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Charlene Says: Table tennis player Li Jiawei has been rumoured to be considering a career in entertainment.

After losing the spotlight to Feng Tianwei during the recent Beijing Olympics, I can’t say that I’m surprised. Credit has to be given where it’s due and Jiawei has fought to bring glory to the Singapore sports scene for the last 15 years.

But is she thinking about a career switch now because she knows her time’s up? Or does she really see herself gracing the big screen?

I’m not a table tennis fan and truth be told, know very little about the persona that is Li Jiawei. But having seen her famous mug on TV and in media publications over the years, I’ll admit that there is an air of vulnerability about her.

Perhaps it’s the worried glances that she shoots her teammates when they’re losing or her bouts of unabashed crying when they win, the image that she portrays is essentially that of the girl next door.

So can a table tennis player who wears her heart on her sleeve successfully make the transition to acting when sport is the only thing she’s ever known?

Snippets from the grapevine indicate that some are of the view that she shouldn’t as she lacks star quality and the elusive X-factor. Others seem to think that she would do well by leveraging on her current “celebrity” status.

Personally, I think Jiawei should consider a career in the entertainment industry if and only if she decides that she has nothing more to contribute to the world of table tennis. To give acting a shot while she remains a sportswoman, she risks becoming a jack of all trades and a master of none.

No one would want to be remembered as that if indeed they are remembered at all.

Tell Us: Do you think Jiawei has the goods to make it in showbiz? Or should she stop being distracted by her other personal aspirations and focus on winning medals?

You can leave a comment here or e-mail us at tnpshow@sph.com.sg. Don’t forget to leave us your contact details: name, age, occupation and e-mail address or telephone number. 

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The competitive sporting life of a top tiered athlete is very limited and it is of no surprise that she is exploring greener pastures with news of her intentions to pursue a degree, get married and maybe even become an actress.It may be all well and good if she can juggle all the eggs but it is easier said than done. She still has years of top levelled competition ahead of her as she is still going to anchor the Singaporean female table tennis team for the upcoming 2012 London Olympics.It will be a real waste if her mind is set adrift and she loses sight of the bigger picture. As the adage goes, no pain no gain. If she has intentions to achieve even more, i believe it is important for her to maintain her focus and make suitable sacrifices and priorities. When her time in competitive table tennis is up, there will be many decades for her to pursue her various endeavors. She may have the potential to make it as an actress but a few years more wouldn’t rob her of such instincts.As it is , her niche remains table tennis and it will be dreadful if she’s remembered as a budding Olympics Champion who ended up acting in some third rate films because she chose the wrong course of action. That will be a disaster not only for her, but also for the countries which made her what she is. As the situations involving Gao Ning,Ms Lee Bee Wah,Antony Lee and perhaps most tellingly,Coach Liu Guodong reach a closure, Singapore’s best hopes for a gold medal come 2012 can give the nation a massive boost by declaring her focus ahead.I am sure Singaporeans will give her their full support when she hangs up her tennis paddles and starts acting in a few years time That won’t do anybody any harm in this lean economic times will it?

Peng Tie Lun

This entry was posted on Monday, November 17th, 2008 at 8:19 am and is filed under Charlene Chua, Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.