SINGAPORE: Nearly all the 200 SPH staff and artistes given a job
with MediaCorp following the merger news, have accepted their
offers.
189 will be joining MediaCorp while one is still pending as the
staff is on hospitalisation leave.
Newscaster Helen Cheung and actor Hu Bing are among the 10 who
declined the offers.
Amongst the 189 SPH staff and artistes who are joining MediaCorp
are stars like Bryan Wong, Kym Ng, Guo Liang, Darren Lim and Adrian
Pang.
The celebrity factor will definitely be upped a few notches at
MediaCorp when they rejoin its ranks next year.
95 per cent of the artistes, cameramen, producers, reporters and
other staff are joining MediaCorp in the wake of the media
merger.
And of the 20 artistes given offers, 18 have accepted them and some
are already hard at work rehearsing for shows next year.
Celest Chong, a SPH MediaWorks artiste, said: "I had the
opportunity to meet a lot of people within MediaCorp and they
seemed really sincere they tried their best to make me feel
comfortable and I think they did a good job."
For actress Apple Hong, rejoining MediaCorp was an obvious
choice.
She said: "It's not difficult, because obviously when there is no
more MediaWorks, MediaCorp is the best choice because I love acting
so much."
Others are relishing the opportunity to work with more
artistes.
Ong Ai Leng, a SPH MediaWorks artiste, said: "I feel quite excited
because it's bigger definitely and I'm going to work with more
artistes. But, of course, to depart from my old company and all my
old friends, I feel a bit reluctant."
The staff will be working in several departments across MediaCorp,
including the new venture MediaCorp TV Holdings which will operate
four channels including Channel 5, Channel 8, Channel U and TV
Mobile. - CNA