Rui En

Lu Rui En (born 29 January 1981), better known by her stage name Rui En (瑞恩), is a Singaporean actress and was named as one of the Seven Princesses of Mediacorp in 2006. She was contracted under MediaCorp and managed under Hype Records.
Early life.
Rui En was born on 29 January 1981 to a family consisting of her father, a property agent, and mother, a housewife. Her parents divorced when she was 17, and subsequently remarried to other persons when she in her 20s. While growing up, she shared in a 2008 "The Straits Times" interview, she used to smoke and drink socially to cope with the insecurity and instability she felt from her broken home, and after quitting ballet as a co-curricular activity (CCA) in secondary school. She subsequently kicked the habit in 2004.
Rui En studied at Singapore Chinese Girls' School for both her primary and secondary education, and subsequently at Raffles Junior College (RJC). She took up ballet as CCA from Primary 5 to Secondary 1 (age 10 to 13), choir in Secondary 3 and 4 (age 15 to 16), and finally hockey in junior college (age 17-18). She graduated from Nanyang Technological University with a Bachelor of Business in 2004.
Career.
Modelling and music career.
Rui En first started modelling after she completed her A Levels in RJC in 1999, and was managed by Phantom Management. In 2001, she was featured in a SingTel ad which propelled her into the limelight and earned her a feature in Singapore's edition of "FHM". She subsequently signed on with Hype Records's subsidiary, Artistes Network.
Rui En ventured into Taiwan in 2002 with the stage name 芮恩 (). She made her first appearance as the female lead in label mate Jay Chou's music video for "Secret Code" (暗號) and went on to co-endorse Panasonic GD68 with him. Rui En subsequently released her debut regional Chinese album, "Rui ∑n vol. 01", in the same year under the co-production of Hype Records and Alfa Music. Chou composed the song "White Feather" (白色羽毛) which was released in her debut album, "Rui ∑n vol. 01."
Rui En was nominated as the Best Local Singer in the Singapore Hits Awards 2003 and was selected alongside Taufik Batisah to perform both the English and Mandarin versions of the 2005 National Day Parade's theme song, "Reach Out for the Skies".
After a six years' break, Rui En released her second Chinese album in late 2008 under Hype Records, titled "United Nations". This album was only released in Singapore, with all lyrics penned by Rui En herself. Since then, she resumed the use of her original name, 瑞恩 (). In April 2009, Rui En was invited to perform at Singapore Day 2009 at London's Hampton Court Palace, a yearly event organised by the Overseas Singaporean Unit in the Prime Minister's Office to engage overseas Singaporeans.
Acting career.
Rui En made her acting debut in MediaCorp drama, "No Problem", in 2002. She landed her first leading role in 2005, with "A Promise for Tomorrow". In the following year, she was identified as one of the most promising young actresses in the Singapore Entertainment Industry by local entertainment magazine "I-Weekly" and was hence labelled as one of the Seven Princesses of Mediacorp.
In 2004, Rui En took over Steph Song's role in the English sitcom "Achar!" for the second season after Song left the series after falling out with the male lead, Jas Arora. However, after reviewing her performance in that sitcom, Rui En felt that she was acting just for fame and popularity as a clutch to her broken family situation. Thereafter, in addition to quitting smoking and drinking, she decided to stop taking up roles that require kissing and/or intimate scenes. Thus despite being nominated for the Best Newcomer Award in 2004's Star Awards, she was limited in the choice of roles she could take on.
In March 2008, Rui En was involved in a high-profile rejection of the role as an ambitious businesswoman struggling with mental illness in "The Defining Moment", which subsequently went to Fann Wong instead. She was reported to have rejected the role due to a rape scene in the script. Rui En is known to be firm on her stance against intimate, revealing or kissing scenes and has been criticised by some as unprofessional. She is reported to have been blacklisted by some producers after this role-rejection incident. After playing a social service worker and AIDS patient in "By My Side" in 2008, Rui En started to gain recognition, winning one of the eight 'Top 8 Likable Female Lead Characters' awards with her only production that year at the 2009 televised countdown event. 
In 2010, Rui En was labelled as one of the 10 Faces to watch in 2010 by MediaCorp's Buzz. Rui En also won several awards for the characters she portrayed, for instance her role as Zhang Luoyun in "My School Daze" which emerged as the 'Top 10 Favourite Female Characters' in Star Awards 2010, and Lin Jiaqi in The Dream Catchers which emerged as the 'Top 5 Favourite Female Characters'. 
In 2011, Rui En won the 'Most Favourite Female Character' award with her role as Yang Xiaodong in "Happy Family." Rui En was also credited for her outstanding performance in portraying a widow in "With You", winning the 'Best Actress' award in Star Awards 2011.
Rui En was awarded the 'Best Actress in Leading Role' at the 2012 Asian Television Awards, for her role as a tough cop in crime drama "Unriddle 2". She went on to win her third acting award in the following year at the Star Awards 2013 for the same role in "Unriddle 2", earning her second 'Best Actress Award' at Star Awards. In 2013, Rui En was appointed the spokesperson for L'Oréal Paris Youth Code, making her the first Singaporean spokesperson for the international cosmetics brand.
In addition to her roles in dramas, Rui En has starred in a three-part docudrama produced by Channel NewsAsia, as one of Singapore's pioneer painters, Georgette Chen. The English-language series, which was also adapted into Mandarin, aired on Channel NewsAsia, MediaCorp Channel 5 and MediaCorp Channel 8 in April 2015.
Rui En received the All-Time Favourite Artiste award in the 2016 star awards after winning the Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes award from 2005 to 2016 respectively with Qi Yu Wu.
Controversies.
2016 traffic violations.
On 13 April 2016, Rui En was involved in a car accident entering a carpark near her home. Her car knocked over a stationary motorcycle. On 14 April it was reported that Rui En was assisting the police with investigations into the accident. She subsequently apologised and responded with an official statement regarding the accident. The owner of the motorcycle accepted Rui En's apology through Wanbao on 15 April. For this incident, Rui En was fined S$700.
In January 2016, Rui En was also involved in a hit and run accident. There were no casualties involved, and both parties agreed to make a private settlement.
After the incident, at 12pm on 23 December, Rui En flouted traffic rules after she drove straight on a Right Turn Only Lane in Orchard road, then cutting into the second lane. The incident was captured by the car camera of the oncoming vehicle on the second lane, which she had cut into. According to a video uploaded on Beh Chia Lor's Facebook page, the other car's driver was approaching a cross junction and slowed his vehicle to about 30 km/h when Rui En's car jumped his lane and overtook his vehicle.
The 35-year-old celebrity apologised for her actions.
Community work.
Rui En is the theme song singer for The Community Chest of Singapore. The song, titled "Listen to Your Heart", has been released in the form of EP in years 2003 and 2009.
She is also a regular volunteer at "Beyond Social Services".
She has also volunteered for several children welfare organizations. Notably, in 2016, she volunteered her services together with her fan club to commemorate their 9th anniversary.
Her fanclub, RBKD does regular volunteering service to the elderly, Chinese New Year, being one of the occasions.
Accolades.
Others.
In 2007, Rui En was presented with the "Nanyang Outstanding Young People Award" by her alma mater Nanyang Technological University.