In Mediacorp drama I Do, Do I?, Aileen Tan performs a nasty and intrusive mother-in-law who always creates issues for her son (Tyler Ten) and daughter-in-law (Ferlyn G).
In actual life, the 57-year-old actress is nothing like that. In truth, she’s the full reverse.
Aileen is married to Hong Kong-born director Gerald Lee, 62, who has a 32-year-old son from his first marriage. Aileen and Gerald should not have any youngsters collectively and the actress treats her stepson like her personal.
In an interview with Chinese language media zaobao.sg, Aileen shared that earlier than her stepson acquired married, she informed him he didn’t must stay along with her and Gerald when he tied the knot.
“My daughter-in-law is from Japan. I informed my son it is best for them to begin their very own household after marriage,” she stated.
Aileen believed that not residing collectively along with her and Gerald is in the end “higher for (their son’s) marriage” as it’d assist keep away from conflicts since there are cultural and language variations.
“My daughter-in-law was not raised by us; she has her family too. As a lady, I perceive how one other lady feels. I imagine his spouse could be very joyful too. They do not should stay with us so long as everybody’s joyful,” she added.
In any case, Aileen is aware of how robust it’s to be a daughter-in-law.
Gerald’s dad and mom used to stay in Hong Kong and would solely stick with them for a month yearly. Aileen stated she used to get alongside nicely along with her in-laws since they did not see one another a lot.
That modified after her father-in-law handed away.
“My mother-in-law got here to stay with us and when our son flew to Japan for work, there was solely me, my husband and my mother-in-law at house. That resulted in some issues between me and her,” she admitted.
Aileen understood that her mother-in-law was getting previous, and that she revolved her life round her solely son after her husband died.
“It is regular she felt jealous. I am an actress so I can perceive why she thought that manner. Because the youthful occasion, in fact, I needed to compromise,” she defined.
“I believe it is laborious to stay along with your mother-in-law, nevertheless it additionally relies on how a lot you like your husband and are prepared to offer in for the household. In any case, your dad and mom are already of their 70s or 80s and you’d solely should endure for a number of years. If not for them, you would not get to know (your different half) both.”
In line with Aileen, she and Gerald had an settlement from the beginning that if one in all their dad and mom died, they’d ask the residing one to stick with them.
“When (me and Gerald) first met I already knew how a lot I must give and take as a result of my husband is the one son and may be very filial. However now, all of our dad and mom have reunited in heaven already,” she stated.
This story was initially published in 8Days.