Actor James Seah And His Influencer Girlfriend Nicole Chang Min Just Got A BTO Flat Together, So Where’s The Proposal?

James Seah and Nicole Chang Min are getting married. Soon. In the next few years. Unless he gets the shape of her diamond ring wrong, in which case it may all be over, and they’d forfeit whatever option fee or downpayment they’ve made on their expensive BTO flat. We jest. The 29-year-old actor and his 27-year-old influencer girlfriend, who has 52.6K followers on Instagram at @nicolechangmin and 26.7K subscribers on her YouTube channel, are too cute together to break up, plus there’s now a $600,000 property in Boon Keng at stake. When 8days.sg talks to them, Nicole is chatty, excitable and exuberant, and James (who is currently acting in My One In A Million) is quietly quirky, and we’re sure they’ll have an amazing (partially-sponsored) wedding and make beautiful children in their flat, which will be ready in 2023 to 2024. But first, where’s the proposal?

8 DAYS: We hear you guys applied for a flat together a few months ago. Congrats!
James Seah: Yeah! Basically we want our own place lah. We’ve been together for four-and-a-half years and we’re at the stage in our relationship where we want to take the next step. So, like every other young Singaporean couple, we thought we would try to get a BTO, ’cos everyone is telling us it’s a good investment, that in the future, the price will rise.

Is that your dog barking in the background?
Nicole Chang Min: I have a dog but that’s not my dog. It’s my brother’s dog, and he doesn’t train him so he is very crazy. Every morning, he will bark and wake us all up. Yes, I’ve been wanting to move out for my sanity! [Applying for the BTO] was an impromptu decision. At first, we weren’t sure if we wanted a resale or a BTO flat, and because I wanted to move out quickly, we wanted something we could get immediately.
J: But we looked around and we saw that they were launching new BTO flats in the Kallang-Whampoa area.
N: So we sat down and looked at each other and we were like, “Do we wanna at least try once for a BTO before we get into the resale game?”
J: Yeah, we were trying our luck — it’s like Toto or 4D.

N: People told us that when you apply for a BTO, you won’t get it the first time. It’s like pregnancy like that. (Laughs) So we thought, okay, we apply for fun, and leave it in the hands of God. But we got the letter saying that we got quite a good queue number. As in, there were 600 to 700 flats available, and our number was 500-ish.
J: So there’s a guarantee you’ll get a unit, but you might not get the unit you want.
N: In the end, we couldn’t get the highest floor, but we got a decent floor. That was in February or March this year. The flat is right beside Boon Keng MRT. It’s very expensive — ouch! One of the most expensive launches for a BTO, apparently.
J: I think it’s ’cos of the location. It’s quite central and near town.
N: Also ’cos of the establishments around it. You go down the stairs, and the MRT station is there. There’s a bank and a post office nearby, and I need that ’cos I need to collect parcels and go to the bank often. They must be within walking distance!

How much did you pay for the flat?
N: About $600K for 900 sq ft.
J: The size is quite standard but the price is not very standard. But we see it as a good investment lah.

Nicole, you’re a full time influencer?
N: Yeah.
You must be doing very well to make it a full-time career.
I think I’m doing pretty well, as in, I wouldn’t say I’m struggling in any sense. Life has been pretty smooth. Every month has been very fruitful. I feel your income depends on how much hard work you put in. You need discipline.
The money can be really good for a top influencer.
Yeah, I feel like compared to the average Singaporean, I might be getting above average [in terms of pay].
Compared to someone your age?
Yup, compared to my peers.

That’s amazing. Only a handful of influencers can make it, and you’re one of them.
If you have a following of above 100K, you are definitely safe and your income is damn good. You have the power to charge that much. For me, my Instagram and YouTube following combined is around 80K.

Who earns more — you or James?
Me. Well, if you were to go into the details, it’s ’cos he signed a contract. But once he gets a client job, he can get a bigger figure, but that isn’t that often. For me, I get to choose what clients and jobs I wanna take, so it’s different. [How much I make] depends on how many jobs I accept, ’cos I don’t take every job that comes in.

Do you earn a five-figure sum?
On some months, when I do well, it’s possible. I’ve had a couple of months where it’s like that. It compensates for the quieter months. So when you average it out, it’s not always a five-figure sum.

I don’t think your average 27-year-old can earn a five-figure sum.
(Laughs) Yes. I’ve been doing this officially for about two years, after I graduated from NTU School Of Art, Design and Media, majoring in visual communications. I started the social media thing in Uni, but it wasn’t anything serious, like I was just posting my own stuff. After graduating, I thought about whether I should get a proper job, but the social media thing picked up, and I realised this is much more enjoyable than a normal job, and it can pay you more than a normal job if you put in effort. I guess just strike when the iron is hot, ’cos you are only young once. How many people can say they’ve worked in this line? More importantly, I feel happy doing this.

James, where did you go to school?
I went to Nanyang Poly, and did film and digital media design.

Okay, back to the flat and your relationship. Before applying for your BTO, did you talk seriously about marriage?
N: Did we?
J: I guess we didn’t really talk seriously about it. But it was definitely something we wanted down the road.

You just knew each other was the one?
J: Am I?
N: If he thinks so, I think so. If I think so, he thinks so. (Laughs) It’s just a mutual respect we have for each other, and we’ve already spent so much time together — all our youth has gone into this relationship.
J: So much is at stake!
N: You can’t find anybody better!

So there was no five-year plan or anything like that?
N: There was no serious discussion; it’s just that after we applied and got the news that we got it, I was like oh my God, I don’t want this to be the typical Singaporean-apply-for-BTO-then-lock-me-down relationship. I feel like it’s the most unromantic way to know that you’re gonna do life together.
J: I guess ’cos we need to wait four to five years for the flat, and if you wanna time everything, it’s the right thing to do lah.

Not very romantic but practical.
N: James is not a romantic person.
J: I’m logical, practical. When I think about it, chronologically, everything makes sense.

What’s the most romantic thing James has ever done for you?
J: I also wanna hear this.
N: Hmm…
J: Must think so hard meh?
N: He does very practical things — they’re not romantic. Like if I need something, he will try his best to fulfil that need in my life. Like that time the computer I was editing on died. It kept breaking down, and I couldn’t submit my videos. Then all of a sudden, he came to my house with the latest iMac.
J: With the highest specs.
N: He was like, “This is an upgrade!” I was like, “Can use can already.” (Laughs)

But it was a nice surprise.
N: Yeah I was like, is this real or is it only the box?

So bad! So the next thing for James to do is propose. You haven’t proposed, right?
J: Haven’t.

You have to do it within the next four years right?
N: So long!
J: So the surprise is “When?”
N: Don’t take four years.

Nicole, when’s your deadline?
My deadline was really long ago — it’s already past the deadline.

Oh no! James, how?
J: (Laughs)
N: Women got expiry date…
J: She’s practical in this sense ’cos she’s thinking about her eggs.
N: I don’t wanna have kids when I’m so old… I wanted to be a young mum, I thought I would have a kid by 25. So now my life isn’t going according to plan.
J: (Laughs) When it happens, you all will know lah.

We’ll wait for the good news okay.
N: When I was overseas recently, he sent me this Google image of different shapes of diamonds. A very generic image, like if you Google diamonds, it will come up. And there were diamond shapes like heart, square, rectangle. And he asked: “What shape?”
J: (Laughs) Nicole’s personality is very strong, and her taste is very specific. So if I do something and she doesn’t like it, then need to postpone, need to remake. I thought it was better that way.
N: It means you don’t know me well enough!
J: It’s like if you get it wrong, it’s the end of everything. That’s very scary.

We feel so stressed for you, James.
N: I have high standards.

With both of you being public figures, is there this pressure to make the proposal, the ring, the bridal shower, the wedding etc super epic and amazing?
J: I feel it’s a special time for both of us, and we wanna celebrate and enjoy with people we love. It definitely has to be nice, but it won’t be an over-the-top thing where it’s overly grand and it’s everywhere in the media.
N: Like spend half our savings that kind? No, I think we are both very practical. Firstly, it’s our happiness, rather than what people see on social media. We don’t want to have pressure to post about the ring, the dress, the best location, the best buffet spread. No, it has to be things we like.

How about celebs and influencers getting their whole wedding sponsored? What do you think of that?
N: I feel like if anyone wants to sponsor me, I’m forever thankful and grateful.
J: But it’s very stressful at the same time, you know. When we see sponsored weddings, it’s like they need to thank everyone in their speeches. We will definitely pay for our wedding, but if anyone wants to sponsor us, we are thankful also.
N: We can always work things out. Anything extra is just a bonus, we are not expecting anything. If you notice us, that’s wow for us already. ’Cos we are still human, we are still Singaporean, we don’t feel special.

So sponsor dress, cake and all that is okay lah.
N: Only if they’re legit good lah, not if they’re shady brands. I don’t wanna mess up my wedding also, right!

But babies, definitely?
N: James don’t dare to say.
J: I’m okay with babies.
N: Only if it’s his child. Other kids, he won’t bother to interact with them.
J: I will lah, but some babies are quite terror.

You guys are friends with Kewei, Alfred and Momo right? Momo is so cute. Do you play with him?
N: I’m the one always playing with Momo.
J: I also got play with Momo.
N: But you won’t voluntarily go and like, “Momo, Momo.”
J: Momo will dian (electrify/charm) all the ladies, but he won’t give attention to the guys. So I know his pattern. I only play with him when he comes to me.

So Nicole, now that your plan to have kids by 25 is out, maybe by 30?
N: Maybe 30. Hopefully the factory still works well.

So James, you have to propose within the next three years.
J: Yeah, yeah.
N: Babies take a year to make, hello.
J: Yeah, yeah, clock is ticking.

So we can expect a proposal within two years?
J: Er… maybe?
N: Technically you should lah, if not the next headline will be: “James Seah and Nicole Chang Min, single??!?! On the market again?”

And sells their BTO?
N: Correct! Sells BTO! Forfeits their deposit! (Laughs)

Awwww.....

All pics courtesy of Nicole Chang Min & James Seah.