Moses Lim: 'I was blacklisted by Mediacorp for 4 years for refusing to sign a contract'

The contract would have potentially barred him from working overseas, he said.

Kayla Wong | September 07, 2020, 06:16 PM

Veteran actor Moses Lim, 69, is best known for his role as a mini-mart owner Tan Ah Teck in the Channel 5 sitcom "Under One Roof".

The first Singaporean actor to win an award at the Asian Television Awards for Best Male Actor in a Comedy, Lim won scores of fans for his performance in the show, where he often tells lectures in the form of tediously long stories, often exasperating the people around him.

The show spanned seven seasons, and ended in 2003, nine years after it first aired.

An interview with evening Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao, however, revealed a lesser known aspect of the former actor.

Blacklisted for 4 years

Published on Saturday, Sep. 5, Lim said in the interview that at the height of his popularity, he received an invitation from Singapore-born TV producer Robert Chua to record a show in Hong Kong.

But the upper management at Mediacorp, fearing that he would "forget about Singapore" after he leaves for Hong Kong, requested him to sign a contract with them.

"I thought it was ridiculous, I'm just a part-time actor, but they want me to sign a contract," he said.

"Part-time actors don't get paid if they don't have any gigs, I can't even perform overseas if I sign this contract, how would I support my family then?"

For refusing to sign the contract, he claimed he was blacklisted by Mediacorp for four years.

 A "painful" time

Lim said after Hong Kong returned to mainland China, he never went back to record any shows again, and could not find any work back in Singapore too.

Saying it was "a very painful" for him at that time, Lim said:

"My kids were still young... I only hoped at that time for my family not to get sick, as I had no income at all."

He further said that even if he got hosting offers, he would get lowballed as clients see that he was no longer widely sought after.

He felt the cold despair of human relationships, he said.

The management at Mediacorp in the past was not understanding at all, he said.

"As they had a monopoly in Singapore, they demanded others to listen to them, and was unwilling to listen to others," Lim said.

"Usually, you can reach a compromise with others if you talk face to face, but unfortunately, they were not like that."

Mediacorp unable to comment on Lim's claims

When Mothership reached out to Mediacorp, a spokesperson from the public broadcaster said they were unable to comment on the incidents reported in the Wanbao article that was said to have taken place more than 25 years ago.

In addition, they would like to emphasise that they are dedicated to supporting their artistes’ growth with both cross-border and cross-channel opportunities.

The spokesperson gave examples such as the drama series "The Bridge (Seasons 1 & 2)" by VIU, starring Rebecca Lim, upcoming Taiwanese drama "Falling Into You" featuring Desmond Tan and movies such as "Crazy Rich Asians" featuring Pierre Png.

The mass media conglomerate added that they are "committed to growing the ecosystem of local talent by uncovering and grooming next-gen artistes" through national initiatives like Star Search, Anugerah, Yaar Antha Star and SPOP.

"As Singapore’s first local Multi-Channel Network (MCN) in partnership with YouTube, we aim to nurture digital content creators with training, resource support and monetisation opportunities," Mediacorp added.

Former Mediacorp CEO reached out to him

Lim said it was only when SPH MediaWorks was established in 2000 that things turned up for him.

Mediaworks was said to be Mediacorp's rival until the two merged on Jan. 1, 2005.

According to Lim, former Mediacorp deputy chief executive officer Chang Long Jong had asked him out for a chat after he saw that Lim had been missing for "a very long time".

It was the opportunity needed for him to get back on TV.

Lim said: "Thereafter, I returned to the afternoon shows, before returning to programmes in the prime time slots".

"Chang was my benefactor."

Current management is different

But Lim now feels differently about the current management at Mediacorp, saying they give actors more space now.

"In the past, locally produced shows were popular overseas, but too bad we did not plan too far ahead," he said, adding that when actors venture overseas for work, it is a form of diplomacy too.

"When I went to Hong Kong for some shows, I would always say I'm an actor with a Singaporean TV station."

Top image via Wikipedia & Moses Lim/Facebook

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