PUBLISHED ONSeptember 26, 2024 4:52 AMByYeo Shu HuiIn her new drama Unforgivable, local actress Hong Ling plays Guan Lin, an investigator with the police's Sexual Offence Department (SOD) who was a victim of childhood sexual abuse.
In a recent interview with AsiaOne, she revealed she was touched inappropriately before, more than two decades ago.
"I was standing near the lazy pool when a man touched me from top to bottom. I was really young then," the 30-year-old said.
At first, she brushed it off, telling herself that it was probably an accident and told her father about it.
However, the same situation happened again while she was in the wave pool, this time by another man.
"At that point in time, I was really offended. I felt disgusted and went to tell my father immediately. He tried to look for the person, but it was impossible when there were so many people around. I closed myself off then," Hong Ling recounted.
She had always kept this experience in her heart as she felt "disgusted and uncomfortable" whenever she thought about it and only revealed it to her actor husband Nick Teo a few years ago.
"Nick was empathetic, he felt that such a thing shouldn't happen to anyone, let alone to a child," she said.
She also shared that at one point, she "victim-shamed" herself, thinking that it was her fault for "standing too close" and "going to crowded places".
"But as I grew older, I also realised that the victims shouldn't be blamed when it's the other person's fault. I think it's hard to protect ourselves because it's the assailant's fault.
"Some people may think that a woman is harassed because they dress skimpily. But that's not the correct way of thinking. I have the freedom to choose what I want to wear and the assailant is also given a choice on how they should react."
She wants to encourage others who had similar experiences to speak up courageously.
In the drama Unforgivable, heading the SOD team is Gao Shuya (Jesseca Liu), who is highly empathetic and competent after her own tumultuous childhood living in a brothel.
Together with team members Guan Lin, Lin Yifan (Shane Pow), Li Junhao (Gavin Teo) and Chen Fengyuan (Brandon Wong), they unravel the truth behind each violent case and ultimately seek to solve a series of sexual homicide cases by a notorious suspect codenamed Werewolf, whose anonymity threatens to dissolve their team.
Despite playing many villainous characters at the beginning of his acting career, local actor Brandon Wong said he's someone with a strong sense of justice and principles.
Speaking to AsiaOne in a separate interview, the 53-year-old shared that if he sees an actress appearing uncomfortable in public events, perhaps because a man is standing too close to her, he would interfere.
"I would methodically separate the actress or stand in between them to join in the conversation… I would be the disruptor. Maybe the other party would be angry with me but I have been educated from young to intervene and help when I see injustice," he elaborated.
"If the actress doesn't know how to reject the person's advances or protect herself, I think it's a great disadvantage to her. So if I see something like this, I would definitely help out."
When it comes to acting, Brandon is even more mindful of his actions.
"I am actually more worried about being misunderstood by others of trying to take advantage of the actresses… In the beginning of my career, I played many antagonist characters, such as rapists and murderers, and there would be some violent scenes where my character would take advantage of women.
"As an actor, I am actually more worried than the actresses who played the victims. I don't want them to misunderstand… So I would communicate clearly with them beforehand about what I am going to do. I will be very careful about it."
Unforgivable is now available on demand for free on Mewatch with a M18 rating. A PG-rated version is also airing on Channel 8 every weekday at 9pm.
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