Being in the spotlight means getting a fair share of negative attention alongside the positive. For those who do not fit into what is deemed conventional standards of beauty, they are more susceptible to becoming targets of hate.
Local actress Tay Ying found out the hard way after gaining 10kg over the span of two months for her role in an upcoming Mediacorp drama The Blockbusters, where she stars as a member of a plus-sized girl group who become viral sensations after a dance video of them is posted online.
In a recent interview with AsiaOne, Tay Ying, 28, shared that some people left mean comments on her social media posts and made fun of her weight gain.
"I realised what some plus-sized people go through and it's not nice," Tay Ying said.
"Why does the world have to be so mean? This is a stereotype we should break," she added.
Having been in the industry for seven years now, hateful comments aren't new to Tay Ying especially since she is the daughter of popular local actors Zheng Geping and Hong Huifang. She told us many have mocked her for being a "nepo baby", but she now brushes these comments off as "cliche".
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She also shared her thoughts on the importance of tackling the issue of bullying. "As an artiste, we face cyber bullying every day. I think our responsibility is to make that awareness this is happening in the world.
"We should learn to be kinder to each other."
She added: "Just because I'm an artiste doesn't mean I have to be used to bullying… I still believe that artistes are not here to be bullied."
Believing that parents can play a key role in addressing it, Tay Ying also said: "On our part we need to be able to influence the people around us, especially parents.
"Usually it starts when you're a kid so I do think that to a certain extent, parents have a responsibility to play when it comes to controlling their kids from bullying."
Tay Ying admitted she felt a bit lost after playing her role in The Blockbusters.
"I could no longer fit into my sample-sized clothes and part of me was thinking, 'Should I still go the fashion and beauty route? Is it still for me?'"
That became one reason why she started her online video series Strong Yet Feminine, where she invites a female friend to the show to learn a new skill together. Her co-star in The Blockbusters Xixi Lim appeared as a guest in the ninth episode where they tried archery.
"It's for me to come back to myself. I was a bit lost, had a bit of an identity crisis, so that helps," she said.
She explained the title of the series is something that resonates with her since she started her career.
"Everyone knows me as someone who does martial arts and is very sporty and I'm not exactly the girliest out there compared to my colleagues, so I always saw myself as strong but also feminine.
"I still do my fashion and beauty style, I still love dressing up so that has always been my direction since the beginning… We don't have to only be just one thing."
In The Blockbusters, Tay Ying plays Kira, whose father opposes her dancing as he blames dance for the death of his wife who was very skinny at the time of her passing. This is also why Kira gains weight as her father overfeeds her to avoid the same thing happening again.
The Blockbusters, which also stars Xixi, Kayly, Meeki and James Seah, is available on demand for free on Mewatch from Nov 4 and on Channel 8 every weekday at 9pm from Nov 6.
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jordan.tan@asiaone.com
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