Kids 'just didn't happen' for Priscelia Chan, but anxiety over PSLE still rubs off indirectly from large extended family
The local actress also shared that not having kids 'wasn't a choice or something', and that she and hubby Alan Tern are 'really chill about that'.
Local actress Priscelia Chan may not have kids, but she still has life experiences to draw from for her latest drama, Born to Shine, where she plays a mother of two.
Born to Shine centres around three sets of parents and their different parenting styles for their kids who are tackling the Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE).
Though Chan, 45, isn’t directly affected by the stress of watching a kid go through the PSLE, she confessed that some of the anxiety rubs off on her when she sees her nephew and nieces going through it.
“My husband and I, our family is really very big, so PSLE is something that has always been ongoing for the past, like, maybe 20 years,” she shared in an interview with Yahoo Southeast Asia.
Chan’s husband, local actor-businessman Alan Tern, has nine nieces and nephews. This year, Chan’s nephew is taking the PSLE.
She said, “I must say that my sister is really getting anxious, so I think it rubbed off on us a little. It’s really not easy for kids nowadays, the stress that they’re going through, and the parents are feeling the additional pressure.”
Chan recalled getting a peek at the Chinese syllabus and she was shocked at how advanced it was.
“I don’t even know what’s the Chinese word!” she exclaimed.
As someone who was raised by a ‘tiger mum’ and a dad who is more relaxed, Chan acknowledged that “every kid wants to have fun”, so they “need to be the fun auntie and uncle”.
During their weekly meetups every Sunday, Tern sometimes talk about football with Chan’s nephew and plays with him.
She said, “It’s just to get his mind off [studies] for that short period of time before he gets back on his tuition. But I think, most importantly, it’s trying to get a glimpse into how is he really feeling and coping, despite the tuition, homework, and pressures of school.”
Kids just didn’t happen
As for having kids, Chan revealed that she and Tern are “really very chill about that”, explaining it “wasn’t a choice or something, it just didn’t happen”.
And, she is at peace with the fact that it wasn’t on the cards for her.
“You can only do your best, but if it didn’t happen the way that you want it to be, then you just have to really believe that it's for the best.”
While she concurred that there were moments in her 20s and 30s where she wondered about what it’s like to have kids, she is thankful and blessed to have a good husband to go through this with.
“I think we just transcend it and don’t let it affect our marriage. Of course, there are days that we just talk about it, but we never let it affect us,” she said.
Chan also shared that those close to her have been sensitive about this, and never made them feel any different for not having kids.
And when she is out with friends or family members with kids, she and her husband “truly love their children”.
That said, there have been strangers or viewers that they have bumped into who were surprised to learn that they don’t have kids.
“On TV shows, yeah, we have lots of children,” Chan joked and chalked it up to the fact that she has played a mother many times onscreen.
Life is centred around family
When asked about what she enjoys about a life without kids, Chan replied that she hadn’t thought about it as her life is “really very centred around our family”.
She said, “The best thing is maybe we want to travel, we can just travel.”
However, Chan clarified that they don’t feel much of a difference in their daily lives.
“We are really very much involved in our family life on both sides. Alan and I are really thankful that we are very close to both sides of our family so we just feel like we have so much love that we can still give, that we don't feel that we are lacking anything.”
Born to Shine is airing every weekday at 9pm, with episodes available to stream on meWATCH.
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