Your co-stars Jojo and Yang Zi are from Malaysia and China respectively. Is there anything you learnt about their countries from them?
I feel that I picked up more from Yang Zi. Jojo is very similar to us Singaporeans, as she is from Malaysia. We have shared cultures, and we understand each other easily. It’s just that Jojo speaks fluent Malay, which really impressed me because I can’t even understand it. She told me that she even filmed a Malay movie back in Malaysia and I was like "Wow". She speaks English, Chinese, Malay and Cantonese fluently.
[My conversation with] Yang Zi on the other hand, is different. We’re both interested in how production works in China. I told her I went China to shoot [Mediacorp drama A Quest to Heal] before and wanted to know more from her.
We talked about how the production set in China is generally bigger, and how while most people must take up more than one role in their position here, companies in China have specific departments that only focus on one production aspect, mostly because they have more resources though.
Would you want to work in China again if given the opportunity?
I feel… yes. I don’t know (laughs), must be able to come back lah. But I am always looking forward to overseas opportunities because you have to connect and try to experience different cultures, especially those that are out of your comfort zone, to make you learn more and grow into a better actress.
In that case, have you ever had a penpal?
No, I don’t write letters (laughs). The only time I recall writing letters was to my father.
Last time, when I was in school, if I needed anything from him because my allowance was not enough, he would require me to write a letter to ask for it.
Like an official letter, signing off and everything?
Yes! I would have to tell him the reason I needed the item. Then he would read it and consider whether he would buy it for me. For example, I remember in primary school where everyone in my class owned a stapler and I needed one. So he asked me to write him a letter.
I wrote “Daddy, everyone in my class has a stapler, and I’m the only one without. It will help [with] my homework so I can staple everything myself”. (Laughs) I had to write this letter, put it in an envelope and pass it to my dad. It’s a very fun memory ‘cause my dad was the one who made me write the most letters.
We guess it’s a good thing you don’t have siblings then! Otherwise, your dad would have many more letters to read.
Yah, I guess it wasn’t easy for me at all, even if I was an only child. Because during my childhood if I wanted something, I must really fight for it and give a valid reason for it.