KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Kong singer-actress Charlene Choi of Twins fame teared up while sharing the sacrifices of her parents on the Chinese variety show Youth Periplous 5 last Saturday.
AsiaOne reported yesterday that Choi, 41, said that when she was young, her mother would bring her to a western restaurant after her ballet lessons.
"This was something that I was very happy about. After I grew up, I become upset whenever I think about it," she said.
"My family was not rich, but my mother wanted me to order food there. While I was eating happily, she would only take a few bites from my plate."
The show's host Yang Di tried to comfort her and said: "It's a mother's love, that's what family members who love each other would do."
Choi however said that she ought to have been "more considerate as a child".
"I would think about why I didn't notice it when I was young.
"I only cared about myself, how I enjoyed the food and didn't realise that my mum didn't order for herself.
"I also didn't say 'Mum, you should also eat'," said Choi.
Although they were not well off, Choi's parents doted on her and treated her well.
Choi said that when she was in secondary school, she made an appointment with her friends to get their hair permed without informing her parents.
When she asked them for money, her father told her that they could not afford it.
While she eventually received the money, she only found out years later that father had pawned his gold chain to pay for the hair treatment.
Reflecting on these experiences, Choi said that she gradually learnt to treat her parents better.
She also learnt to be more careful with her money to the point that certain people called her "stingy".
"We should only spend money when we need to. That is what I learnt from my parents when I got to understand them better," she said.