Lee Lin Chin signs off with a sartorial flourish

The New Daily
Jul 29, 2018, updated Jul 29, 2018

Lee Lin Chin signed off in spectacular fashion.

Veteran newsreader Lee Lin Chin has presented her final bulletin for SBS, making one of her most flamboyant fashion statements to date in the process.

Ms Chin, who signed off for the last time on Sunday after 30 years presenting SBS World News, wore a black outfit that one of her colleagues and several viewers described as “inspired by Darth Vader”.

The newsreader’s spectacular sartorial flourishes are legendary, however this semi-transparent number rivals her famous Logies outfits as her most memorable.

.@LeeLinChinSBS presents her final SBS World News bulletin https://t.co/zrRoUEQ2Sa pic.twitter.com/ScJxHZvumX

— SBS News (@SBSNews) July 29, 2018

Fans of the veteran broadcaster were quick to hypothesise over the inspiration for her outfit, with one saying it was: “Half Darth Vader, half Black Widow, 100 per cent legend.”

Ms Chin’s final bulletin featured a series of emotional tributes from colleagues, including her replacement and former SBS colleague Anton Enus.

On social media, fans thanked the broadcaster for the impact she’d had on their lives.

“When regional Australia switched on SBS in 1992, families like mine saw a world much different to what we had seen before. In stories and presentation,” Nick Lowther wrote on Twitter. “Thank you for showing a boring white boy a world beyond.”

Lee Lin Chin’s 2015 Logies outfit turned heads. Photo: Getty

Isaiah Thomas Jimeno wrote: “[Lee Lin Chin] inspires me coming from an Asian background and living in Australia … [You] give Asians hope that yes we can be in an industry where not many Asians are present. Farewell Queen!”

https://twitter.com/JuliaPillai/status/1023501916888739840

In Melbourne, a crowd braved the chilly evening to watch the newsreader’s final broadcast on the big screen at Federation Square.

In addition to tributes from colleagues, Ms Chin’s final bulletin featured a special message from the “handsome” reporter she was caught admiring in a now-infamous blooper.

“That handsome man!!” They found him for the #LeeLinChin tribute – fantastic job @SBSNews pic.twitter.com/lbO10y6YG8

— Joe O'Brien (@JoeDoesNews) July 29, 2018

While Ms Chin’s next move isn’t certain, she told SBS News she planned to be in Singapore by the weekend “eating … a lot”.

In a statement on her famous Twitter account, which is run in with the help of comedy writers at SBS, Ms Chin wrote: “I have not retired, simply resigned. Retirement is death.”