Behind Closed Doors

For the first time ever, Cheryl Wee is ready to talk to the press about her 12-year relationship with Roy Fong. The engaged couple opens up to Marianne Wee-Slater about their courtship and their upcoming nuptials this July.

Even so, their paths would probably have never crossed, as Roy was an avid sportsman who was the star of the school’s tennis team, while Cheryl was in the dance club. Yet, fate stepped in to lend a helping hand, and each had secretly caught the attention of the other.

“I spotted Roy from afar one day at a 7-Eleven store near our school and quickly told my best friend ‘That guy is very good-looking! I must find out who he is!’” shares Cheryl with a chuckle during our conversation with the pair over the phone. At the same time, Roy was also wondering who that girl with the “charming and cheeky smile” was. Later, their strong mutual attraction led to an introduction by a common friend at the school canteen, and when that happened, the scene might as well be something out of a movie. “Sparks flew between us as we stood 30m away from each other, the day we were formally introduced,” admitted Roy.

It was only a year later that they became a couple, and their chemistry and tender love has since proven strong enough to weather challenging milestones in the years after. This included keeping mum about their relationship in public after Cheryl was propelled into the limelight as she pursued a career in acting, music as well as modelling for her family’s well-known business. “Roy understood that I didn’t want people to know about us and was alright about not holding hands in public. I think most people still don’t know that I’m dating someone, much less engaged,” notes Cheryl, the eldest child of Jean Yip and Mervin Wee, the duo behind Jean Yip Group and recipients of the 2016 Singapore Tatler Award for Business.