Eleanor Lee wanted to separate from mum Quan Yi Fong so that she could stop studying Chinese

How far would you go in order to drop a school subject you disliked? For actress Eleanor Lee, she would willingly be separated from her mum, local TV host Quan Yi Fong.

The 20-year-old is the latest guest in Yi Fong's talkshow Hear U Out, and opened up about her struggles with the Chinese language and how much she disliked it.

Her disdain and inaptitude for the subject even caused Yi Fong to consider sending her off to a school overseas, and they narrowed down their choices to England, Canada, and the US.

Eleanor went to Tao Nan Primary School before attending Nexus International School.

At that time, Yi Fong explained to the girl that sending her off to school overseas meant that they would be separated. The latter started crying and shuddering.

Yi Fong, 46, recalled dramatically: "She turned to me, asking, 'Mum, do we really have to be apart?' I said, 'Yes, Mother has to stay behind in Singapore to earn a lot of money.'

"Then she asked, 'Mum, when can I leave?'"

In between uncontrollable laughing fits, Eleanor exclaimed: "I really couldn't stand learning Chinese."

8 marks for Chinese test, Yi Fong flew into a rage

Yi Fong also spilled the beans on just how bad Eleanor was at Chinese — she scored 59 out of 100 for her Primary 1 Chinese Language exam. As the veteran host showed off the exam paper to the camera, Eleanor quipped: "I'm actually quite proud."

Yi Fong stared in disbelief before she fished around in a folder for another of Eleanor's test papers. "Then you will be even more touched with this [next paper]. You can set off fireworks later. Primary 1 [Chinese Language exam] — 64 marks."

Eleanor also revealed that she once scored around eight marks for a test and when she asked Yi Fong to sign the paper, the latter flew into a rage, crumpled and tore up the test paper before throwing it out the window.

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Eleanor recalled: "She told me, 'Go pick up [the pieces]! You go and pick everything up! If you don't collect everything by 5pm, don't you dare come back.

"So I went downstairs to pick up the pieces but there were some that fell on the neighbours' balcony and I couldn't retrieve it."

After Yi Fong signed her test, Eleanor and their helper taped the pieces back together. She brought it to school the next day where she sheepishly pulled out the paper, which "looked like trash", out of her bag.

"Everyone was stunned to see what had become of my test paper. The teacher didn't dare to ask any questions either and just collected it," Eleanor laughed.

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bryanlim@asiaone.com