'It's mouldy and smelly but she can't bear to trash it': Nick Teo on how Hong Ling is a bit of a hoarder

Minimising waste is always good, but when faced with Hong Ling's expired food, fiance Nick Teo had to take matters into his own hands.

In a press conference last Friday (Feb 3) for the new Mediacorp drama Fix My Life, Nick admitted that his visits to Hong Ling's home occasionally result in him having to toss out food well past expiration date.

"She dislikes wasting food, so she keeps it in the fridge," the 33-year-old actor said. "Whenever I go to her place… the food is already mouldy and smelly, but she can't bear to trash it."

Co-star James Seah, 32, added: "I still remember, on set, she would always ask me, 'do you have plastic bags? Give them to me, I'll bring them home to recycle.'"

Agreeing with James, Hong Ling, 28, said: "I'm very environmentally friendly! I was thinking of reusing the bag again."

Fix My Life follows Fan Shede (James) and Yuan Manying (Hong Ling) as they set up a company that specialises in decluttering their customers' homes. However, a spanner is thrown in their works when business rivals arrive and their customers start to ask for their personal belongings back.

Moreover, Manying gradually develops feelings for Shede, further complicating both their personal relationships and the business they run together.

Speaking to AsiaOne, Hong Ling also explained: "I'm the type of person who tends to keep things, so my house is very messy and I've a lot of things."

Building upon the example of fancy boxes that some gifts arrive in, she added that she'd keep those containers with the purpose of using them as storage in mind.

"Or maybe I could just leave the box as it is because it's a very nice-looking box," she considered.

Trash or treasure?

When asked if she considers it problematic that she's receiving so many things but tossing out so little, Hong Ling agreed.

However, she's found fortune in a spot of help from Nick.

"Nick is the one who helps me to throw away my things, and when he throws them away… I don't even know about it," she said.

"A few months later, he would ask me, 'Hey, do you remember this box? Where is it now?'

"I'd reply that I don't know, and Nick would tell me that he actually threw it away already."

[[nid:604105]]

While some might feel angry that their items have been trashed without permission or knowledge, Hong Ling sees it as a lesson.

She shared: "He wants to educate me on the fact that I actually didn't need or use what was discarded."

But even so, she still finds it difficult to let go.

"I know Nick is in the right, but I just can't throw away these things," she admitted, laughing defeatedly. "There's still an obstacle in my heart preventing that."

She added: "The last time I renovated my home, I requested for a lot of storage space — if you look at my place, you'll see that I've stored many things and it piles up all the way to the ceiling.

"Even the areas below the dining chairs are storage spaces."

And while she's okay with Nick throwing out some things that appear useless to her, there are some things that she would never bin due to sentimental reasons — handwritten cards.

"Mostly from my parents, but [I have a] mix of handwritten cards. I keep them all together," Hong Ling revealed. 

"So I feel like, okay, maybe I can still buy the other things. But handwritten cards, even if you write another one for me, they would be very different."

Fix My Life also stars Peter Yu, Cavin Soh, Desmond Ng, Liu Lingling and Aileen Tan.

It will be available on demand for free on meWATCH from Feb 13 and will premiere on Feb 15 at 9pm on Channel 8.

ALSO READ: 'You don't know if they want to be friends': Aileen Tan doesn't want to be 'a nuisance' to younger actors using handphone on set

khooyihang@asiaone.com

No part of this article can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.