Tan Kheng Hua (born 17 January 1963) is a Singaporean actress. She is best known for her supporting roles in the 2018 Hollywood film Crazy Rich Asians and in American television network the CW's martial arts television series Kung Fu (2021–2023).
Early life Tan acquired an interest in acting when she took a theatre elective while attending Indiana University. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science (magna cum laude) from Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs. After returning to Singapore, she took up a job in public affairs, and pursued acting in her spare time.
Career The first stage play Tan performed in was John Bowen's The Waiting Room, which was directed by her cousin Ivan Heng. It took almost a decade before Tan became a full-time actress. In the theatre, Tan is in the original casts of landmark plays such as Beauty World, Lao Jiu, Descendants of the Admiral Eunuch, Animal Farm, Cooling Off Day and Falling, for which she won her second Life! Theatre Best Actress Award.
In Singaporean television, Tan is best known for her role as Margaret in Singapore's longest running and most successful sitcom, Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd, for which she won an Asian Television Award for Best Actress (Comedy). Her first foray into Mandarin-language television, Beautiful Connection, earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Star Awards.
On the international scene, Tan has appeared in Serangoon Road, Marco Polo and Crazy Rich Asians.
In 2018, Tan signed with Conway van Gelder Grant in Britain and GVA Talent Agency and Zero Gravity Management in Los Angeles, United States. Tan was still signed with Fly Entertainment for the Asian region.
In 2020, Tan was cast as a series regular in Kung Fu, The CW's modern reboot of Kung Fu.
Tan also creates and produces for stage and television in Singapore including the critically acclaimed cabaret act, The Dim Sum Dollies; the dramas 9 Lives and Do Not Disturb, the latter being the first local TV series to receive the maximum 5-star rating from Straits Times Life!, the Mandarin serial, Mr & Mrs Kok and lifestyle infotainment on The Asian Food Channel. Outside of Singapore Tan produced No.7, an original theatre piece commissioned by the Georgetown Festival 2011 in Penang. No.7 was sold out with a waiting list. In 2014, she brought 64 Singaporean and Malaysian artists together in The SIN-PEN Colony to Penang's Georgetown Festival celebrating the cities’ shared heritage of food, visual art, music, theatre and design. The theatre segment within The SIN-PEN Colony, 2 Houses, sold-out within four days. She conceptualized and produced The Twenty-Something Theatre Festival 2016 and Tropicana The Musical (based on the real-life Tropicana entertainment complex) which opened to positive reviews in April 2017.
For her contributions to the arts, Tan was one of fifty local stage personalities in an exhibition celebrating 50 years of Singapore theatre and part of twenty contemporary artists chosen to represent Singapore in Singapore: Inside Out, a showcase presented by the Singapore Tourism Board in Beijing, London and New York City to celebrate Singapore's fiftieth anniversary.
Personal life Tan married Singaporean theatre and television actor Lim Yu-Beng in 1992. They divorced in 2017 after 25 years of marriage. They have a daughter, actress Lim Shi-an.
Tan has been in a relationship with Kendell Dickinson since January 2022.
Filmography Film YearTitleRoleNotes1996Army DazeCavewoman1999That One No Enough2005CagesAli Tan2009The Blue MansionVeronica Wee2012Sex.Violence.FamilyValues2016The Faith of Anna WatersCharlotte Sharma2018Crazy Rich AsiansKerry Chu2019The Garden of Evening MistsEmily2024The Tiger's ApprenticeMrs. Diane Lee2025Worth The WaitMary2026A Singapore Dementia Story (Another Go)Georgia Lim
Television YearTitleRoleNotesRef1996Triple NineChong Swee Chin1995Dick Lee with the Singapore Symphony OrchestraHerself, as hostvariety show1997–2007Phua Chu Kang Pte LtdMargaret Phua8 seasons1999AlterAsians – Iris’ Rice BowlIrisMiniseries2001A War DiaryLim Swee Neo2002Beautiful Connection Mo Lan Ying 2003The New Home2008–2009Sayang SayangNellie Tan2 seasons2013Serangoon RoadArtikEpisode: "Reach Out"2014Marco PoloXie Daoqing8 episodes2015The Pupil Season 2Shirley Woo2017BRAGloria Yap2 episodes2019Chimerica2020Grey's AnatomyVera RobertsEpisode: "Sing It Again"Medical PoliceBao TsaiEpisode: "Everybody Panic!"Magnum P.I.Lynn YangEpisode: "The Night Has Eyes"2021–2023Kung FuMei-Li Chen39 episodes
Theatre
Practice Performing Arts: The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertold Brecht (ensemble, 1989) Mad Forest by Caryl Churchill (Lucia, Dog, 1990) TheatreWorks: Trojan Women by Euripides (Andromeda, 1991) Lao Jiu by Kuo Pao Kun (ensemble, Perth Festival 1994) Music & Movement: Kampong Amber by Catherine Lim (May, lead, opening show Singapore Arts Festival 1994) Longing (ensemble, outdoor performance) (1994) Broken Birds (ensemble, outdoor performance, 1995) Theatreworks: Descendants of the Admiral Eunuch by Kuo Pao Kun (ensemble, winner Critics Award Best Acting Ensemble Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre, 1996) TheatreWorks: Beauty World (Lulu, lead, South East Asian Theatre Festival and Tokyo International Theatre Festival in Japan) (1998) Fiction Farm: The Blue Room by David Hare (Au Pair, Model, 1999) Toy Factory: Guys & Dolls by Damon Runyon (Sarah Brown, 1999) Closer by Patrick Marber (Anna, 2000) Action Theatre: Autumn Tomyam by Desmond Sim (Marge Lerner, 2001) Mergers & Accusations by Eleanor Wong (Ellen Toh; 1993, 2001) Wills & Secession by Eleanor Wong (Ellen Toh; 1995, 2001) Wild Rice: Animal Farm adapted by Ian Wooldridge (Clover, 2002) Invitation To Treat – The Eleanor Wong Trilogy by Eleanor Wong (2003) Luna-Id: The Lover by Harold Pinter (Sarah, 2004)
Awards and nominations
National Colours Awards for Gymnastics (1977) (Noteworthy Selections: 21 Remarkable Women of *Singapore by the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware)) Indiana University Founders Day Award for High Scholastic Achievement (1984, 1985, 1986) Critics Choice for Best Actor Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theatre (1997) JCCI Singapore Foundation Culture Awards for Contributions to Singapore (1998) Asian Television Award Runner-up Best Current Affairs & Magazine Presenter (2000)
DBS Life! Theatre Award, Best Actress (2002) Asian Television Award, Best Comedic Performance by an Actress (2002) Star Awards (Mandarin) Nominated Best Supporting Actress (2002) Asian Television Award Highly Commended Performance by an Actress (2003) Art Nation Best Actress Award (2003)
References
External links