Hong Ling reveals she was molested as a child at a waterpark: 'If I had a similar encounter now, I would not let the other person off'
Seow Kai LunUpdated Sat, 6 April 2024 at 1:43 AM GMT-73-min readFor local actress Hong Ling, her latest role as a policewoman who investigates sex crimes hits close to home, as she was molested as a child.
The Singapore drama, Undesirable Crimes, centres around a police task force that has been set up to look into the increasing number of sexual offences. The actress told local Chinese outlet Zaobao during an interview that the incident happened at a waterpark when she was in primary school.
“A man was swimming next to me and he just touched my chest, causing me to feel nauseous,” said the 29-year-old. She immediately went to her father to let him know what had happened.
“My dad felt very guilty for not being able to protect me, I was also very angry at him then. However, now that I look back as I’m older, it is the perpetrator’s fault, why is it that the victims feel that it is their problem?” said Hong.
The actress admitted to Zaobao that this incident still weighs heavily in her heart and that she has not shared this with many people, choosing to suffer quietly instead.
“Hence, when I look at some of these sexual crime cases, I cannot imagine what the victims have had to go through,” she said, adding, “If I were to have a similar encounter again now, I definitely would not let the other person off.”
Xiang Yun shared with Chinese daily Zaobao that it was not awkward to be working with her daughter's ex-boyfriend Gavin Teo on set. (Photo: Instagram/xiang_yun_)
Xiang Yun working on the same drama as her daughter’s ex Gavin Teo
Xiang Yun and her daughter’s ex-boyfriend, Gavin Teo, also feature in Undesirable Crimes, portraying the roles of a psychologist and an IT specialist in the police force respectively.Teo, 28 and Chen Yi Xin, 23 shared about their break up after five years of dating earlier this year, just before Valentine’s Day.
Contrary to what one may expect, Xiang Yun shared with the Chinese daily that it was not awkward to be working with Teo on set.
“The breakup is a thing of the past already and I have always loved Gavin. Both of them are working hard now, and I hope that they have a bright future,” she shared, adding that Chen has “gone back to life as usual” and that time will heal all wounds.
Although she is an experienced actress, Xiang Yun said that her role in the drama was not an easy one as she had many professional terms to memorise in the script.
“I’m not as good at memorising lines now as I was in the past. Luckily, I don’t have too many scenes,” Xiang Yun told Zaobao with a laugh.
Teo said that for him, Xiang Yun and her husband, Edmund Chen, are “like his Singapore parents”. He and Xiang Yun will always ask how one another are doing when they meet on set.
He told Zaobao that since he is busy with filming these days, he “does not have much time to think too much” and that if he does bump into his ex in the artiste company they both belong to, they can still have a casual conversation.
