Eleanor Lee shares photos of mum Quan Yifeng to mark her 49th birthday
Taiwan-born local variety-show host Quan Yifeng turned 49 on Wednesday, and her daughter, actress Eleanor Lee, shared several throwback photos of her mother on social media to mark the occasion and pay tribute to the woman who raised her.
“Happy birthday, my mama,” the 23-year-old wrote in English.
“My mum has been in this industry for 32 years. Yes. 32! She came to Singapore at 16, and I went back to China at 16. Such irony, isn’t it? I’d never thought I’d enter this industry. It’s as if our lives just swopped.”
China-based Lee – whose father is Quan’s former husband, local actor Peter Yu – said she loved painting and writing music when she was young, but thought that she probably could not make a living out of it.
“So many things I’ve failed at, learnt and succeeded. But I’m proud to say I have worked hard for my mum to live a long life without worries,” she wrote.
“May it be healthcare or those tiny earrings she always buys for herself because she’s sometimes so cute and girly.”
Lee said she has been asked several times when her mother is retiring.
“All I can say is... it’s not for me to answer,” she wrote.
“My mum can do whatever she wants whenever she feels like doing so. She gave me the freedom to explore my world back in China, and now she has the freedom to choose too.”
Quan thanked Lee under her post and said cheekily: “By the way, your mother was so beautiful when she was young.”
Lee replied in jest: “Isn’t it copy and paste?”
Quan also shared her feelings on her birthday on social media.
“Be a happy middle-aged girl,” wrote the award-winning host.
“Being middle-aged is just a number, while being a girl is a mentality. Let’s hope you can maintain the innocence in your eyes and the smile on your face despite what you have gone through in life.”
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