Jesseca Liu recounts confronting man who touched her buttocks: 'If I don't speak up for myself, who would?'

In the early days of Jesseca Liu's showbiz career, close to two decades ago, she had a night out clubbing with her friend in Singapore.

What was supposed to be a fun occasion turned out to be one that she would always remember for the wrong reason, as she was sexually harassed by another party-goer.

"As I was leaving the club, a man touched my buttocks," the 45-year-old actress revealed to AsiaOne in an interview yesterday (Sept 18).

"At that point in time, I was very angry and turned around to scold him. His friend said that he was drunk and didn't mean to do it. They were playing the fool, and I was very angry."

Jesseca also shared that she was "surprised" at her own bravery when she confronted the man.

"I was already an artiste then. But I also think that as an artiste, all the more I shouldn't tolerate this. If I don't speak up for myself, who would?" she said.

What was more "disappointing" for her was that her friend did not back her up, and even convinced her to "not make a big deal out of it".

Suffice to say, they are not friends anymore.

When asked if she had thought about calling the police then, Jesseca said no.

"I don't have evidence, but I felt [his touch] and when I turned around, I saw his gaze and was sure it was him. I was also not well versed in the law, so I decided to call him out then because I wanted people to take note and be wary of him," she said.

To protect herself from unwanted advances now, Jesseca shared that she takes precautions, such as not giving others the wrong signals, and tries not to go to crowded places. Even if she has to, she would be among a group of friends and considers herself lucky as they would protect each other.

In addition, she also said that her husband, actor Jeremy Chan, is "very meticulous" in ensuring she is well protected.

"For example, if I am wearing a shorter skirt/dress and going up the stairs, he would walk behind me… In crowded places, he would also stand close to me."

Jesseca shares her experience with us while promoting her new drama Unforgivable.

In the drama, she plays Gao Shuya, who heads the Sexual Offence Department in the police force. Her tumultuous childhood while living in her father's brothel in Geylang and being rescued by policeman Wu Yingqiu (Zhu Houren) from near abduction then shapes her empathetic nature towards victims and their families, and drives her to understand the perpetrators' motives.

Together with her team members Guan Lin (Hong Ling), 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.

Unforgivable will be available on demand for free on Mewatch from Sept 23 with a M18 rating. It will also air a PG-rated version on Channel 8 every weekday at 9pm starting from Sept 24.

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yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com

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