Yvonne Lim Says She Made The Right Call To Skip Star Awards After More Earthquakes Hit Taiwan The Next Day: “I Would Not Be Able To Forgive Myself If Something Happened While I Was Away”

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Other than Pornsak and Love 972 jock Chen Biyu who were both MIA during Sunday’s Star Awards, another familiar face was not around when their name was called to the stage.

Mediacorp actress Yvonne Lim was also nowhere in sight when Taiwanese actor Chen Bolin announced her as one of this year’s Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes.

The Strike Gold actress’ latest Top 10 win also means she will be collecting her All-Time Favourite Artiste trophy next year.

Yvonne scored her last Top 10 win in 2022 though she was also not present due to family commitments.

The last time she was on stage to pick up a Top 10 award was a decade ago in 2014.

When 8days.sg spoke to Yvonne on the phone on Wednesday (Apr 24) on how she was dearly missed, she shared that she initially had plans to come back for the Star Awards.

“I even told my make-up artist and stylist to be on standby. However, I changed my mind after the earthquake in Taiwan earlier in the month,” she said.

Taiwan was hit by a 7.4 quake on Apr 3 with at least 17 people killed.

“[Hong] Huifang-jie and [Chen] Hanwei didn’t believe that I won’t come back and thought I would surprise them and turn up last minute,” said Yvonne.

“They expected me to take the first flight on Sunday to be there for the event,” she added.

However, Yvonne took the time to post a video on her Instagram, thanking everyone for their support.

Yvonne told us that the experience from the earthquake left her traumatised and she knew she wouldn’t have felt good leaving her kids in Taiwan.

She recounted her experience saying when the Apr 3 quake hit, the entire building kept shaking uncontrollably, much “like a very bad boat ride.”

“Thankfully, my kids were in a moving vehicle and it was less traumatising than being at home with me,” she said.

When this writer mentioned that another five earthquakes hit Taiwan on Monday (Apr 22), Yvonne said she is glad that she made the right call to stay with her family.

“I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself if anything happened while I was away. In the end, I think I made the right decision,” she sighed.

Yvonne also said the harrowing experience with the earthquakes have affected her daily life and that she hasn’t been resting well since.

“I have this fear of not knowing what will happen next which has made me unable to sleep, and I end up feeling like a zombie in the mornings,” she added.

Yvonne also said that even locals who have stayed in Taiwan all their lives call the latest spate of earthquakes “very scary”.

“There is a lot of uncertainty in the air now as this many earthquakes happening is very unusual to them,” she said.

Though she wasn’t in Singapore for the awards, Yvonne had gathered her family to catch the live broadcast of the show.

Yvonne is married to former Taiwanese singer Alex Tien and they share two children, nine-year-old AJ, and seven-year-old Alexa.

When asked how everyone was feeling when the names for the Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes were being called out, Yvonne said everyone was nervous till her name was announced.

“I think I made myself more nervous watching it with my kids,” she laughed.

“My daughter was constantly putting her head on the table and going, “Oh, no, no, no” while my husband’s and son’s face were frozen the entire time,” she added.

However, Yvonne says she is “really glad that [she] didn’t disappoint the kids as [she] would have been sadder if they didn’t see [her] win anything.”

8DAYS.SG: How long did the family celebrate for when your name was called?

Yvonne Lim: (Laughs) Very quick! It was literally a quick cheer before ushering the kids to bed as they are in the middle of their exams, while I had to prepare for an interview with #justswipelah.

But AJ was very excited and kept making an excuse to come out to use the bathroom just to peek.

Hosts Guo Liang and Dennis Chew suggested Taiwanese actor Chen Bolin bring the trophy to you personally. Is he going to?

I wish! (Laughs) At the same time, there is no point to [send the award here] as I will be moving back soon. I will just get my manager to keep it for me till then.

We look forward to seeing you hold the trophy in person then.

Yes! I am very thankful for everyone’s efforts in voting and never take any of this for granted.

Even though my role as a mother and wife means I am in Taipei most of the time, I have never lost my passion for our local showbiz industry.

So the plan to come back is set in stone? [Ed: Yvonne last said she will be moving back in mid-2024]

Yes, and our timeline will be by the third quarter of this year.

One of the reasons I am pushing to move back is also because of my fear of earthquakes.

Who is the first person you will celebrate with once you are back in Singapore?

My godmother.

If not for her, I wouldn’t be able to come back to film Strike Gold and Whatever Will Be Will Be. Though she is based in Singapore, she will especially fly out to Taiwan to look after the kids so I can do what I love without worrying about home.