SINGAPORE: Nearly all the 200 SPH staff and artistes given a job with MediaCorp following the merger news, have accepted their offers.
189 will be joining MediaCorp while one is still pending as the staff is on hospitalisation leave.
Newscaster Helen Cheung and actor Hu Bing are among the 10 who declined the offers.
Amongst the 189 SPH staff and artistes who are joining MediaCorp are stars like Bryan Wong, Kym Ng, Guo Liang, Darren Lim and Adrian Pang.
The celebrity factor will definitely be upped a few notches at MediaCorp when they rejoin its ranks next year.
95 per cent of the artistes, cameramen, producers, reporters and other staff are joining MediaCorp in the wake of the media merger.
And of the 20 artistes given offers, 18 have accepted them and some are already hard at work rehearsing for shows next year.
Celest Chong, a SPH MediaWorks artiste, said: "I had the opportunity to meet a lot of people within MediaCorp and they seemed really sincere they tried their best to make me feel comfortable and I think they did a good job."
For actress Apple Hong, rejoining MediaCorp was an obvious choice.
She said: "It's not difficult, because obviously when there is no more MediaWorks, MediaCorp is the best choice because I love acting so much."
Others are relishing the opportunity to work with more artistes.
Ong Ai Leng, a SPH MediaWorks artiste, said: "I feel quite excited because it's bigger definitely and I'm going to work with more artistes. But, of course, to depart from my old company and all my old friends, I feel a bit reluctant."
The staff will be working in several departments across MediaCorp, including the new venture MediaCorp TV Holdings which will operate four channels including Channel 5, Channel 8, Channel U and TV Mobile. - CNA