Jade Seah spills on ageism in Seoul: ‘Money gets you in’
The local host was sharing about her recent experiences in the South Korean capital
Jade Seah (left) talks about ageism in Seoul on her new wellness show co-hosted with Sheila Sim (right).
Bryan Lim
·Contributor
Wed, 14 June 2023 at 3:11 pm SGT·3-min read
Jade Seah (left) talks about ageism in Seoul on her new wellness show co-hosted with Sheila Sim (right). (Photo: Instagram/jadeseah, Instagram/sheila_sim)
Money can’t buy you everything, but it can definitely buy you entry into a club if you don’t meet the "beauty" standards in Seoul.
On her Wonder and Wellness series, co-hosted with actress-model Sheila Sim, local host Jade Seah shared about her work trip to Seoul and expressed her horror at discovering the ageism she faced.
The hosts, along with their guest Jacqueline Khoo (producer of the show and their mutual friend) were talking about growing old and the obsession with looks.
Seah, 40, said, “I just came back from Seoul, from a work trip. So, horrifyingly there, they actually check your ID when you go to parties - as with anywhere else - but not to check whether you’re of legal age but to check if you’re of young age.”
Shocked by the revelation, Sim asked about the age limit. Seah said it was 30 and added, “I guess if you look past 30, they may not let you in.”
She recounted an incident where her Korean friends who are “of her age” brought her out during her work trip and they “actually booked a table”.
“Later on, he told me that he booked the table because we’re all older and otherwise we may have been stopped at the door,” Seah explained.
“So yes, money gets you in.”
“Old people are invisible”
The trio also talked about how people become more ‘invisible’ as they get older - something that Seah’s grandmother also mentioned.Khoo, whose age was not revealed, quipped, “If someone finds me attractive now right, at my age, it would be like a fetish.”
In order to substantiate her point, she claimed that anyone watching the video would be looking at Sim and Seah instead.
To that point, Sim, 39, said, “I feel like you see yourself differently from how a lot of people see you.”
However, Khoo revealed that she actually regards herself pretty highly, or “damn up” as she puts it.
When asked if she tries to be less ‘invisible’, Khoo replied in the affirmative. She exclaimed, “I got a freaking butterfly [choker] on my neck!”
She also confessed that she feels old on the outside and repeatedly said that there’s “nothing good about ageing”.
“I know you all think that you grow to a certain age and you’re going to be comfortable in your own skin, yes? I want to be comfortable in a younger skin,” she said, much to the hosts’ surprise.
Sim later pointed out that with age comes a bigger bank account and the ability to buy what you want.
After thinking for a moment, Khoo replied, “I want to look like I was in the 20s but have the same money that I have now.”
Not a sweet young thing? No problem
As for Sim, she felt more ‘invisible’ in your youth despite her popularity and buzz as Singapore’s top model.“I think because I was very insecure with myself but now I really don’t care. I really don’t care how people look at me,” she shared.
Sim added, “For me back then, if people were looking at me, I feel like they were kind of criticising me, which is why I really embrace aging - even with the wrinkles and whatever.”
It doesn’t even matter to Sim anymore if she loses the ‘sweet-young-thing’ roles. In fact, she feels that actresses get better as they get older.
She said: “I also want to be behaving like my age… I want to behave and I want to act in roles that are closer to what I can relate to. I don’t want to be a sweet young thing anymore. I don’t want to be cute girl, like a girl-next-door.”
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