Lina Ng Didn’t Allow Dating Before 18, Then Found (And Secretly Read) Her Then 15-Yr-Old Son’s Love Letter
When it comes to motherhood, local actress Lina Ng, 51, has never shied away from sharing the realities of raising children. The mum of three boys — Jeriel, 22, Joel, 20, and Samuel, 15 — is known for being a self-described “tiger mum”, but one who is equally open in showing affection, both online and off.
Appearing on the latest episode of 8days’ chat show DNA, Lina and her eldest son Jeriel sat down with host Rebecca Lim to reflect on their formative years, and how discipline and connection shaped their relationship.
When it came to Lina’s reputation for being strict, Jeriel didn’t deny it — but said he and his brothers “loved it”. Now a business student at the National University of Singapore who is also building his own financial advisory business, he has come to appreciate her firm approach, recognising that it always came from a place of care.
Still, one particular incident involving Lina’s rules has stayed with him.
He recalled: “When I first realised I liked someone, I didn’t dare tell her, because there was a rule that I wasn’t allowed to get together with my girlfriend before 18. I was 15 at that point, and my girlfriend, then crush, wrote me this very sweet letter for my birthday.”
Jeriel had hidden the letter in his cupboard, but during one of Lina’s routine spring-cleaning sessions, she stumbled upon it while tidying his room.
“She opened all my cupboards, then she saw the letter! The next day, when I came home, I [searched] all my cupboards and the letter wasn’t there,” he said.
Lina quickly interjected: “But I didn’t take it!”
Jeriel clarified that while the letter wasn’t missing, it had been moved — a clear sign someone had gone through his things. “I was like, oh shucks, something has happened,” he added.
At the time, Jeriel did not know Lina had read the letter. When he asked if she had touched it, she admitted she had — and later confessed to reading it as well.
“He said ‘how can you read my letter, you’re intruding on my privacy!’. But I didn’t mean to confront him, he started the conversation first,” she said.
Cue an eye roll from Jeriel.
Lina then asked him to explain the situation, stressing that she “was not angry” at the time.
Jeriel admitted he was upset that his mum had gone through his things and “wasn’t open about it” initially. However, he said the situation eventually turned out “quite nice”, as her awareness of the relationship allowed him to seek guidance he otherwise wouldn’t have had.
That was when Lina reiterated the family rule: no dating before 18.
Jeriel, who was 15 then, pushed back: “18 was what you decided, but when [one] falls in love at 15 or 16, how am I supposed to handle that kind of relationship and love that has [come around], how do I gather it back?”
“Wah! Ask me question like that leh, so I was like ‘in the first place I didn’t ask you to love somebody, I already told you you could only date someone at 18 years old,” Lina replied.
She emphasised that while the exchange was not angry, it was a tense one. She later apologised — not for cleaning his room, but for reading his letter — and promised to respect his privacy moving forward.
Explaining her reasoning, Lina said: “You thought you’re matured but you’re actually not. The reason is because an outsider sees the situation more clearly, and we could see that you’re not ready for a relationship. You’re struggling with your studies, and not ready for something else.”
Jeriel admitted he couldn’t argue with her logic, even if he wasn’t fully convinced at the time. Eventually, they reached a compromise: he would have to prove that being in a relationship would not affect his studies.
Lina shared that he rose to the challenge, with Jeriel quipping: “I studied the hardest I ever studied.”
In the end, things worked out. Jeriel is still with his first girlfriend today. The couple began dating at 17 — after Lina and her husband relented and allowed the relationship as a birthday gift, which he described as the best one he had ever received.
They have now been together for six years, growing through key milestones such as junior college and national service.
It’s clear Lina approves. When asked by Rebecca what she thought of Jeriel’s girlfriend, she replied without hesitation: “I like!”
“I like the fact that they encourage one another. I always told them to [be with someone] who could bring the best out of them, and if they bring the best out of the girl, they are a perfect match,” she added.
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