Dasmond Koh hints at possible bullying incident between Elvin Ng and NoonTalk artiste Angel Lim

Well, now that Elvin Ng has called out bullying in the showbiz industry, everyone is coming out of the woodwork with their own story.

First, local celebrity host Danny Yeo chimed in over the weekend about his unpleasant experience with Taiwanese actor Patrick Lee (who was allegedly involved in the incident with Elvin). And just yesterday, local celeb Dasmond Koh — who also runs the artiste management agency NoonTalk Media — went on Instagram to spill some tea.

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In his post, the 49-year-old alluded to an incident involving Patrick and his NoonTalk artiste Xu Bin some time ago. He wrote: "I still remember that we had a little chat about Mr Lee and Xu Bin's unhappy experience when filming in Malaysia. But in the end, we decided to let it pass."

However, he added that bullying incidents should not be ignored and that in order to grow, one must have positive energy and not be shrouded in the shadow of negativity. Hence, he decided to ask Elvin: "While you were filming Heart to Heart with Angel Lim, what exactly happened on set?"

Angel Lim, 23, is a NoonTalk artiste as well and she acted opposite Elvin in the 2019 drama.

According to Lianhe Wanbao, during the press conference for the show in December 2018, Elvin said there was no pressure working with actresses who were younger than him and described the filming as "comfortable and natural". Although, he pointed out that the actresses he was paired with were getting younger and younger.

As for Angel, she shared that as her Mandarin wasn't that good, she received some guidance from Elvin and veteran actress Xiang Yun, referring to them as "good seniors [in showbiz]".

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Speaking to the Chinese evening daily, Dasmond declined to reveal details of what went down and clarified that it's unclear if there was any bullying involved because he only has one side of the story.

He shared that Angel looked up to Elvin as a senior in the industry but during the shoot, his words and actions affected her emotions and left a bad impression.

Dasmond said: "I'm not sure who was right and who was wrong. It could even be a misunderstanding, or perhaps Angel was immature at that time. We can try to understand what happened and if it's Angel's fault, I'm willing to apologise on her behalf."

The NoonTalk Media founder also spoke to 8world where he explained why he decided to raise this issue now. He said: "I'm not trying to fan the flames. It's just that since everyone is in showbiz, if there are any issues, we should be a little more open-minded and try to resolve it. It's better and much simpler that way. Perhaps both parties had some misunderstanding."

He also emphasised that he wasn't trying to imply anything and he would leave it to both parties to clear the air by themselves. He also directed the Chinese portal to check in with Elvin and Angel directly for what exactly happened.

That said, Angel declined to be interviewed because she was concerned that she's not articulate enough.

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As for Elvin, his manager said: "We are in touch with NoonTalk Media to get more details. After all, it's been more than three years since this happened. The best solution is to let the two artistes have a private and constructive conversation."

When approached by 8world, Elvin's co-stars on Heart to Heart, Guo Liang (who played his father) and Xiang Yun (who played his mother), had no idea what went on. The latter said that she didn't act with both Elvin and Angel so she has no clue about their dispute.

Another actor on the show, Chen Tianwen, also said he didn't hear about any issues between Elvin and Angel. However, he shared that it's normal for actors to have some friction and he thinks that if there are any disagreements during a shoot, it's better to resolve it on the spot.

Tianwen said: "Most of the time, people get along better with each other after they've managed to speak their minds."

Despite the brouhaha over the alleged bullying incidents in showbiz, the man at the eye of storm isn't letting it get to him.

While he didn't personally comment on Dasmond's question, Elvin published his own Instagram post (seemingly in response) about fishes swimming accompanied with a caption on, you guessed it, swimming.

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He wrote: "You never truly know if you're just swimming, learning to swim or mastering swimming; guess you're probably swimming, learning and mastering at the same time. Well, they probably wouldn't ask themselves such a question, 'cos they just keep swimming anyway, the best way you know how, the best you can be, keep getting better."

Angel's Instagram post was, however, less cryptic: "Life's an interesting journey. What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger."

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bryanlim@asiaone.com