Singapore’s Mark Lee upbeat despite not winning Best Leading Actor award

Taipei — Singapore comedian Mark Lee is returning home without the Best Leading Actor award after it was presented to Taiwan’s Morning Mo Tzu-yi at the 57th Golden Horse Award ceremony here on Saturday (Nov 21).

He is, however, upbeat and is reported as saying that he had gained a lot from his trip to Taiwan and got to know many people in the film industry.

Lee, 52, had starred in the Singapore film Number 1, which is about a middle-aged man who has been retrenched from his job but who finds success sashaying about as a drag queen in a nightclub. Mo, 39, had starred in the film Dear Tenant, which is about a gay man fighting the prejudice of his dead partner’s family.

Number 1, however, won the award for Best Makeup and Costume Design.

Another successful entry from Singapore was in the Best Original Film Song category. The winner was Your Name Engraved Herein, the main song for the homosexual-themed romance movie with the same name. The song was written by Tan Boon Wah and Malaysian songwriters Keon Chia and Hooi Yuan Teng.

Number 1 opened in Singapore last month. Lee received a special gift bag and certificate from the organisers of the Golden Horse Awards. According to the Apple Daily, the actor joked that the certificate allowed him to ask for an increment in his pay.

Veteran Taiwanese actress Grace Chen Shu-fang, 81, scored the award for both Best Leading Actress and Best Supporting Actress. She appeared in both Little Big Women and Dear Tenant respectively. It was her first nomination after 63 years in show business.

Taiwanese romantic comedy My Missing Valentine led the nominations for this year’s awards with 11 nominations. It took home five awards, including Best Narrative Feature and Best Director for Chen Yu-hsun, 58. /TISG