Sunny Side Up is a daily social drama that takes a true-to-life, honest look at Singapore's melting pot culture, exploring daily struggles, conflicts and social issues, while ultimately inspiring with light-hearted and uplifting tales that restore your faith in humanity. We follow the lives and struggles of a diverse group of unconventional families, including the Rajendrans and Gohs, a lively, blended family with five children, the Hengs, a traditional family who run the neighbourhood TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) shop, the Ibrahims, whose son was once a beloved national sports hero, the Ortegas, led by an independent-minded single woman caught in the middle of inter-generational drama and Chan and Chandra, two seniors navigating their golden years.
Chen was educated at the now defunct Serangoon Garden Secondary Technical School. He joined the SBC after completing the 5th artiste drama training class and made his debut in 1984. He holds a black belt in taekwondo and his martial arts background led him to being cast in many wuxia dramas in the 1990s and as characters with fight scenes in other drama series. He is also a member of the Singapore Celebrity Soccer Team. The Straits Times remarked that Chen's "much-praised understated turn" in the Cannes Film Festival award-winning Ilo Ilo put him in the spotlight once again. Chen hit the headlines again when two parody music videos he starred in, went viral. The first, titled "Unbelievable", was 'lauded' for the nonsensical line 'I so stunned like vegetable' (sic), drawing the attention of TIME, while the second, "Sandcastle in My Heart", in which Irene Ang also starred in, did not become as popular as the previous one. Both videos are a parody of popular Chinese MVs in the 1970s, particularly the work of Singaporean singer Huang Ching Yuan.