Fann Wong still haunted by media report that she would have been 'submerged in a pig's cage'

With great fame comes great scrutiny, and local actress Fann Wong bore the brunt of it in 2009 when she missed the funeral of then-boyfriend Christopher Lee's father.

On an episode of Hear U Out, a new talkshow hosted by Quan Yi Fong, Fann recounted her worst experience with media reports.

The 49-year-old let out a quick sigh, chuckled, and replied: "I think the hardest experience that I couldn't overcome was when my husband's father passed away while I was filming.

"I requested [for leave] to go to Melaka to be by his side but the producer then didn't allow me to.

"Then I read the newspapers saying that this 'future daughter-in-law would have been submerged in a pig's cage in the past', and many other ugly things. I was very upset after reading the papers. I wondered, 'As a media publication, why must you behave like that?'"

The primitive act of being submerged in a river in a pig's cage was an old form of Chinese punishment for people who committed adultery or were not chaste. In some cases, the victims were submerged up to their neck, allowing them to breathe. In other cases, they would be fully submerged and thus drowned.

Yi Fong posited that maybe Fann might have been a tad too obedient (which the latter concurred) and suggested that she could have taken the initiative.

Fann insisted: "I did. I did make a request, but I was rejected. And if I had left and filming was put on hold, it would have been my fault. But it's also my fault that I didn't go to Melaka."

In the end, the producer apologised to Fann as they didn't expect things to get so out of hand, but "it was too late by then".

ALSO READ: Fann Wong reveals she wanted to 'murder' Christopher Lee during The Return of the Condor Heroes

The veteran actress also confessed not being able to attend the funeral was her life's biggest regret, and she cried for more than a minute during the talkshow as she tried to regain her composure.

"I'll just say this. I think it's okay for me to suffer, but my loved ones and family cannot suffer. I regret not being able to accompany my husband and see his father for the last time. Maybe it's because I'm older and family has become more important.

"My husband's regret is that he wasn't able to be with his dad when he died. My regret is that I couldn't be by my husband's side. It's actually really simple. It's just a few hours to be with him and (the impact of being there) is something that'll last forever," she said.

ALSO READ: Fann Wong: I forgot Christopher Lee was in jail

bryanlim@asiaone.com