'I scold both sons regardless of whose fault it is': Peter Yu on not showing favouritism

Parents often say that they can't pick favourites between their kids, but some may still show preferential treatment to one.

But not local actor Peter Yu — he is adamant on treating his two sons fairly and equally to avoid them having to deal with psychological pain growing up.

"I've never been biased, and my wife knows this about me very well," the 55-year-old shared with 8world recently, in an article published on Friday (Dec 8). "I treat both my kids equally. I will scold both of them regardless of whose fault it is.

"The two brothers only have one job, which is to care for each other. If one of them makes trouble, I will scold them both so they know not to make the same mistake again."

Peter married his wife Brenda Leow in 2011, and the couple have two children: 11-year-old Christian and Israel, seven. He also has an estranged daughter, singer-actress Eleanor Lee, with his ex-wife, host Quan Yi Fong.

While Peter may try to stay impartial, he shared that his wife said she felt "guilty" after watching his latest movie, A Year of No Significance, where Peter's character deals with a father who blatantly prefers his younger brother.

"She wants to make it up to our elder son, she knows herself that she's a little biased [towards our younger son]," he said.

The movie is set in the 1970s when Singapore started adopting English more readily in the workplace. Peter plays Chinese-educated architect Lim Chengsoon, a man who struggles with this change and gets replaced at work by a newer employee who speaks English.

Chengsoon also faces a broken marriage and taking care of his overbearing father who shows favouritism between his sons.

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A Year of No Significance, directed by Kelvin Tong, premiered at the 2023 Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) and was the first Singaporean film to be awarded Best Asian Feature Film at the festival.

In an earlier interview, Peter shared with AsiaOne his experience working with the director: "Kelvin usually shoots horror films, so he emphasises a lot about inner emotions and he thinks a lot, so that helps me too.

"Sometimes after I do a scene, he would ask if I want to do it another way. He would also give me suggestions on how to portray my character in a cool and calm way, which works."

Peter added that sometimes he would "forget" his character and "Peter Yu would appear", and Kelvin guided him during those times.

"He would remind me, 'I don't want Peter ah, I want Mr Lim', so it was very good."

Five films with Peter — including two where he plays the lead — were presented at SGIFF this year and he also told us his criteria for accepting scripts.

"I want to try out all roles. In Singapore, there isn't much to choose from… so I am happy to take on both lead and supporting roles, no matter what they are," he shared.

He also helps graduating students from Nanyang Technological University and other institutions film their graduation projects every year.

Peter said: "I help them and they help me. Who knows, next time they may get a best director award and invite me back to work with them."

He has just one no-go.

"Just as long as there are no sex scenes or nudity, that is good enough," he shared with a laugh.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34el_UXtSJw[/embed]

A Year of No Significance also stars Tan Tiow Im, Mandy Chen, Naomi Yeo, Johnson Choo and Chue En Jye. It is showing from today to Dec 13 at The Projector.

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drimac@asiaone.com