Could Benedict Goh be your MP next?
After all, he was a Pyramid Game host, like Mr Darryl David, who was just voted into office as part of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency (GRC) team.
Who knew that hosting a game show on Channel 5 could be a stepping stone to political office?
How about the guy who hosted the Singapore version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?I mean, he already has experience promising people money if they qualify. Isn't that what politicians do anyway?
Unfortunately, the guy’s name is Mark Van Cuylenburg, but he is better known as The Flying Dutchman (or FD for short). That might sound a tad too foreign to win over Singapore voters.
Maybe he could change his name to The Flying Singaporean (or FS for short).
But I believe many would vote for Hossan Leong, who hosted a game show called We Are Singaporean. You can’t possibly get more Singaporean than that.
Actually, you can because Leong has branded himself as “Singapore Boy” after his stage show called Singapore Boy.
I guess he really wants to double confirm that people know he’s not Malaysian or some other nationality.
And that he’s a boy.
But, of course, you have to be able to do more than just host a game show to contest in an election. You should also have some contesting experience.
That's why Goh, the aforementioned former Pyramid Game host, would make an ideal candidate.
Before becoming a TV host, he not only competed in and won the 1994 Manhunt contest, he represented Singapore in Manhunt International and came in third runner-up. He also won the title of Mr Personality.
And honestly, isn’t the General Election just a form of nation-wide Manhunt but with women and more clothes on?
If that isn’t enough to convince you of Goh’s potential as a candidate, let me point out that he was also a regular cast member in the local sitcom, Happy Belly.
You know who else was a regular cast member in Happy Belly?
A certain member of the newly elected Ang Mo Kio GRC team by the name of Darryl David.
Who knew that being a regular cast member in Happy Belly could be a stepping stone to political office?
Happy Belly also starred Lim Kay Siu, best known for his role as Phua Chu Kang’s nemesis, Frankie Foo. What’s more, Lim’s brother, Lim Kay Tong, played Mr Lee Kuan Yew in the movie, 1965. So the PAP connection is there.
Unfortunately, Kay Siu has never hosted a game show. So he is unlikely to be chosen to be on PM’s team.
But Happy Belly wasn’t the only TV show that Mr David acted in. He also appeared in several episodes of the local Twilight Zone rip-off called Shiver.
Who knew that working on Shiver could be a stepping stone to political office?
You know who else worked on Shiver? That’s right. I did.
Your favourite Sunday columnist wrote eight out of the 30 episodes of Shiver. Should I expect an invitation to a “tea session” come 2019?
Unfortunately, I have never hosted a game show or taken part in a Manhunt competition despite my god-like physique.
But I worked on Shiver with Mr David so closely in 1997 that 10 years later when he became some big shot at Temasek Polytechnic, I felt comfortable enough to e-mail him and ask him for a job there.
I reminded him of the time we worked so closely on Shiver.
This was his reply:
“Good to hear from you! Shiver? Hell, just hearing that makes me want to shiver.Did you read that? I’m “his man”!
“Thanks for your e-mail. At this point in time, we don’t really have anything open in the area of your skill sets, but I will definitely keep you in mind should anything pop up.
“Until then, take care and be good, my man!”
Okay, maybe I really didn't work that closely with him.
Perhaps I should’ve asked the other ex-Pyramid Game host, Goh, who is now the chief client officer at an interior design company called Fide Living.
Wait a minute. There was another guy who hosted The Pyramid Game — Samuel Chong.I worked closely with him on Living With Lydia! I could ask him for a job.
Unless he’s too busy attending a “tea session”.
- Published in The New Paper, 13 September 2015
EARLIER: Shiver! See PAP candidate Darryl David as an actor back in the cringey 90s
