Jin Yinji (born Gam Ngan Gei on 3 August 1947) is a

Singaporean Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religious origins, with the city-state itself being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, m ...

actress of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

n descent, who was a full-time

Mediacorp Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is the state media, state-owned media conglomerate of Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the investment arm of the Government of Singapore—it owns and operates television channels, radio, and digital media properties. ...

artiste from 1986 to 2017.

Early life

Jin Yinji was born in

, and had 10 other siblings.

Career

As a singer

When Jin was 17 (1964–65), she left

to find her two elder sisters in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. As she was interested in singing, she participated in a singing competition and came in second. She decided to make singing her occupation in Taiwan. Later in March 1972, Jin went to Singapore to further her career.

As an actress

In 1986, Jin made her acting debut in ''Neighbours''. Later, Jin was nominated for a popularity award, Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes in

Star Awards 2004 Star Awards 2004 was a television award telecasted in 2004 as part of the annual Star Awards organised by MediaCorp for MediaCorp TV Channel 8. This award was the 11th installment since its first presentation in 1994, ten years ago. This award ce ...

as she acted in numerous drama serials for the past two years. After 11 years of veteran acting, Jin was finally nominated for Best Supporting Actress in

Star Awards 2013 Star Awards 2013 ( Chinese: 红星大奖 2013) was a double television award ceremony held in Singapore. It is part of the annual Star Awards organised by Mediacorp for the two free-to-air channels, Mediacorp Channel 8 and Mediacorp Channel U. S ...

for her role in '' It Takes Two'' and managed to be one of the lead actresses in a 2015 family drama series, ''

Super Senior A super-senior is a student in a four-year educational institution (such as a high school or undergraduate school) who has more than four years in attendance or a surplus of credits required for a diploma and has not yet graduated. In certain ...

''. Jin's contract with Mediacorp was due to expire in February 2017. She was allegedly told to take a pay cut and was compared to a "$50-an-hour bit player." She later clarified that the remark was made over 10 years ago and has since settled the fiasco with Mediacorp with details of her new contract unknown. In 2017, Jin appeared in 2 dramas, ''

The Lead The Lead () is a 30-episode Singaporean drama produced and telecast on Mediacorp Channel 8. The show is Channel 8's mid-year blockbuster for 2017 to remember Mediacorp at Caldecott Hill and to celebrate 35 years of television dramas. It stars ...

'' and '' My Teacher Is a Thug''. In February 2017, Jin left

as a full-time artiste after being signed to the company for three decades. In

Star Awards 2018 Star Awards 2018 (also SA2018SG, Chinese: 红星大奖2018) is a television award ceremony which is held in Singapore, with the Post Party and Ceremony Awards was broadcast live on 22 April 2018. A total of 15 awards were handed out during the ...

, Jin won her first Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes award after being nominated but failed to win any after several years. In 2018, Jin was cast in '' Life Less Ordinary'', ''Fifty & Fabulous'' and ''Magic Chef''. In 2019, she appeared in the dramas ''Heart To Heart'', ''Hello From The Other Side'', ''Dear Neighbours'', ''All is Well- Singapore'' and ''After The Stars''. At the

Star Awards 2021 Star Awards 2021 (Simplified Chinese, Chinese: 红星大奖2021) is a television award ceremony that was held in Singapore on 18 April 2021. The ceremony honoured the best Singaporean television released between January 2019 and December 2020. ...

, Jin received the Evergreen Award and a second Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes, after the first one in 2018. In October 2022, Jin appeared in an

advertorial An advertorial is an advertisement in the form of editorial content. The term "advertorial" is a blend word, blend (see portmanteau) of the words "advertisement" and "editorial". Merriam-Webster dates the origin of the word to 1946. In printed pub ...

for

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

, alongside actor-singer Tosh Zhang. In April 2023, she appeared in another campaign for the food fast chain with actress Yoo Ah Min (aka "Lao Zha Bor").

Business venture

In 2020, Jin started the brand ''Gold Kimchi'', selling home made kimchi with her Korean daughter-in-law Cloe Han from their home.

Personal life

On 27 January 1972, Jin married Anthony Lee, a Singaporean antique dealer. Jin and Lee were introduced by friends when she came to Singapore from

in March 1971. Together, they have two children, a son and a daughter. Originally a South Korean citizen, Jin was naturalised as a Singaporean citizen when she was 26 (1973–74). On 10 October 2023, Jin's husband Anthony Lee died of

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

, at the age of 83.

Filmography

Television series

Film

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jin, Yinji Living people Singaporean people of Korean descent Singaporean television actresses 1947 births 21st-century Singaporean actresses South Korean emigrants to Singapore Naturalised citizens of Singapore 20th-century Singaporean actresses Singaporean dancers 21st-century Singaporean businesspeople 20th-century Singaporean women singers 21st-century Singaporean women singers