Jeanette In Charge

As she bulks up her resume in the Year of the Pig with new directing credits and greater culinary pursuits, Jeanette Aw is proving she can have her cake and eat it too.

- Natalya Molok

"Look at this, and this,” exclaims Jeanette Aw as she prompts me to look at her hands. She’s showing me her battle scars, wrought from episodes in the kitchen where the actress spent most of her time in 2018, pursuing an Intermediate Patisserie Course at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu Dusit Culinary School in Bangkok, Thailand.

In response to my look of concern at her latest injury – that left her thumb and index finger numb for days – Jeanette quickly moves to lighten the conversation. “I had to do some chocolate work and I accidentally put a knife into the palm of my hand but, luckily, I didn’t sever any nerves. A lot of things happen in the kitchen but that’s part and parcel of being a baker. You’ll get burnt and all that and it gets really hot, but I can take the heat,” she says with a grin.

Girl On Fire

This fiery statement is a refreshing departure for the soft-spoken and saccharine-sweet Jeanette who has had viewers eating out of the palm of her hands ever since she won Route to Glamour, a talent search looking for the next big thing in show business back in 2000. She signed up with Mediacorp shortly after and her career took off with memorable roles in dramas like Holland V and The Little Nyonya.

She got a much deserved acting nod for her role in Dream Makers 2, which saw her finally nab the Best Actress gong at the Star Awards in 2016. It’s what she did after this that mystified Singaporeans and coincidentally caused her popularity to skyrocket. Jeanette left the security of her Channel 8 gig and talent agency Hype Records-Artiste Network to fly solo at what many considered the peak of her career as a leading television actress. Why quit showbiz at the top of one’s career? For Jeanette, the answer was as easy as pie.