Chen was educated at the now-defunct Serangoon Garden Secondary Technical School.

He joined the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (now Mediacorp) after completing the 5th artiste drama training class and made his debut in 1984.

The first, titled "Unbelievable", was "lauded" for the nonsensical line "I so stunned like vegetable" [sic], drawing the attention of Time magazine,[5] while the second, "Sandcastle in My Heart", in which Irene Ang also starred, 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 Qing Yuan.

Chen told Channel NewsAsia that he and Bao Xiao Hui, a Mongolian,[6] were married in May 2014.