“Aiyah, when I was filming of Life Less Ordinary in 2017, my face was so slanted, I looked like I had a stroke. It’s better now but there are still problems lah. I just don’t understand this whole thing about menopause,” she sulks. She also reveals that she had consulted both Western and Chinese doctors in the past year, but still faces a multitude of health issues including eczema and thyroid disorder.

Her health problems haven't affected Xiang Yun-jie's work though. Her most recent project sees her playing Tay Pinghui’s bossy wife in a short film by award-winning Taiwanese director Wayne Peng and his wife Lim Sau Hoong. Also in the film is 53-year-old Internet thirst trap Chuando Tan and Xiang Yun and Edmund Chen's daughter, 19-year-old budding actress Chen Yixin, who plays a “ma-jie” (domestic helper) from China.

When we ask Xiang Yun-jie her feelings about playing TPH’s wife (they have a 10-year age gap in real life), she casually mentions that she only has two scenes in the film, and TPH is in none of them. Xiang Yun also reveals that she had a much bigger role at the beginning, but her number of scenes were reduced when it was decided that Yixin deserves more screen time. 

“The producer said she’s very good in the role so they increased her scenes!" she beams with pride. "Now I only have one day of filming! (Chuckles) They're writing the script as filming goes on, so I don't what happens in the end!"

8 DAYS: You recently spoke to a Chinese paper about your experience with menopause. How did you even know that you were going through it? 
XIANG YUN: I didn’t realise it until I had an unusual skin allergy in 2016. My skin was shedding like mad and it felt very weird. So I asked around and found out that my friends who were about the same age have this problem too. I also started to drool unconsciously and it happened so much that my clothes became wet. It was very frustrating, especially during filming. It’s like I was having a stroke! My body and face also became super swollen and I was diagnosed with thyroid disorder. 

Oh my! That sounds terrible! How are you coping now?
I still have eczema and thyroid, and it’s making me very worried. The number of times I’ve seen the doctor this year is record-breaking. I suddenly have so many health issues, like I've never had sinus but now I do! I think I went to the doc 10-20 times in a span of eight months. Luckily, my filming schedule is not so packed these days.
 
So how bad did it get? 
The worst was when my whole body swelled up during the filming of The Little Nyonya remake, especially my face. It was terrible. Luckily the production crew were quite supportive and didn’t comment much. I felt like I looked disgusting wearing the high-neck Nyonya kebaya. My neck and face looked conjoined. I started to hate taking pictures and would avoid going to places with many people so that no one would see me in that state.

What’s the worst part about going through menopause? 
The emotions. I feel very depressed even though I know it’s part of the natural aging process which no one can avoid. I keep questioning myself every day and it has affected my self-confidence. I suddenly became very easily annoyed and very averse to loud noises. I used to be a kaypoh person and I loved to talk to everyone but now I prefer keeping quiet and being alone. (Laughs)

So how has it affected family life? 
Sometimes when my family makes too much noise, I get very frustrated. I won’t lash it out on them but I will just go hide in my room. But now that I'm thinking about it, I’ve actually lost my patience [with my family]. (Laughs) I don’t know why! I just cannot tahan. I will strictly tell them that I don’t want to talk anymore… I will just tell Edmund to go straight to the point and not say anything unnecessary. (Laughs)​​​​​​​

Did you talk to your family about what you're going through? 
Not really. Everything happened in a flash and I’m still very confused. (Laughs) Luckily, my daughter, who is studying psychology in Singapore Polytechnic, will try and talk to me. But it’s more of keeping myself under control lah ‘cos I know my body best. If I think things are going too quickly, I would slowly pace myself and do stuff to calm myself down, like jogging or reading.

​​​​​​​How about Yixi and Edmund?
Oh, Yixi’s a wonderful son. I feel more love from Yixi especially. He’s very sweet and will jio me out for dinner. Edmund would take me out as well and they would make plans around me. But if I don’t feel like going, they won’t force me either. Yixi would leave me lots of texts everyday to cheer me up. (Laughs) He would also knock on my door daily to ask if I’m doing okay.

That's so sweet!
I think family support is very important during this period ‘cos [menopause] suddenly hits and you’ll feel very lost. It’s like you’re drowning and you don’t know how to swim. My family has really helped me a lot through this tough time. 

PHOTOS: MARK LEE