Lim Kay Tong wins at Asian Television Awards

Veteran Singapore actor Lim Kay Tong was named Best Supporting Actor at the Asian Television Awards on Dec 3, 2015. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

SINGAPORE - Veteran local actor Lim Kay Tong, who was named Best Supporting Actor at the Asian Television Awards on Thursday (Dec 3) night, did not expect to win at all.

In fact, he had turned up at the event an hour late, so busy was he with errands.

"I was doing so many things, just running errands and doing mundane daily stuff, so I was running almost an hour behind schedule.

"All I wanted to do was go to the show and have some fun. So to actually win something - it's just really gratifying," he told reporters backstage after the event.

The 61-year-old took home the award for his perfomance in HBO Asia's original drama series Grace, in which he played a fortune teller.

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He was the only Singaporean to take home an acting award at the event, which was held at Suntec Convention Centre.

Asked how he feels about his fellow countrymen going home empty-handed, he says frankly: "The thing is, this is a regional awards show with nominees from places like China, Korea and Japan, where they have bigger infrastructure and are more developed in terms of their television productions.

"So their actors could have had more opportunities and are given a headstart too. But I think it's a good thing - this will push our own actors to do better and improve and stay ahead of the competition."

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Some of the local actors who failed to win include Pierre Png, who lost the Best Actor award to China's Zhang Jiayi (Forty-nine Days Memory) and homegrown actress Felicia Chin, who lost Best Actress to China's Zhou Xun (Red Sorghum).

The award for Best Drama Series went to South Korea's hit show The Incomplete. Thai actress Nusba Punnakanta took home the award for Best Supporting Actress (The Secret Truth).

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In its 20th year, the Asian Television Awards is an annual affair that honours excellence in TV performance and programming in the region.

This is the first year where the show is held over two nights, with the technical awards presented on Wednesday night, and major performing awards on Thursday night.

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