FANN WONG

ALWAYS GAME FOR CHANGE

- Lin Yanqin

One of Singapore's most iconic TV stars, Fann Wong has been experiencing a renaissance since stepping back from her acting career. From running a baking business, to illustrating children's books  and fronting shopping livestreams, Fann tells Her World how she doesn't let age get in the way of her creative ventures.

Fann Wong, an "idiot" at life? Not quite how one would describe the actor with a glamorous career as one of Singapore's screen queens, best known for roles like Xiaolongnu ("Little Dragon Girl") in The Return of the Condor Heroes (1998), and Chon Lin in the Hollywood action comedy Shanghai Knights (2003), where she co-starred with Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, becoming the first Singapore actor to play a major role in a Hollywood production.

Currently, Fann is featured in an Artscience Museum exhibition, Goddess: Brave. Bold. Beautiful, together with international actors including Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and Marilyn Monroe. Curated by ACMI, Australia's national museum of screen culture, the exhibition (which runs until August 2024) celebrates iconic women stars spanning over 120 years of cinematic history.

Despite the accolades, "sheng huo bai chi" ("life idiot" in Mandarin) is what the self-effacing 53-year-old calls herself, when asked to describe what it was like when she took time off from acting to focus on motherhood after her son Zed was born in 2014.

"In the past, my whole life was me and my career, going from one set to the next, and work, work, work," she says. "I didn't have to do anything else; I didn't have to learn how to do anything. But after I had my son, I had to start from scratch. I learnt to be a mother; I learnt to be the chef, the baker, and the 'secretary' of my home. I became the tutor and coach of whatever sport my son was interested in."

Having a child helped her realise: "I'm not the most important person in my life."