Singaporean actress Chen Xiuhuan’s heart was full on the fourth day of Chinese New Year.
The 60-year-old posted on social media on Feb 21 that she attended her youngest daughter Shavinne Tsai’s white coat ceremony in Australia on Feb 20.
Chen has two older daughters – Shanisse, 28, and Shalynn, 25 – with her businessman husband Fred Tsai.
Shanisse graduated from the National University of Singapore’s Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and is now a doctor. Shalynn is studying dentistry Down Under, while Shavinne, 22, is studying veterinary medicine at the University of Sydney.
“When they were young, I was truly a ‘tiger mum’,” Chen wrote in Chinese on Feb 21 and English on Feb 22. “Chasing homework, checking grades, watching schedules… Very kaisu. I was strict – very strict.”
The artiste said she almost could not hold back her tears the moment she saw Shavinne put on the white coat. The ceremony is generally a rite of passage that marks a student’s formal induction into the profession.
“The pride. The relief. The deep, overwhelming joy,” Chen wrote. “I know this is only the beginning of her journey. But to a mother, it feels like the completion of one chapter – and the start of a dream taking flight.”
She added: “The weight on my shoulders feels a little lighter now. Yet my heart feels fuller than ever.”
Chen said in the postscript that there was a huge surprise awaiting them on Feb 20.
“Our second daughter told us (it was) not possible for her to make it as she didn’t have school break,” she wrote. “But suddenly, she appeared right in front of us. I was so shocked, I almost jumped. So, so happy.”
Chen added: “At that moment, it wasn’t the white coat that shone the brightest – it was our family, together.”
Her mother, who was also on the trip alongside her husband and Shanisse, hugged Chen in a video the actress uploaded to Instagram on Feb 22.
“You must cherish your mother,” the elderly woman told her granddaughters. “She worked hard raising you, and now that you’re grown up, you must treat her well.” – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
