Actress Lee Sinje turns 44 as she jokes that she is 'a plain and simple housewife'

Malaysian actress Lee Sinje turned 44 on Thursday (Jan 23), but she almost forgot about her birthday until she woke up in the morning and saw several wishes from friends.

She said in a social media post on Thursday that she has been sleeping and waking up early in recent years, as she thanked everyone for the wishes and wished them a happy and prosperous Chinese New Year.

On Thursday morning, her good friend, actress Charlie Young, posted a photo of herself, Lee, singer-actress Gigi Leung and singer-songwriter Valen Hsu at a birthday party.

However, sharp-eyed netizens noticed that the photo was taken in 2018, when the sisterhood of famous friends was celebrating the first birthday of Young's twin sons.

Fans speculated that Young posted an old photo because the four celebrities could not hold a gathering for Lee's birthday this year as they were busy with either their work or personal lives.

In an earlier post on Wednesday, Lee put up a photo of herself doing spring cleaning before Chinese New Year, as she joked that she is "a plain and simple housewife" after playing the beautiful Yun Ling in The Garden Of Evening Mists (2019).

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She starred as a woman who suffered under the Japanese occupation during World War II. Japanese actor Hiroshi Abe played a gardener in the movie, while Taiwanese actress Sylvia Chang played the older Yun Ling.

The movie, based on Malaysian writer Tan Twan Eng's 2012 novel of the same name, received nine nominations, including Best Actress for Lee, at Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards last November. It won Best Makeup and Costume Design.

Lee said she either gave away the things she did not want or put them into containers and made a few trips to the recycling station, so she could avoid using plastic bags.

Lee, who is married to Hong Kong director Oxide Pang, rose to prominence after playing a girl who can see ghosts in the movie The Eye (2002), directed by Pang and his twin brother Danny Pang.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.