Lee Lin Chin
| Lee Lin Chin | |
|---|---|
 Chin at the 2015 Logie Awards | |
| Born | Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Education | Singapore - grad/professional school |
| Occupation | News presenter, journalist, fashionista |
| Years active | 1968–present |
| Known for | SBS World News, The Feed |
Lee Lin Chin (Chinese: 陳麗玲; pinyin: Chén Lìlíng)[1] is an Indonesian-born Australian television presenter and journalist. She is best known for her association with the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) network and is the weekend presenter of SBS World News. She has been a news presenter and journalist for many years, and in more recent times, has become popular throughout social media. In 2016, she was nominated for the Gold Logie becoming the first SBS personality to be nominated for the award in the station's 36-year run.
Biography
Lee Lin Chin was born in Jakarta, Indonesia to Chinese parents[2] and grew up in Singapore where her media career began in television and radio in 1968. Chin migrated to Australia in 1980 where she began working for SBS TV as a translator for Chinese-language films.[3] Wanting to return to broadcasting, Chin moved to ABC Radio in both Newcastle and Darwin.[4] In 1992, Chin moved to SBS World News where she has remained since presenting the weekend news.
Chin has had many roles throughout her career, including news reading, research, reporting, interviews, selecting and programming music, voice-overs for commercials, and producing in-flight programmes for international airlines.
Chin has also starred in a minor role as a newsreader in the independent Australian movie Resistance by Hugh Keays-Byrne. She also had a small role, playing a Thai interpreter, in the 1989 Australian mini-series Bangkok Hilton, with Nicole Kidman.
More recently, Chin has been involved in creating small segments for SBS's The Feed where she presents small comedy segments including 'Pranked with Lee Lin Chin', 'Lee Lin Chin Versus Maggie Beer', 'Celebrity Chin Wag', comedic cooking show 'Lee Linguine' and most recently 'The Real Newsreaders of Sydney' with fellow newsreaders Sandra Sully and Natalie Barr.[5]
On 18 May 2015, she was announced to be Australia's spokesperson for the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest. She gave the "all-important" twelve points to the eventual winner, Sweden's Måns Zelmerlöw and his song "Heroes". She returned to this role in 2016 and gave twelve points to Belgium's Laura Tesoro and her song "What's the Pressure".
On 6 August 2015, The Sydney Morning Herald revealed that the tweets posted on Chin's official Twitter account were ghostwritten by comedian Chris Leben, head comedy writer for The Feed. It is unclear how much of an input Chin actually has in overseeing the account, however, an SBS spokesperson insists that Chin "Has to see everything that goes out in her name." Chin's depiction on The Feed and social media are more or less an exaggeration of herself that are "inspired by" her personality. An SBS insider states that Chin "can be quite funny, which she is never allowed to be on the news." They believe the key to her success is that "people get to see something they don't usually get to see."[6]
Personal life
Lee Lin enjoys travelling and reading, in particular William Faulkner being her passion. She is a lover of music, a photographer, a serious film buff and an avid beer enthusiast. Chin speaks conversational Cantonese, Mandarin and Fukien.[7]
References
- ↑ AU123 - profiles of Chinese Australians in broadcast media (Chinese)
- ↑ Portrait.gov.au: Lee Lin Chin, National Portrait Gallery
- ↑ Independent.co.uk: Inside Story: Now back to you, Tetsuya
- ↑ Saxton: Speaker Profile, Lee Lin Chin
- ↑ News.com.au: SBS newsreader Lee Lin Chin turns celebrity gossip reporter — against her will
- ↑ The Sydney Morning Herald: The two faces of Lee Lin Chin
- ↑ Saxton: Speaker Profile, Lee Lin Chin