“She Calls Me Bao Bei”: Felicia Chin On How Her Mother-In-Law Dotes On Her More Than She Does Her Son Jeffrey Xu

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“Hi, this is Felicia! Am I speaking to Bryan?” rang a crisp voice on the other line on a Thursday evening.

We were expecting someone to link us up with Felicia Chin to speak to her about her new drama but the 39-year-old actress, who left Mediacorp in 2022 to join faith based company Hai Hao Ma?, had other plans.

“I thought it would be more convenient to just do it myself,” she laughs.

Full disclosure, this is the first time I am conversing with Felicia.

The easy-going vibe was present throughout the entire interview, with Feli even cheekily roping in her husband Jeffrey Xu halfway into our conversation as soon as he stepped into the house.

“I am speaking to 8days.sg now and they would like to know what you think about Jason Godfrey?” she laughs.

Jason plays Leonardo De Luca, Felicia’s Italian onscreen love interest to her character Tho Yumi in the  20-episode Mediacorp drama, I Do, Do I?, which explores the challenges of transnational pairings.

“Not only is he handsome and funny, but both [Felicia] and him make a very refreshing pair,” replies Jeffrey in Mandarin, which Feli then translates into English for us.

The Shanghai-born Jeffrey would go on to muse out loud about how he looks forward to the opportunity to do a drama where Jason speaks Mandarin and he English.

“It would be hilarious to see both of you converse on set,” laughs Felicia.

Scroll to the end to catch the first episode of I Do, Do I?

Lately, Felicia’s Instagram followers would have noticed Jeffrey’s mum appearing in a couple of Reels with her. When we ask what inspired the videos, she readily shared that the idea came about during Mother’s Day this year.

“I just wanted to share how proud I am of her. Her love for her children is very inspiring,” says Felicia.

The same affection extends to Felicia too and she shares that since joining the Xu family, her mother-in-law has taken to having a pet name for her too.

“Maybe she always wanted a daughter because she really shows her affection towards me. She now calls me bao bei,” shares Felicia. [Ed: 'Bao bei' is Chinese for baby or darling]

“During mealtimes she tends to serve me first or even gives me a bigger bowl of soup, telling Jeffrey that it was only for me which usually has him mockingly reply where his share is,” says Felicia, giggling.

However, she lets on that her mother-in-law is quite media shy and got startled when she was recognised on the streets.

“She was asking for directions while out and was quite taken aback when the person immediately went, “I know you! You are Jeffrey’s mum!” she laughs.

Though her healthy relationship with her mother-in-law is the envy of many, Felicia shares that there are no immediate plans for Jeffrey’s mum to move to Singapore from Shanghai and live with them just yet.

“We think it important to stay on our own for now because that comes from a place where we want to develop our own family culture,” she says.

However, when probed about what habit she would need to change should her mother-in-law decidedly move in, she sheepishly admits that she will need to close her eyes to certain things.

One of which is how she hangs freshly-washed laundry.

Umm… Seriously?

8DAYS.SG: Closing your eyes as to how laundry is hung? Tell us more!

FELICIA CHIN: You know how our parents feel that laundry should be hung where the sun is? But both me and Jeff like things to be neat so seeing clothes everywhere was a little of an eyesore.

Maybe you can get those drying racks with UV and fan functions?

We have that! But that comes the next thing – the sun is always better. Also, the older generation always say such drying racks waste electricity.

Speaking of which, another thing I might need to get used to is living in darkness as she seems to like minimal lighting at home.

Another parental thing about saving electricity (laughs).

Make us feel better about ourselves. Were there any other disagreements considering she is from a different country?

There weren’t any outright disagreements, but there was once I had a argument with Jeffrey and she kept saying “guai yi dian” which to me translates to “be more obedient”. I immediately got defensive, even borderline offended, even asking her what she meant.

Apparently, that’s how Shanghainese comfort their children saying everything is okay which made me feel a little silly after.

Oh, that sounds so different from our understanding of 'guai yi dian'.

Yeah, I did my best to take the time to be direct with her in a comfortable way, allowing us to understand where we both were coming from.

We might be of the same race but with different cultures and upbringing.

The key is taking the time to nurture the relationship. That makes a difference and if there are things I don’t understand, I would always ask Jeff first.

Other than giving us a peek into your relationship with your mother-in-law, you also shared about previously having an unhealthy relationship with food. What made you go public about it?

I wanted to share a personal and vulnerable side of myself so that others might not feel like they are alone. There are little steps that we can take to treat ourselves better because we deserve it.

Wasn’t it scary to be so open online?

It was and I felt out of my comfort zone. But I also see it as part of my work and be more proactive about sharing my experience.

If someone in my 20s had shared with me how I am doing now, I probably would have felt less alone.

I Do, Do I? has a very interesting take on love. How has your perspective on love changed over the years?

Wah! That is a very deep question.

A decade back, I was searching yet I didn’t really know what it was. In fact, there was a time when I didn’t think I was worthy of love.

Now I feel that I understand it better and it’s important to continue loving even through the hard times. As humans, we have our ‘off days’ and tend to be unkind to the people closest to us.

You took no-pay leave to film I Do, Do I?. How tough was it juggling your full-time job and filming?

It was extremely difficult. Even though I had a day off every week, I usually spent that day editing and posting content for Ni Hao Ma? which can be tiring.

But knowing that my efforts helped some people tide over difficult times, and from possibly ending their lives made everything worth it.

Thankfully the filming team tried to give me space and leeway to fit everything into my schedule.

Heads up for any projects coming your way?

I haven’t thought that far. But a short film or a movie sounds exciting to me. Especially if it is with a director I have never worked with before.

Photos: iamfeliciachin/Instagram

Catch Felicia in her most recent drama, I Do, Do I?, on meWATCH or view the first episode below.