Mediacorp actor Shaun Chen, 45, has moved with his family back to Malaysia.
Shaun, who is a Singapore permanent resident, tied the knot with Celine Chin, 34, who’s also Malaysian, in 2015. They have two daughters — Nellie, eight, and Neia, seven.
In a recent interview with Lianhe Zaobao, the actor revealed that he and his family moved to the Eco Botanic township estate in Johor Bahru on August 1.
The place they’re now staying at is rented, and they’re on a lookout for a house to buy.
His two girls, who are Malaysian and Singapore PRs, are enrolled in an international school in Johor Bahru.
When asked why he decided to move to JB, Shaun, who is from Negeri Sembilan, said it’s largely because of his age.
“I’m not young anymore. I was going to return to Malaysia to retire anyway, so I decided to enroll my daughters into the international school in JB while they are still young,” said the actor.
His house is only a half-an-hour drive from the Malaysia-Singapore second link bridge, and he shared that since the movie, his family’s living expenses have dropped by 30 per cent.
On top of that, the cost of being in an international school in JB works out to be about the same as the school fees and student-care fees for PRs in Singapore.
According to Shaun, his two daughters have been at the new school for less than a month and are enjoying themselves very much.
“The environment is great and the workload isn’t that stressful. They also get to meet students from all over the world,” he shared.
As for his new neighbourhood, Shaun, who used to lived in Tiong Bahru in Singapore, revealed that he used to own a house in that estate, but sold it during the pandemic as there was no one staying there.
A house in Eco Botanic, which is a popular residential project about a 10-minute drive from Legoland Malaysia, costs at least 1mil ringgit (S$300K).
Shaun has also sold his apartment in Singapore.
If you’re wondering how the shift would affect his work here, Shaun said it would not.
“My acting career wouldn’t change much. I’ll go over to Singapore whenever I have to act. I’ll just be travelling between Singapore and Malaysia,” he said.
The actor has been driving across the Causeway for work since the move. He said traffic conditions have been smooth except on public holidays.
He added that actors these days have less opportunities and that he will continue working hard for his career.
“This is just a transitional phase. I’m still looking forward to better roles from Mediacorp,” said Shaun.