Loretta Chen (born 2 December 1976), is a

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

an theatre director, television presenter, radio personality and author. She was the Group Business Development & Creative Director of The Activation Group, a regional creative agency and production house. She is currently based in Honolulu but is Visiting Professor at the School of Leadership and Organisational Studies at the

University of Southern Maine The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Portland, Gorham and Lewiston in the U.S. state of Maine. It is the southernmost of the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universitie ...

. She is also Adjunct Professor in Stanford University, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University and University of Hawaii.

Education

Chen studied at

Anglo-Chinese Junior College Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) is a Junior college (Singapore), junior college in Singapore that offers a two-year pre-university programme leading to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examination. Established in 1977, Anglo-Chin ...

and graduated from the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

(NUS) with a degree in English Literature and Theatre Studies. She completed her master's degree at

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

. She began doctoral studies at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

but transferred to NUS, graduating with a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in Theatre (Critical Theory).

Career

Chen was the Treasurer of the Association of Singapore Actors (ASA). In 2008, she was selected by the Mayor of the Northwest CDC to sit on the Arts and Culture Committee. In 2009, she was shortlisted as one of the Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) candidates for the Arts in Singapore, though an outspoken gay and human rights activist.

Writing career

Chen published her first book in 2014 with an autobiography, ''Woman on Top'', about her family life and business career.'''' In 2016, Chen wrote ''The Elim Chew Story: Driven by Purpose, Destined for Change'', a biography about

Elim Chew Elim Chew (born 1966) is the founder of the street wear brand, 77th Street (Streetwear Brand), 77th Street. Career Elim's first attempt into the retailing turned out to be a huge success in the retail scene. Prior to that, she was in Britain und ...

, a female

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

who started the streetwear retail chain 77th Street. In 2017, Chen published a book, ''Madonnas and Mavericks: Power Women in Singapore'', about 17 Singaporean women who have reached the peaks in various fields such as business, politics, advocacy, sports, lifestyle and the arts. The book includes Jennie Chua,

Olivia Lum Olivia Lum Ooi Lin is a Singaporean businesswoman. She is best known for being the founder, group chief executive officer, and president of the Singapore-based Hyflux Group. She also heads the Research and Development function. Early life L ...

, Ivy Singh-Lim,

Halimah Yacob Halimah Yacob (Jawi script: ; born 23 August 1954) is a Singaporean politician and former lawyer who has been serving as the eighth president of Singapore since 2017. Prior to her presidency, she was the country's Speaker of the Parliament of S ...

and

Sylvia Lim Sylvia Lim Swee Lian (; born 1965) is a Singaporean politician, lawyer, former police officer and lecturer who has been serving as Chairwoman of the Worker's Party since 2003. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Paya Le ...

. Chen planned to launch her fourth book, ''Mana Wahine: Power Women in Hawaii'', in 2018 and also another book for 2019.

Personal life

Chen has two older brothers, the elder of whom is former actor

Edmund Chen Edmund Chen () (born 4 February 1961) is a Singaporean former actor and artist. He began his career in 1987 and rose to become one of Singapore's most prominent and popular actors during the 1990s and early 2000s. Career Chen entered the entertai ...

, the other brother, Eric Chen, manages The Activation Group alongside her. Chen lived in Hawaii with her husband.

Bibliography

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References

External links

Personal WebsiteArchived Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Loretta Singaporean stage actresses Singaporean people of Hokkien descent Singaporean theatre directors Anglo-Chinese Junior College alumni LGBT writers from Singapore Living people 21st-century Singaporean actresses National University of Singapore alumni 1976 births