Tan Kheng Hua wants to thank her younger self for being consistent. She says the trait – specifically, in this case, keeping up with her fitness level – has served her well now that she’s older.
When CNA Lifestyle spoke to her earlier this month, Kheng Hua was in a car on the way home from a hike at Bukit Timah hill. The Singaporean actress shared that she’s always been athletic since young – in fact, she used to run between 5km and 10km regularly even when she was in primary school.
“And now, at 60, I still run between 5 and 10km. And whenever I’m running, I’m just so thankful I kept it up. Because now at my age is when I feel I really get the benefits of having treated my body well and taken care of it,” she said.
Tan Kheng Hua is reaping the reward of staying consistent with her fitness. (Photo: Tan Kheng Hua)
She added that she has never been a big consumer who needed to buy things to make herself happy. Instead, she prefers experiences – something she got plenty of while based in Canada the last few years working on the American TV series Kung Fu, which aired on The CW.
She spoke about how having access to so much nature where she could do things like ski and hike invigorated her and made her realise that it was a wonderful way to grow old.
Living off-grid means having to chop your own firewood. (Photo: Tan Kheng Hua)
Which was how she found herself living off-grid for four months in a cabin in British Columbia. The move was partly nudged along when she found herself with time on her hands due to the writers’ and actors’ strike earlier this year, as well as the cancellation of Kung Fu after three seasons.
“I thought, what a great way to utilise the time I suddenly found on my hands by exploring off-grid living”, adding that there’s a wealth of information to be found on the subject online on YouTube and Pinterest.
She explained that by that time, she had already been moving towards a life of less consumption and when she chanced upon the cabin – she wanted to keep the location private – a little more than a year ago she thought, why not just try it.
Kheng Hua described the off-grid adventure as being “filled with challenges, but also filled with great delight”.
She shares glimpses of the journey on her Instagram page where you’ll find pictures and videos of her doing manual work for the house, such as using a saw to cut firewood for the fireplace.
She said: “I feel very energised by the experience. I like learning about things in this way. I like doing things.”
And while the learning curve was steep, she never felt overwhelmed. The only thing that overwhelmed her, she admitted, was dealing with contractors and their tardiness.
“But other than that, the things I had to learn on my own, for example, water source and electricity, the fact that I had very little Wi-Fi – all that sort of stuff – I can learn, no problem.”
However, lest you start picturing her living a solitary existence, she clarified that while the cabin is certainly off-grid, her car was parked right next to it. “Luxe off-grid”, she described it, as the cabin was close to a small town centre with amenities and if she wanted civilisation and more Wi-Fi, she just needed to hop in her car and head to the cafe downtown.
A 22-year-old Tan Kheng Hua at Indiana University. (Photo: Tan Kheng Hua)
The whole experience, she shared, reinforced her already tenacious and curious personality. Plus, it honed her flexibility, variety and adaptability – “skills that keep me invigorated and positive of the world”.
“I also feel I don’t just stick to one way of thinking or one way of living; I have experienced many different ways of living. And I really feel that it makes me a more complete person.
“By the time I leave this world, I want to be as complete and as good as I can be.”
A LIFE PARTNER
Kheng Hua’s blossoming acting career in Hollywood, sparked by her role in the 2018 rom-com hit Crazy Rich Asians, has kept her apart from her daughter for long periods of time.
She often describes missing her daughter – 23-year-old actress Lim Shi-An whom she shares with ex-husband, actor Lim Yu Beng – in her Instagram posts.
It’s clear her relationship with Shi-An colours her life in a big way. In fact, Kheng Hua describes her daughter as “the most important feature of my life” and considers it a “privilege” and “parental heaven” that Shi-An wants to be so engaged with her and to share her life with her.
“It’s less, I think, about parenting than it is about living – the life you want to live, how you want to be close to a person, how you want to allow another person to infuse your life. And she is that for me. So I always say, when people think of a life partner, they always think of a husband or a boyfriend or whatever, but no, my daughter is my life partner.
“It’s really funny because you know how you write in forms, like, who’s your partner or whatever. A lot of times I think to myself, you know what, my daughter is my partner.”
Tan Kheng Hua also wants her younger self to recognise a good love when she sees it. (Photo: Tan Kheng Hua)
Tan Kheng Hua (front, centre) at age 17 at Catholic Junior College. (Photo: Tan Kheng Hua)
STILL FINDS ACTING EXCITING
Kheng Hua can soon be seen – or more accurately, heard – in the Paramount+ animated feature titled Tiger’s Apprentice, alongside Sandra Oh, Michelle Yeoh and Henry Golding. She voiced it over the course of a year and even recorded some parts of it while in Singapore.
She’s also part of the all-Asian ensemble cast in the independent romantic comedy called Worth The Wait, which stars Lana Condor, Ross Butler, Elodie Kang, Sung Kang, Andrew Koji and Karena Lam. The movie is currently in post-production and she hopes it’ll be out in 2024.
Another thing she’s excited about is her first ever executive producer role where she and her team are bringing a five-issue comic book called Kung Fu Legume to hopefully a series.
She shared that they’re slowly moving into a pitching stage and more news will be released soon because they’ve just attached “an exciting up-and-coming Asian-American actor” as one of the voices.
Tan Kheng Hua in her late 20s, starring in Masters Of The Sea. (Photo: Tan Kheng Hua)
When asked if she still found acting exciting, Kheng Hua, who was a familiar face on local TV in shows such as Masters Of The Sea and Phua Chu Kang, responded with a firm: “Yes, without hesitancy – as in love with it as I was.”
However, and here’s a caveat, how she wants to distribute her time may be different because she’s older. “I still love my work, but that doesn’t mean I want to work all day every day."
And neither does she want to throw herself off some jagged, rugged cliffs – both literally and figuratively. “When you’re younger and more nimble, sure, throw yourself off as many cliffs as possible. But now that I’ve jumped off quite a few cliffs, I can be a bit more picky about the things I want to jump off.”
Acting may still be very much a part of her life, but she’s also looking forward to what’s next – a third act, if you will.
“There’s a third act – I want to be a grandmother and experience love of my children’s children. Because my child has been the most wonderful thing in my life, right? And then to experience my child having children. I don’t say that in any pressurising way for my daughter. It is my own journey that I’m actually thinking about.
“It is a journey of discovering love in all its many forms. And that is definitely a form of love that is going to be a very powerful next act for me. I’m excited to see how it will change my life, change my thoughts, my feelings. No pressure. She’s confident enough to just do things in her own time.”
TURNING 61
Kheng Hua insists she’s an introvert – despite her profession. “I seem very extroverted, but I am not. I’m very introverted,” she said.
And so she finds comfort surrounding herself with her chosen community, whom she describes as “essential”.
(Photo: Tan Kheng Hua)
When she turns 61 on Jan 17, she will celebrate with this special curated group of people. Her mum will cook and she will be surrounded by family and she loves it.
She shared with a laugh that she still gets an ang pow from her 87-year-old mother, which she’ll receive “with all the eagerness”.
“I like celebrating my birthday in groups small enough where everybody can have a conversation and everybody can hear each other and it’s usually over some sort of simple food.
“I’m not a Michelin star type of girl. Chances are, if I’m going to go out, you’re going to see me at the bak chor mee stall or you’re going to see me at a zi char stall. But maybe because I’m going to be at home (in Singapore), I’ll have a little thing at my house and we might barbecue some chicken wings. And it’ll be with people I’ve known such a long time and whom I trust with my life and it’ll be heartfelt.
“Everything I do nowadays has got to be heartfelt and come from somewhere good and lead to somewhere good.”
Continue reading...
When CNA Lifestyle spoke to her earlier this month, Kheng Hua was in a car on the way home from a hike at Bukit Timah hill. The Singaporean actress shared that she’s always been athletic since young – in fact, she used to run between 5km and 10km regularly even when she was in primary school.
“And now, at 60, I still run between 5 and 10km. And whenever I’m running, I’m just so thankful I kept it up. Because now at my age is when I feel I really get the benefits of having treated my body well and taken care of it,” she said.
Tan Kheng Hua is reaping the reward of staying consistent with her fitness. (Photo: Tan Kheng Hua)
She added that she has never been a big consumer who needed to buy things to make herself happy. Instead, she prefers experiences – something she got plenty of while based in Canada the last few years working on the American TV series Kung Fu, which aired on The CW.
She spoke about how having access to so much nature where she could do things like ski and hike invigorated her and made her realise that it was a wonderful way to grow old.
Living off-grid means having to chop your own firewood. (Photo: Tan Kheng Hua)
Which was how she found herself living off-grid for four months in a cabin in British Columbia. The move was partly nudged along when she found herself with time on her hands due to the writers’ and actors’ strike earlier this year, as well as the cancellation of Kung Fu after three seasons.
“I thought, what a great way to utilise the time I suddenly found on my hands by exploring off-grid living”, adding that there’s a wealth of information to be found on the subject online on YouTube and Pinterest.
She explained that by that time, she had already been moving towards a life of less consumption and when she chanced upon the cabin – she wanted to keep the location private – a little more than a year ago she thought, why not just try it.
Kheng Hua described the off-grid adventure as being “filled with challenges, but also filled with great delight”.
She shares glimpses of the journey on her Instagram page where you’ll find pictures and videos of her doing manual work for the house, such as using a saw to cut firewood for the fireplace.
She said: “I feel very energised by the experience. I like learning about things in this way. I like doing things.”
And while the learning curve was steep, she never felt overwhelmed. The only thing that overwhelmed her, she admitted, was dealing with contractors and their tardiness.
“But other than that, the things I had to learn on my own, for example, water source and electricity, the fact that I had very little Wi-Fi – all that sort of stuff – I can learn, no problem.”
However, lest you start picturing her living a solitary existence, she clarified that while the cabin is certainly off-grid, her car was parked right next to it. “Luxe off-grid”, she described it, as the cabin was close to a small town centre with amenities and if she wanted civilisation and more Wi-Fi, she just needed to hop in her car and head to the cafe downtown.
A 22-year-old Tan Kheng Hua at Indiana University. (Photo: Tan Kheng Hua)
The whole experience, she shared, reinforced her already tenacious and curious personality. Plus, it honed her flexibility, variety and adaptability – “skills that keep me invigorated and positive of the world”.
“I also feel I don’t just stick to one way of thinking or one way of living; I have experienced many different ways of living. And I really feel that it makes me a more complete person.
“By the time I leave this world, I want to be as complete and as good as I can be.”
A LIFE PARTNER
Kheng Hua’s blossoming acting career in Hollywood, sparked by her role in the 2018 rom-com hit Crazy Rich Asians, has kept her apart from her daughter for long periods of time.
She often describes missing her daughter – 23-year-old actress Lim Shi-An whom she shares with ex-husband, actor Lim Yu Beng – in her Instagram posts.
It’s clear her relationship with Shi-An colours her life in a big way. In fact, Kheng Hua describes her daughter as “the most important feature of my life” and considers it a “privilege” and “parental heaven” that Shi-An wants to be so engaged with her and to share her life with her.
“It’s less, I think, about parenting than it is about living – the life you want to live, how you want to be close to a person, how you want to allow another person to infuse your life. And she is that for me. So I always say, when people think of a life partner, they always think of a husband or a boyfriend or whatever, but no, my daughter is my life partner.
“It’s really funny because you know how you write in forms, like, who’s your partner or whatever. A lot of times I think to myself, you know what, my daughter is my partner.”
Tan Kheng Hua also wants her younger self to recognise a good love when she sees it. (Photo: Tan Kheng Hua)
5 THINGS TAN KHENG HUA WOULD TELL HER YOUNGER SELF
- The first thing I’d like to say is to give yourself some time to think things through. I must say that many times, I feel like I really do not give myself enough time to think things through before I did things.
- The other thing I would like to tell my younger self is thank you for being consistent. I am a very consistent person; there are certain things I have done in my life that I have done in my life forever. For example, my physical ability – I have always been athletic and I’ve always run. I used to be a real athlete in school.
- Be frugal. I’ve always been a frugal person and I guess I’m telling my younger self that it was a good thing that you were. Because I feel that it is important to understand the necessary and unnecessary things that money can and cannot buy. I feel that if you learn that when you’re young, as you go through many different phases of your life, you will be less stressed.
- Be on time. When you’re on time, you’re respecting other people’s time. And time is the most precious thing that people can offer each other because we all have a limited amount of time on this earth. And when I say on time, I’m talking about 10 to 15 minutes earlier. The people who work with me know this about me. And I’d like them to know it about me because I want you to be on time. Once you’re on time, everybody’s relaxed and when everybody’s relaxed, then you can do better. Then we can do better. Then the whole thing becomes better.
- Know a good love when you meet it. Because sometimes we see good love and we just don’t see it. Sometimes we see bad love and we see it as good love. I have seen bad love as good love and I have been blind to good love. And I think this one, no matter how many times I tell my younger self, I would have probably made the same mistakes. I don’t know how much better my life would have been but yes, I would try to tell my younger self this.
Tan Kheng Hua (front, centre) at age 17 at Catholic Junior College. (Photo: Tan Kheng Hua)
STILL FINDS ACTING EXCITING
Kheng Hua can soon be seen – or more accurately, heard – in the Paramount+ animated feature titled Tiger’s Apprentice, alongside Sandra Oh, Michelle Yeoh and Henry Golding. She voiced it over the course of a year and even recorded some parts of it while in Singapore.
She’s also part of the all-Asian ensemble cast in the independent romantic comedy called Worth The Wait, which stars Lana Condor, Ross Butler, Elodie Kang, Sung Kang, Andrew Koji and Karena Lam. The movie is currently in post-production and she hopes it’ll be out in 2024.
Another thing she’s excited about is her first ever executive producer role where she and her team are bringing a five-issue comic book called Kung Fu Legume to hopefully a series.
She shared that they’re slowly moving into a pitching stage and more news will be released soon because they’ve just attached “an exciting up-and-coming Asian-American actor” as one of the voices.
Tan Kheng Hua in her late 20s, starring in Masters Of The Sea. (Photo: Tan Kheng Hua)
When asked if she still found acting exciting, Kheng Hua, who was a familiar face on local TV in shows such as Masters Of The Sea and Phua Chu Kang, responded with a firm: “Yes, without hesitancy – as in love with it as I was.”
However, and here’s a caveat, how she wants to distribute her time may be different because she’s older. “I still love my work, but that doesn’t mean I want to work all day every day."
And neither does she want to throw herself off some jagged, rugged cliffs – both literally and figuratively. “When you’re younger and more nimble, sure, throw yourself off as many cliffs as possible. But now that I’ve jumped off quite a few cliffs, I can be a bit more picky about the things I want to jump off.”
Related:
Acting may still be very much a part of her life, but she’s also looking forward to what’s next – a third act, if you will.
“There’s a third act – I want to be a grandmother and experience love of my children’s children. Because my child has been the most wonderful thing in my life, right? And then to experience my child having children. I don’t say that in any pressurising way for my daughter. It is my own journey that I’m actually thinking about.
“It is a journey of discovering love in all its many forms. And that is definitely a form of love that is going to be a very powerful next act for me. I’m excited to see how it will change my life, change my thoughts, my feelings. No pressure. She’s confident enough to just do things in her own time.”
TURNING 61
Kheng Hua insists she’s an introvert – despite her profession. “I seem very extroverted, but I am not. I’m very introverted,” she said.
And so she finds comfort surrounding herself with her chosen community, whom she describes as “essential”.
(Photo: Tan Kheng Hua)
When she turns 61 on Jan 17, she will celebrate with this special curated group of people. Her mum will cook and she will be surrounded by family and she loves it.
She shared with a laugh that she still gets an ang pow from her 87-year-old mother, which she’ll receive “with all the eagerness”.
“I like celebrating my birthday in groups small enough where everybody can have a conversation and everybody can hear each other and it’s usually over some sort of simple food.
“I’m not a Michelin star type of girl. Chances are, if I’m going to go out, you’re going to see me at the bak chor mee stall or you’re going to see me at a zi char stall. But maybe because I’m going to be at home (in Singapore), I’ll have a little thing at my house and we might barbecue some chicken wings. And it’ll be with people I’ve known such a long time and whom I trust with my life and it’ll be heartfelt.
“Everything I do nowadays has got to be heartfelt and come from somewhere good and lead to somewhere good.”
Related:
Continue reading...