Taipei: Three Taiwanese actors took home best performance honors Thursday at the ContentAsia Awards, a regional entertainment event held in Taipei. Song Wei-en won the most prestigious award among them, earning the gold medal for Best Male Lead in a TV Programme/Series Made in Asia for his role in the Tzu Chi Culture and Communication Foundation drama A Second Chance of Life. Song surpassed other notable actors including Jericho Rosales of the Philippines, Mierul Aiman of Malaysia, Panitan Budkaew of Thailand, Park Jeong-min of South Korea, and Zahaan Kapoor of India to claim the award.
According to Focus Taiwan, in his acceptance speech, Song tearfully thanked the cast and crew, noting it was the first award of his 10-year acting career. He reflected on the difficulties of making the show, saying the honor helped lift him out of a recent slump. "Those who love to perform should never give up, because you never know when people will finally see you," he said.
Another Taiwanese actor, Hsu Hao-hsiang, won gold for Best Supporting Actor in a TV Programme/Series Made in Asia for his role in Tzu Chi's The Bliss. Hsu echoed Song's remarks, saying he had been considering leaving the profession after 30 years before the recognition from the Thursday win encouraged him to continue. Veteran Taiwanese actor Ban Tieh-hsiang also earned a bronze in the same category for his role in Tzu Chi's Still Me 2.
Launched in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ContentAsia Awards recognize outstanding work in television and streaming productions across Asia. After three online editions, the event was held in person for the first time in 2023 in Bangkok before moving to Taipei for its fifth and sixth editions. This year's awards drew 151 nominations from 13 countries and territories in 28 categories.
In addition to the three winners, Taiwanese actress Tu Lei was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a TV Programme/Series Made in Asia for her role in Tzu Chi's Illuminating Hearts. Several local production houses, including Taiwan Plus, Hakka TV, and Taigi TV, also received nominations in 13 categories.