PUBLISHED ONOctober 15, 2024 10:30 AMByDrima ChakrabortyAsking a newly-married woman when she is planning to start a family is a typical question, but it may not be a polite one.
Taiwanese actress Joe Chen — who held a wedding ceremony in Langkawi last month after two years of marriage to her Malaysian husband Alan Chen — was recently asked the question by a fan on Instagram, and pulled no punches in her response.
"To be honest, I don't think I'm patient enough to take care of kids. Moreover, it's very dangerous for someone my age to have children," the 45-year-old wrote. "There really are a lot of people who are very concerned about whether I'm going to have kids. Is it really very important whether a woman does so?"
"If you want to, you go have kids. If you don't want to, then don't have them. Is it very difficult?"
Joe added in a follow-up to her Instagram Story that she is often asked the question and that people weren't satisfied with her response.
"I got scolded, they said I'm an old hen that can't lay eggs," she said. "I saw another response the other day, they wrote, 'Okay, she takes such good care of her dog, I hope her dog will have puppies that can take care of her when she's old'.
"This really made me laugh. I think you must not be too familiar with dogs, because they won't be able to live long enough until I'm old. Oh sorry, my dog has been neutered and can't have puppies to take care of me."
Joe also told people bemoaning her lack of children to look after themselves instead of bothering about her as she was likely "living a better life" than them.
"I really don't understand, does it affect society if I don't have kids?" she said. "Having kids in order to have someone care for you in your old age is a notion common among the Chinese, and since I'm a public figure, maybe some people are unhappy that I'm not conforming to these beliefs."
Joe added that some netizens also said that she was headed for divorce due to her childfree status.
"I thought, 'Do kids determine whether a marriage is long-lasting? If you have 10 kids, does it mean your marriage will last very long?'," Joe retorted.
She concluded that she could accept people having differing opinions from her, but could not accept how her lack of children could anger others.
The wait is over: Stefanie Sun is going on tour next year!
The Singaporean singer, 46, made the announcement on her social media and YouTube channel yesterday (Oct 14) through a video showing her frolicking in a grass field and running against the backdrop of a sunset.
The name of the tour translates to Just After Sunset and harkens to her cancelled 2020 tour which was called Just Before Sunset. It marks a decade since she last went on tour, and also the 25th anniversary of her award-winning debut album Yan Zi.
Today, she shared that her tour will start in Singapore on April 5 and 6, 2025, before she heads to Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, Nanjing and Chongqing in China. She will also perform in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
The shows have been much-anticipated since Stefanie shared on her birthday in July that she would be releasing new music and going on a tour next year.
"I will be releasing a new song at the end of the year and concerts next year. I will also work harder, but after October. Why? Because my child's examinations would be over by then," she said then.
Stefanie has two children with her husband Nadim Van Der Ros: A 12-year-old son who sat for his Primarily School Leaving Examinations (PSLE) this year and a daughter, six.
South Korean actor Baek Sung-hyun revealed that he had a benign, albeit painful, bone tumour in his hip that had to be surgically removed last year.
In an episode of variety show Same Bed, Different Dreams 2 — You Are My Destiny aired on Oct 14, the 35-year-old appeared with his wife Cho Da-bom, and discussed topics about family and health.
Sung-hyun revealed: "I hurt my heel during exercise, but it became difficult to walk and pain rose to my knees and hip joints."
He was given anti-inflammatory pain medication, which had no effect, and then an injection in his joints at the hospital, which only worked temporarily. An MRI showed that he had osteochondroma inside his hip joint.
Johns Hopkins describes the illness as the most common form of noncancerous bone growth caused by an "overgrowth of cartilage and bone that happens at the end of the bone near the growth plate".
Sung-hyun underwent urgent surgery but said he had a long period of rehabilitation as his "upper and lower body were twisted" because of the tumour.
"The situation was very serious, there was a 9cm difference in the length of my legs," he said.
Sung-hyun started his career as a child actor, with his breakout role being in 2003's Stairway to Heaven. He was also featured on The Return of Superman with his daughter, and his most recent role was in the drama Suji & Uri (2024).
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