Original sentence: In March 2008, Rui En trounced Fann Wong (previously a 5 time consecutive winner) in the annual popularity contest - 学生偶像投选, 影视组 (国际／本地), organised by now defunct newspaper, 星期5周报 (), to claim the much coveted first runner-up position
Edited sentence: A win despite her absence reflects Rui En's high popularity in Singapore.All artistes with at least a leading role in Channel 8's drama in 2008 are eligible for the award, with over 30 nominees in total.Her poor PR skills was thought to be a contributing reason to why she has never garnered any nomination in the acting categories despite being generally acknowledged as one of the finer local actresses of her generation.In April 2009, despite an informal viewers' survey labeling Rui En as a strong contender  for the coveted Best Actress Award in the annual Star Awards organised by MediaCorp Singapore, Rui En again missed out on a nomination, for her role as AIDS patient-cum-volunteer Zhang Yu Hang in By My Side.In February 2009, Rui En beat fellow actress Jeanette Aw, hot favorite after the huge success of The Little Nyonya, to the coveted title of Babe of the Year in the annual Flame Awards organised by The New Paper.In March 2008, Rui En dethrone Fann Wong (previously a 5 time consecutive winner) in the annual popularity contest - 学生偶像投选, 影视组 (国际／本地), organised by now defunct newspaper, 星期5周报 (), to claim the much coveted first runner-up position.In a televised countdown event organised by MediaCorp Singapore's Channel 8, Rui En won 1 of the 8 coveted Top 8 Most Popular Female Characters award with her only production that year as Zhang Yu Hang in By My Side.In the same month (April 2009), Rui En picked up her fourth consecutive Top Ten Most Popular Female Artiste trophy despite being a no-show in the high profile award ceremony due to overseas work commitment.Rui En was rumored by some, to have garnered the most number of votes in the popularity contest.The other winning female artistes are Fann Wong, Jeanette Aw and Felicia Chin.The popularity contest in the annual award is highly competitive and it is not unusual for artistes who are unable to attend the award ceremony to be disadvantaged