Acting is no longer his mainstream now, says former and director Edmund Chen. “I’m more film and television actor like a content producer – be it a movie, a toy, a book or an advertising project,” he adds. He is also grabbing headlines for other reasons – as an artist. To date, he has put together art installations, created the world’s longest drawing that nabbed a Guinness World Record, as well as put out a series of picture books. We chat with him to find out more.

Talk about your foray into art.

It all started as a kind of escape for me. I was in primary school when someone gave me colour pencils for my birthday. During that time, there was a weekly drawing contest and I submitted mine every week and would regularly win a small prize. That was a huge encouragement for me. Also, as a kid, I wanted many things but my parents couldn’t afford them. So, through art and drawing the things I wanted, my needs were fulfilled, somewhat vicariously.

How did you come up with the My Little Red Dot series?

Each of my storybooks in the series has a “value” behind it. The series started with how I felt about the need to recognise and create “works of value” – it’s important for us to have a good moral compass and good values at heart. At times, we may struggle to do the right thing, but the one thing that can guide us is having a good set of values.