Battle of the Endorsements: Sharon Au vs Nicole Seah?
Posted: August 23, 2011 Filed under: Candidates, From Our Mailbox, Tan Jee Say, Tan Kin Lian, Tony Tan Keng Yam 2 Comments »
Sharon Au
Tan Kin Lian supporter KL4EVR has highlighted a tweet by 147th media Straits Times reporter Tessa Wong, who posted around 11pm tonight:
“Wah. Sharon Au speaking at Tony Tan’s rally tmrw.”
A quick search on Twitter about “Sharon Au” yields a variety of opinions, ranging from admiration of her ability to write in French (!), her looks, and the occasional negative opinion.
How should we interpret these multiple endorsements? Will they really make a difference for Tony Tan, the way Nicole Seah has helped Tan Jee Say? Or is it all window dressing?
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Who is Sharon Au?
Sharon Au (欧菁仙) is a bilingual Chinese language MediaCorp actress from Singapore. According to her Wikipedia entry, she was previously a Top 10 Most Popular Female Artiste in the annual Star Awards. She has hosted shows such as City Beat, and acted in theatre roles such as cabaret girl and radio presenter.
Sharon Au, one of only a few women who can make thick black spectacles look hot.
Her strengths seem to be in hosting rather than acting, as she won the No. 1 Variety Show Host in Mediacorp.
From 2005 she was overseas studying in Japan and France, returning in April 2011. She participated in the National Day Parade 2011.
What impact will Sharon Au have on the Presidential Election campaigns?
Sharon Au is popular among the Chinese language voters, especially those who remember her regular media appearances in the late 1990s and early 2000s. As Tony Tan is not fluent in Mandarin (as his 1st Presidential Campaign Broadcast painfully demonstrated to all), this may be a strategic move to further engage the Chinese educated ground.
It also opens up a new angle for competing endorsements by attractive young women (although one is a bit younger than the other). While Nicole Seah can hold a conversation in Mandarin, it is clear that Nicole’s Little Nyonya background is stronger in Malay and English.
Nicole Seah
So we may well have Tan Jee Say endorsed by Nicole Seah, who commands a strong following amidst the English language ground – facing off Tony Tan’s endorsement by Sharon Au who will draw support from the Chinese language base. Any movements in the Chinese educated base will also affect Tan Kin Lian, who had the best Chinese language broadcast so far.
Time will tell how these endorsements pan out. However it is clear that PE2011 is unlike any other election in Singapore’s history. The endorsement effect will become clearer after the rally: Will Sharon Au give a good rally speech, or is she just another pretty face?
Please send us your impressions of the PE2011 rallies – just click on our JotForm and submit your thoughts!
[...] CPF – Yawningbread on wordpress: Do we still want a Nathanesque presidency? Part 2 – pe2011facts: Battle of the Endorsements: Sharon Au vs Nicole Seah? – life one degree north, one-o-three degrees east: Presidential Elections is August 27 – [...]
I think after Sharon Au returns from her studies, she hosting skill is not good. I think she struggled with speaking on the first show she did upon her return.
Professional life aside, I caught a video of her “speech” and I feel that
- she did not spoke about qualities of TT that made him most suitable for president among the candidates
- she spoke about SG being a peaceful prosperous place, and that she is grateful.
My opinion: She is implying that SG is a good place, SG govt is supporting TT’s candidacy, so vote for TT.
Is there some deeper meanings in her speech which I failed to catch? Or is this presidential election really another political sparring match carried out tacitly – everybody knows but nobody say?