Wed, Aug 17, 2011
The New Paper
My little girl is mild not wild
by Kwok Kar Peng
NICOLE Ng is like any other 20-year-old with a blog.
She writes about school, her part-time modelling assignments and clubbing with friends. She also posts photos of herself, some in bikinis and tight tops.
But Nicole isn't like any other young woman in one respect: Her father is Huang Wenyong, one of Singapore's best-known veteran TV actors.
Because of this, the newly enrolled Singapore Institute of Management student has become the talk of the town.
Earlier this month, photos of her and those with her father were taken off her blog and posted on the online forum Hardware Zone.
Netizens posted more than 400 comments over three days, mostly about her buxom figure.
Last Friday, Lianhe Wanbao published an article calling Nicole a "liberal" girl who has uploaded hundreds of revealing photos of herself on her blog.
Huang, 59, found out about the photos only after the Chinese newspaper called him last week. Shocked and perturbed, he said his daughter was "too arrogant".
When The New Paper on Sunday spoke to Huang on Monday, he sounded weary, saying he hadn't slept well the previous few days.
He was also indignant because he felt that Nicole had been depicted in an exaggerated manner.
Huang - who also has a 24-year-old son - admitted he had assumed the worst when the Lianhe Wanbao reporter told him about Nicole's sexy photos online.
He hinted that he had thought of the Edison Chen sex scandal, where nude photos of Hong Kong starlets like Cecilia Cheung and Gillian Chung went viral.
He then scolded Nicole without reading her blog and told her to shut it down.
"I was so scared after the reporter called me...I was very hurt and angry initially," Huang told TNPS.
"My daughter cried when she saw how upset I was and told me she wanted to die for the grief she had caused me. When she said that, I wanted to die too."
The local actor of Channel 8 dramas like The Awakening and sitcom Don't Worry, Be Happy added that his daughter begged him to read her blog.
When he did, he realised that her photos weren't as raunchy as they had been described to be. Nicole claimed she didn't remove any photos before her father saw her blog.
Huang said he asked Nicole to remove only one set of studio photos - those of her in a bra, jacket and pants. She did as she was told.
Huang said he takes parenting very seriously and guides his children every chance he gets. When we visited Nicole's blog on Monday, she was covered up in most of her photos.
There was a group of photos where she was in a bikini, and a few others of her in tight low-cut uniforms for her modelling assignments.
Apart from entries about her clubbing and food outings, Nicole also wrote about how much she loves her parents.
Huang said he will continue to talk to Nicole about uploading her photos online, but feels that the issue has been blown out of proportion.
He is also pained that his daughter has been subjected to public criticism at her tender age. Nicole declined to be interviewed as she now wants to keep a low profile.
Huang said: "If my daughter is really that bad, I'd be happy if someone scolds her on my behalf. But she's not...She didn't show her entire breasts. The only mistake she committed was posting her photos online.
"I've posted the URL to her blog on my Facebook page because I want people to decide for themselves if she really went overboard."
Huang added that no one would have bothered with Nicole if she weren't the daughter of a celebrity. "But celebrities are under even greater pressure because children are not puppets. We can't control them and we need to give them space," he said.
"I've told my children since they were young that if they do anything wrong, it will be reported in the media because their father is a celebrity. So I tell them not to quarrel with anyone even if the other party is at fault."
No special rules
Local actor Zheng Geping, 47, told TNPS that he doesn't set any special rules for his daughter Tay Ying, 15, and son, Calvert, 11, even though they are in the public eye.
He also doesn't dictate how Tay Ying dresses.
"Spaghetti straps and tight-fitting clothes are fine with me as long as she doesn't wear them to titillate," he said.
He added that when his children are updating their blogs at home, he asks them for permission to read them.
"From their reactions, you can see if they have anything to hide," said Zheng.
His actress-wife Hong Huifang, 50, stressed that their children lead normal lives.
She said: "Kids have the freedom to do whatever they want to do once they've grown up. We can't restrict them."
Veteran local actress Xiang Yun - who has a son Yixi, 20, and a daughter Yixin, 11, with actor Edmund Chen - agreed that celeb kids should have their freedom.
Yixi admitted that there is some pressure on him and his sister to present themselves properly. But nobody recognises him when he's not with his parents, he said.
"I haven't thought much about the pressure before, but it becomes second nature to me after a while," he added.
"Just follow the basics: Be respectful and nothing will go wrong. I don't have a problem behaving myself."
The New Paper
My little girl is mild not wild
by Kwok Kar Peng
NICOLE Ng is like any other 20-year-old with a blog.
She writes about school, her part-time modelling assignments and clubbing with friends. She also posts photos of herself, some in bikinis and tight tops.
But Nicole isn't like any other young woman in one respect: Her father is Huang Wenyong, one of Singapore's best-known veteran TV actors.
Because of this, the newly enrolled Singapore Institute of Management student has become the talk of the town.
Earlier this month, photos of her and those with her father were taken off her blog and posted on the online forum Hardware Zone.
Netizens posted more than 400 comments over three days, mostly about her buxom figure.
Last Friday, Lianhe Wanbao published an article calling Nicole a "liberal" girl who has uploaded hundreds of revealing photos of herself on her blog.
Huang, 59, found out about the photos only after the Chinese newspaper called him last week. Shocked and perturbed, he said his daughter was "too arrogant".
When The New Paper on Sunday spoke to Huang on Monday, he sounded weary, saying he hadn't slept well the previous few days.
He was also indignant because he felt that Nicole had been depicted in an exaggerated manner.
Huang - who also has a 24-year-old son - admitted he had assumed the worst when the Lianhe Wanbao reporter told him about Nicole's sexy photos online.
He hinted that he had thought of the Edison Chen sex scandal, where nude photos of Hong Kong starlets like Cecilia Cheung and Gillian Chung went viral.
He then scolded Nicole without reading her blog and told her to shut it down.
"I was so scared after the reporter called me...I was very hurt and angry initially," Huang told TNPS.
"My daughter cried when she saw how upset I was and told me she wanted to die for the grief she had caused me. When she said that, I wanted to die too."
The local actor of Channel 8 dramas like The Awakening and sitcom Don't Worry, Be Happy added that his daughter begged him to read her blog.
When he did, he realised that her photos weren't as raunchy as they had been described to be. Nicole claimed she didn't remove any photos before her father saw her blog.
Huang said he asked Nicole to remove only one set of studio photos - those of her in a bra, jacket and pants. She did as she was told.
Huang said he takes parenting very seriously and guides his children every chance he gets. When we visited Nicole's blog on Monday, she was covered up in most of her photos.
There was a group of photos where she was in a bikini, and a few others of her in tight low-cut uniforms for her modelling assignments.
Apart from entries about her clubbing and food outings, Nicole also wrote about how much she loves her parents.
Huang said he will continue to talk to Nicole about uploading her photos online, but feels that the issue has been blown out of proportion.
He is also pained that his daughter has been subjected to public criticism at her tender age. Nicole declined to be interviewed as she now wants to keep a low profile.
Huang said: "If my daughter is really that bad, I'd be happy if someone scolds her on my behalf. But she's not...She didn't show her entire breasts. The only mistake she committed was posting her photos online.
"I've posted the URL to her blog on my Facebook page because I want people to decide for themselves if she really went overboard."
Huang added that no one would have bothered with Nicole if she weren't the daughter of a celebrity. "But celebrities are under even greater pressure because children are not puppets. We can't control them and we need to give them space," he said.
"I've told my children since they were young that if they do anything wrong, it will be reported in the media because their father is a celebrity. So I tell them not to quarrel with anyone even if the other party is at fault."
No special rules
Local actor Zheng Geping, 47, told TNPS that he doesn't set any special rules for his daughter Tay Ying, 15, and son, Calvert, 11, even though they are in the public eye.
He also doesn't dictate how Tay Ying dresses.
"Spaghetti straps and tight-fitting clothes are fine with me as long as she doesn't wear them to titillate," he said.
He added that when his children are updating their blogs at home, he asks them for permission to read them.
"From their reactions, you can see if they have anything to hide," said Zheng.
His actress-wife Hong Huifang, 50, stressed that their children lead normal lives.
She said: "Kids have the freedom to do whatever they want to do once they've grown up. We can't restrict them."
Veteran local actress Xiang Yun - who has a son Yixi, 20, and a daughter Yixin, 11, with actor Edmund Chen - agreed that celeb kids should have their freedom.
Yixi admitted that there is some pressure on him and his sister to present themselves properly. But nobody recognises him when he's not with his parents, he said.
"I haven't thought much about the pressure before, but it becomes second nature to me after a while," he added.
"Just follow the basics: Be respectful and nothing will go wrong. I don't have a problem behaving myself."
