When someone says the name Chen Jian Bin, we assume Singaporeans would immediately think of veteran star Marcus Chin, 72.
But we’ve just been proven wrong.
In The Making Of A Star, the newest episode of Mediacorp’s The Dream Competition, a series chronicling the journey of Star Search 2024‘s Top 20 contestants, the hopefuls go through masterclasses taught by industry professionals.
Like top model-turned-actress Sheila Sim for stage presence and body movement and Mediacorp executive producer Loh Woon Woon and theatre director Nelson Chia for acting.
They’ve also been taking classes from Dennis Chew and Guo Liang to hone their hosting skills, and met special guests Qi Yuwu, Yeo Yann Yann, YES 933 DJ Jeff Goh and Marcus Chin, who all made surprise appearances.
One of the contestants, Lee Ting Xuan, 19, however, didn’t seem too prepared for the occasion.
For this episode’s hosting class, the contestants were each given the chance to ask Marcus two questions and only those whose questions were approved by the mentors were allowed to ask a third.
When Guo Liang asked who would want to go first, Ting Xuan raised her hand up enthusiastically.
“I was the first to raise my hand because in the last episode, I didn’t get to perform,” explained the 19-year-old student.
For her first question, Ting Xuan chose to ask Marcus about his Sichuan restaurant, Tian Tian You Yu, which he founded with ex-Mediacorp actress Kate Pang in 2021.
“I read online that you opened a shop and I want to ask why you decided to start that business back then,” she asked.
Sounds totally harmless, right? Well, apparently not.
“Don’t bother asking this question, the business has folded. You’re pretty much rubbing it in,” replied Marcus, while Dennis and Guo Liang both burst into laughter.
We don’t blame Ting Xuan though. After all, Marcus never publicly shared that his business had shut down.
It was, however, the way she brushed off Marcus’ response that failed to redeem her blunder.
Even after Guo Liang quickly prompted her to give a reaction, she did not get the hint and attempted to ask her second question.
When she was abruptly stopped by Guo Liang, Ting Xuan cluelessly asked: “Oh do I continue [asking about the previous topic]?”
“He told you that his business has folded, are you not going to react to it?,” asked a bewildered Guo Liang, who later explained to the class they cannot ignore answers given by interviewees.
“It’s basic courtesy, and it also shows the coherence in your train of thought. On top of that, it also makes the show more interesting,” he explained.
As if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, Ting Xuan moved on to her second question for Marcus.
“I know you were born in Xinjiang, China, why did you choose to come to Singapore to further your career?” she said, as the camera panned to a very confused Marcus.
Come again?
Marcus, in case you’re wondering, is a true blue Singaporean, and was quick to realise what was going on.
“That is my other twin brother, called Chen Jian Bin. The ‘Bin’ in his name is a different Chinese character from the one in mine,” jested the jock.
“You were looking at the wrong [Chen Jian Bin]! You’ve gathered the wrong information,” he added.
Ting Xuan later explained in a b-roll interview that she did see two versions of ‘Chen Jian Bin’ while doing her research, but failed to realise that the last character in their Chinese names were different.
She did, however, realise that she would mess up the moment Marcus walked into the room that day.
In a flashback video, Ting Xuan was seen telling her fellow contestants: “He is Chen Jian Bin? He’s not the person I prepared questions for”.
Now the real question is, why did she still choose to volunteer herself first despite knowing she had done the wrong research?
Ting Xuan’s mentors were, needless to say, not very pleased with her performance.
“That was extremely awkward, she should go back and reflect on herself,” said Dennis in a separate interview.
Morale of the story? Being gung ho doesn’t always pay off.