Yvonne Lim Says Her Return To Acting Has Made Her Husband Appreciate Her More

Yvonne Lim is running late. It’s a Wednesday evening sometime in early April and 8days.sg is meeting the actress for dinner at Baba Chews, a Peranakan restaurant in Katong. But an hour before we meet, she drops us a text, apologising in advance for her tardiness because of a delay in filming. We have no issue waiting for Yvonne. In fact, we’ve been waiting a long time for her. To be back on screen again, we mean. In case you haven’t heard, the 42-year-old star is making her TV comeback in new Ch 8 drama While You Were Away after an almost five-year hiatus. And during those years that she, um, was away, she said goodbye to acting, moved to Taiwan and became a mum twice over — AJ and Alexa, her two kids with her Taiwanese former pop star hubby Alex Tien, are now four and two respectively.

In While You Were Away, Yvonne plays a woman who wakes up from a coma not remembering anything, including her marriage to Shaun Chen and her — wait for this — affair. It was the meaty role as well as how the filming schedule coincided with AJ’s winter school holidays that spurred her to take on the job. It also meant that she had to relocate back to Singapore for more than three months. If you’re friends with Yvonne or is up to date with her news, you would know that moving back to our sunny island is possibly the best incentive for the famously-homesick star.

Yvonne in character.

“So sorry! You must be so hungry!” says Yvonne when she arrives. For someone who’s been hard at work all day — she would later tell us that her role in the drama has more emotionally draining scenes than she expected — she looks incredibly fresh and lively. She’s dressed in a girlish demin romper and we tell her that she can easily pass off as a teenager, to which she laughs and says, “You must be kidding!”

There’s a possibility we ordered way too many dishes… not that it’s going to be an issue. Yvonne, whose Polly Pocket size belies the fact that she’s really a ferocious foodie, can’t wait to tuck into all the Peranakan food, which she says she misses badly but hasn’t had the chance to enjoy since she got back in late January. “I’ve been too busy,” she pouts. Not only did she have to juggle work with mummy duties, she’s also been actively looking to buy a home in Singapore for when she and her family eventually move back here.

Yes, all those years of Yvonne dropping not-at-all subtle but very public hints to Alex about how much she wants to move home has finally bore fruit. Her hubby and their two kids recently returned to Taiwan after spending two months here. They had relocated temporarily to Singapore not just to accompany Yvonne but so Alex and the kids can get a taste of what living here is like. One can say the trial worked out in Yvonne's favour.

Halfway through our chat, a waiter walks past our table, does a double take, and says to Yvonne, “Oh, welcome back!” It's not like Yvonne knows him but there's just a quality to the inimitably friendly star that makes everyone take to her like an old pal.

“See, it’s such a good feeling to be back, says Yvonne, smiling. You feel that you’re still loved by the people and everyone is so nice. When someone walks past you and says, hey, you’re back... It’s really the feeling of home.

8 DAYS: Now that your kids are back in Taiwan, do you miss them more or is there a part of you that’s glad that you have some precious me-time?
YVONNE LIM: Of course I miss them! (Laughs) But I am also really enjoying this moment of freedom ’cos I get to catch up with my friends and sit down for a meal without having to attend to my kids. It’s very hard to do that when they are around. Alex brought them back to Taiwan ’cos he wants me to focus on the drama. He said that this is like a bonus for me for the past four years where I just concentrated on taking care of the kids. He said that now I can finally do what I like, which is acting (smiles). He was also like, “You better make sure you do a good job. (Laughs)
Do you think they miss you?
I don’t think so! That’s the saddest thing! I think my daughter misses me more than my son. Once, I video called them and my son said, “Oh, I saw you two times already, I’m so tired.”
Oh no… how did that make you feel?
Hurt lah! But I know he was just trying to be funny. Alexa is the one who will go to the phone and talk to me. That’s how you can tell their personalities, and you know which one will run off with his girlfriend next time (laughs).
What was it like with them around while you were working?
Honestly, it was very tiring. I don’t know how working mums do it. After I got this drama, I Facetimed with (former Ch 8 actress) Ivy Lee and Hong Huifang. I’m very close to the two of them and I was telling Ivy about the show and she said, “You better say you don’t want to do it ’cos it’s going to be very tiring.” She’s been through it [Ed: Ivy has four kids] and so she was very concerned that I would be very tired. But I had already taken on the role and I decided that I should just give it a try. And she was right (laughs). ’Cos my kids are considered tourists here and I didn’t want them to be cooped up in the apartment all the time. So I would organise activities for them and bring them around after work. And I would have to wake up at 5.30am the next morning. So I barely had enough sleep when they were here. But I’m not complaining ’cos I do enjoy my work. And all my friends know how much I miss work. A lot of people told me they can see the joy on my face (laughs).

You mentioned recently that you probably won’t go back to being a full-time actor. Is this true?
I think it’s ’cos I don’t want to have to focus too much on this [acting] thing. If it was a means of income for me, I don’t think I would be able to perform as well as how I am now. I don’t know if I will be able to enjoy it as much as I do now.
Would you say the part of your life where your career is your priority is over?
I’ll just say that I’m comfortable to know which level I’m at and what I’m capable of delivering to a project. It’s more of like when producers look for me to be in a drama, it’s ’cos they know I can deliver instead of because I have to meet my show count. And when I do a drama, it's 'cos I’m doing it for the right role and when it's the timing is right.

What was the first thing you did back in Singapore that made you realise how much you have missed home?
When I could bring my kids around for walks.
You can’t do that in Taiwan?!
It’s not the same. There was once we were strolling along the Singapore River, near the Asian Civilizations Museum. We were there like eight-plus at night and the kids were running around and having a lot of fun. That was the moment where I felt like it was so good to be home.
But isn’t Taiwan safe too?
It is but there is no environment where you can let your kids can run around freely like that ’cos in Taiwan, you never know what will happen next. It was a very nice feeling that I haven’t experienced for a long time. This is the lifestyle I want with my kids which I am unable to have in Taiwan.

Do they like it here?
Yeah they do. But AJ is very diplomatic. I asked him if he preferred Singapore or Taiwan, and he said, “Singapore and I also like Taiwan” (Laughs). But I think they like Taiwan more ’cos there are a lot more activities for them to do and more places for them to explore there.
Have you told them about your plans to move back here eventually?
I don’t think they know ’cos they’ll just follow wherever we go. But we are actively looking for a place now and I've been viewing properties whenever I have free time. But the issue now is that it has to be one kilometer from the school we want AJ to go to.
Congrats on getting your wish to move home though!
(Laughs) It’s not going to be so fast though, like in two, three years’ time when AJ starts primary school. But Alex has heard about how stressful the education system here is and so he’s a bit concerned about that. He’s hesitant about sending them to a local school. But for me, I’m very pro local schools ’cos that’s how we were all brought up. And of course, the subsidies and also the school fees [for local schools] is nothing compared to what we are paying now [for the international school AJ goes to in Taiwan]. So yeah, that’s what we are debating about now.

But at least Alex is finally on board with moving to Singapore.
Yeah! My plan worked! Part of my plan was also to have my husband have a feel of what it’s like living here, which was also why I took the job. I managed to convince him that he should move here and he feels the same way now. In fact, he’s been pushing me to help him apply for PR.
Have you?
I very lazy lah (guffaws). And he got angry at me for not helping him. (Laughs) But I’m very busy okay. I don’t have the time to go online and do it for him.
How did he take to being a stay-at-home dad for the two months he was here?
He loved it. He loves spending time with the kids and he’s been a terrific dad. We’ve always been very hands-on so it hasn’t been hard for him to handle them, like putting them to bed or changing diapers.
In a way your roles were reversed ’cos you were working while he stayed home to care for the kids. Does he finally understand how you feel?
I think so…. Maybe? (Laughs) I’ve never talked to him about this. He obviously sees the good in living in Singapore now. I think he feels that this is good for me. And I think he appreciates me more now ’cos he finally realises that taking care of kids isn’t easy. He knows how boring it can get sometimes.
Did he verbalise it?
No but I could see it from his face ’cos he was always so tired. He had no time to do his hair (laughs). Being a mum is a 24-hour job!
But kids sleep!
Yes but you have to wake up earlier to make sure they wake up in time for school. I never understood it when Ivy Lee used to say how busy she was. ’Cos to me, I was like, “But you’re just a mum, you just have to bring the kids to school. I don’t know what you are busy with.” But now I know (laughs).

Catch Yvonne in While You Were Away from Jun 24, 9pm on Ch 8. You can also catch it first on Toggle from Jun 17 2019