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Ya Hui: Singapore’s sweetheart

As the girl who hawks noodles in the long-running Channel 8 dramedy 118, Ya Hui has received the most positive feedback of her seven-year career.

Sweet Young Thing: Does the name Ya Hui ring a bell?

Sweet Young Thing: Does the name Ya Hui ring a bell?

As the girl who hawks noodles in the long-running Channel 8 dramedy 118, Ya Hui has received the most positive feedback of her seven-year career.

And it’s no wonder: The actress has managed to imbue a character who is simple, sweet and homely in all senses of the word with a believable and rather touching lovability.

It probably helps a little that Ya Hui herself, more so than almost every other young actress on Caldecott Hill, is your no-frills, fuss-free local-girl-next-door. You know, that girl who isn’t above running after a bus, gives you detailed recommendations for which llao llao frozen yogurt toppings to pick, is likely to drag you out for prata at midnight, and isn’t afraid to let it all hang out.

Like her 118 character, she’s a “T-shirt, shorts and slippers kind of person”. “So, when I go on set looking like that, I feel like I’m still myself. I feel like I’m not even working,” the 27-year-old smiled.

Other pretty young things might feel shortchanged having to appear daily on television in perpetually frumpy getups. But not Ya Hui, who chirped: “You don’t have to worry about wardrobe malfunctions!”

That’s on top of the fact that she doesn’t really like dressing up. “I just love being clean and comfortable. I have OCD (obsessive–compulsive disorder) — if I haven’t showered, I never climb onto my bed. And I cannot stand oily hands. If you touch my phone and you leave fingerprints on it, I’ll open my eyes damn big,” she said.

Because she prefers to dress casually, she self-deprecatingly describes her fashion sense as “quite bad”.

“Thankfully, I’ve got stylists. If not, I think my dress sense quite cui (terrible),” she admitted. “In my school days, wah — really cannot make it. I wore some chapalang (random mix) thing.

“Now, it’s a little bit better,” she added, giving herself a score of “maybe a six out of 10”.

As for war paint, well, don’t expect any from her. “I don’t like wearing make-up,” she said.

That’s actually good for her audience awareness quotient. “Nowadays, when I’m not wearing make-up, people tend to recognise me more often, because in the show, it looks like I’m not wearing make-up. Even my closest friends say, ‘Eh, you never makeup then you go on screen, ah?’”

STAYING REAL

At this point, she sounds like at least one irresistibly down-to-earth friend you know. But Ya Hui wasn’t always so open.

“I used to be really crazy,” she shared. “That’s my character — I’m super-friendly; I talk to strangers. In school, I was quite popular — all the teachers knew me because I always handed in my homework late. Growing up, I did a lot of stupid things, and always in public. If my friends dared me to go up to a guy and get his number, I would do it. At McDonald’s, they dared me to go to the counter and say, ‘A plate of chicken rice, please.’ The person behind the counter would just look at me as I stood there giggling away.”

But immediately after joining showbiz via Star Search in 2007, she started to retreat into herself. “The very first day I entered the industry, somebody told somebody — I shall not mention names — ‘Wah, that Ya Hui very PR (public relations), hor?’ I didn’t even know what PR was. I was still relatively young, about 20,” she said.

“From then on, I became very quiet. I was in a shell. I didn’t want people to think that I was PR-ing with them. Because that’s not me. It’s either I treat you sincerely or I won’t talk to you. I’m not the kind of person who will come and say ‘Hello, hello, how’s your day?’ if I don’t like you.”

She has been told she can be too honest. “People tell me, ‘You cannot be too real.’ I’m like, ‘Huh? Isn’t being real a good thing?’ This is something I’m still learning: You have to be real but when you’re unhappy, you have to hide it,” she said. “If you’re too straightforward, you will offend people. This is something I have not mastered after such a long time. I’m just not used to wearing a mask. I don’t hide my feelings. If I’m angry, it will show on my face. What you see is what you get.”

Needless to say, it is difficult to stay yourself in showbiz, but Ya Hui has friends to keep her grounded, such as actress Chen Liping. “She’s the one who constantly gives me advice to stay real. People tend to become very materialistic, like carrying branded bags. But I don’t believe in branded stuff. As long as you’re comfortable and you look good, that’s enough. I recently caught up with my secondary school teachers and they’re glad I’m still the Ya Hui they used to know.”

NO HOLDS BARRED

These days, Ya Hui has eased back into being “crazy” and comfortable in her own skin. “I’ve got no image to maintain,” she laughed. “My fans all know that and they prefer me to stay real. I don’t put up an act in front of them. If you’re an artiste, you mingle but still have a shield. I don’t. I remove my shield and communicate with my heart. Because I feel that no matter what, when you use your heart, people can feel it. That’s enough.”

As for what her crazy side is really like, she said that if you watch the drama Life Is Beautiful (which premieres on March 5), you’ll see what she means. In it, she wears a fatsuit to play a hefty girl. It’s the second time she has been tasked with a “fat” role — the first being for the Channel U drama Marry Me in 2013.

“Why me, huh? Maybe some artistes might not want to get fat, I don’t know. Maybe I’m the only one who can put on weight easily, especially on my face,” she laughed.

But Ya Hui enjoys being able to change her image and hopes to play a police officer at some point. “I played a CID officer in Point Of Entry on Channel 5, but I haven’t on Channel 8. I think it’s damn cool. I love fight scenes. I love all the stunts. The stuntman thinks I’m not bad and that I can be trained to become the next female action star. I’m chor lor (rough), mah! I can act guniang (lady-like), but it’s very fake.”

If that comes as a surprise to you, you’re not alone. “Many people say my looks are deceiving. If I just sit there and I don’t talk, you’ll think I’m very demure and well behaved. But when I start talking — that’s it,” she laughed. “You’ll know what kind of person I am.”

Catch 118 on weekdays at 7.30pm on MediaCorp TV Channel 8. Life Is Beautiful premieres March 5, weekdays at 9pm on Channel 8.

CREDITS

Photography: Jason Ho

Makeup: Sam Ong (96832421) using L’Oreal

Hair: Junz Loke, Passion Hair Salon

On the cover: Red and white dress, S$24.90 from H&M

Top, S$56.90; shorts, S$76.90 from Topshop

Shoes: Artiste’s own

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