
For MCI, we have Leanne Li and Ocean Zhu. Never can’t understand why they don’t promote Leanne and Ocean, especially Ocean.
That is what I call “fate” and “luck”. These two are very important elements in a person’s success.
@Uni: Oh I’m quite naive. Haha but yeah I do recognize it is a hard task and I do know that working Fairchild is not enough. But thinking of the economy and how hard it is to get a job, any job is pretty good.
And I think you’re talking about Sauder 🙂
she has a pretty face 🙂 dpnt really like her nose though
Aimee Chan is the least beautiful MISS HK winner.
Aimee Chan is a lucky winner though she also works hard. Kayi Cheung is not that lucky. She is still doing 3rd or 4th or 5th supporting roles in TVB drama series.