Robbery victim Xian Lim: You can never be too careful

Xian Lim

Stop blaming the victim.”

Thus said Xian Lim, whose house was ransacked and robbed last January. The actor said he had read some articles saying celebrity vloggers like him should not show too much of what’s in their homes, lest robbers could easily plan on how to break and enter.

“People are always going to find someone to blame. I did read people saying it’s not right for vloggers to reveal too much of what’s inside their houses, but really, it’s not right to shift the blame onto the victim,” Xian told reporters during a recent virtual gathering for his latest show “1000 Heartbeats-Pintig Pinoy” on TV5.

“The issue here should be that it’s wrong to steal. Vloggers are going to do what vloggers want to do. For me, that shouldn’t be wrong,” he pointed out. “Now, should there be limitations on what we should show on our channels? I don’t think creative people should be forced into holding back. No holds barred dapat. The bottom line here is that it’s wrong to steal.”

Xian added: “It’s also your job to keep your family safe and do whatever is necessary in order for this not to happen to your home; and in my case, for it not to happen again.”

In his Instagram post, Xian said robbers had shattered some of the window glasses and hammered the metal grills before going in and taking all the TV sets and computers. He has already reported the incident to the police, Xian said.

“After I’ve filed the case, I realized that I could no longer take it further. There’s no more next step. It will just be a waste of your energy if you look for these people. It’s just a matter of not letting it happen again,” the actor declared. “You can never be too careful. That’s the moral of the story.”

Xian said thinking about the incident would still cause his heart rate to rise quickly. What he said was actually related to the concept of the quiz show he would be hosting for TV5 “1000 Heartbeats-Pintig Pinoy” wherein a contestant’s heartbeats are continuously counted and deducted from an initial 1,000 points.

The local version of the British daytime game show will premiere on TV5 on March 21 at 8 p.m.

Xian was also asked what past controversy made his heart race, to which he replied: “I’m no longer at a stage where I would easily get nervous because of rumors. I’ve already accepted that whatever I do, people would always have something to say about me, whether positive or negative. When I was just starting, I would still question a lot of things. These days, I just strive to be better at what I do every single day.”

Xian also said that his relationship with actress Kim Chiu, onscreen and off, is now pretty much stable. “When our love team, KimXi, was just starting, mainit-init pa, people had all sorts of things to say. We just kept doing our thing and, eventually, all the buzz died down.”

Does Kim still make his heart race? “Of course she still does. I always say that for a relationship to succeed, you should work on it every single day. You should never feel complacent,” he declared.

Since Xian started in the biz in 2009, he has worn numerous hats: as an actor, singer, concert performer, events host and filmmaker. “1000 Heartbeats” is Xian’s first shot at being a game show host.

“Have I felt jitters the first time? Definitely. The same goes for all the projects I’ve done in the past. I remember what Direk Bobet (Vidanes, program director) told me, ‘It’s OK to feel nervous. It only means that this project means the whole world to you. You should start worrying if you’re no longer feeling anything at all.’ That’s why I simply tried to enjoy the show. While it’s nerve-wracking, it’s actually a fun type of game show.”

As to which part of the show resonated with Xian the most, he said: “We’ve shot a couple of episodes already and what really hit me emotionally was that most contestants come to the show with a goal: to bring home the grand prize because, for example, they want to help build a home for their aging parents. When contestants break down, I, as a host, get teary-eyed, too. It gets personal for me when contestants start talking about their families.”

“1000 Heartbeats-Pintig Pinoy” is a collaboration between Viva Entertainment and TV5. INQ