When you’re so high up, sometimes the only way forward is downhill.
Local actress Lina Ng kicked off her showbiz career in her 20s after participating in Star Search 1993, rising to popularity after starring in dramas such as The Price of Peace (1997) and Right Frequency (1998 – 2000).
Then she joined SPH Mediaworks in 2000, but four years later, the company merged with Mediacorp and didn’t offer her an acting contract.
Lina, 52, was recently interviewed by the gospel website Salt & Light, who published two articles on her journey as an actress and how she met her husband, former national bowler Mike Lam.
In the first article, Lina said losing her job as an actress was “traumatising and unbelievable”.
“You put your heart and soul into many years of building something successful, but in one day it can all just be gone,” she explained.
She considered returning to a cashiering job at FairPrice like in her school days to support her young family. At the time, her firstborn Jeriel, now 23, was only a year old.
The couple also have sons Joel, 20, and Samuel, 15.
“But I still had my pride. It was a huge humbling process for me to come to terms with the fact that I wouldn’t be acting anymore,” Lina recalled.
She had previously revealed that she decided to become a stay-at-home mum afterwards, a move Lam had suggested.
Struggling to adjust to her lifestyle
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In her interview with Salt & Light, Lina also shared she was drawing an almost five-figure salary at the peak of her fame.
After losing her acting jobs, she pursued a career in early childhood education, where she struggled to adjust to a smaller income.
“There were times when I wanted a nice drink but that would bust my daily budget, so I had kopitiam coffee instead,” she said.
Her pride was tested as she went from an actress who was listened to, to an associate Mandarin teacher who had to take instructions from others.
She admitted it was a “humbling experience having to serve and please the parents of the children”, recalling moments when they talked down to her.
“I asked god, ‘Why is it that when others work hard, they can enjoy a good life in retirement? But for me, it seems the opposite. I worked hard, reached the peak of my career, and from then on everything seemed to go downhill,'” said Lina.
After three years, she left the preschool to partner with actress Evelyn Tan and they worked together to provide Mandarin enrichment programmes for preschools.
‘I felt sorry for myself’
Lina slowly returned to the acting industry after being offered minor roles in local dramas such as Tiger Mum (2015) and The Truth Seekers (2016).
While this was good news, Lina said taking on these roles stirred feelings of self-pity within her.
“All the newcomers were A-list artistes, but they didn’t know who I was because I hadn’t acted in more than a decade. I felt sorry for myself because I was no longer treated the way I used to be. Yet I also hated these feelings that were surfacing within me,” she told Salt & Light.
Her next breakthrough came with Lion Mums (2015 – 2021) — which she starred in from seasons two to four — and Last Madame (2019).
She won Top 10 Most Popular Artiste at the local Star Awards 2019 and Last Madame also garnered her Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the Asian Academy Creative Awards 2020 and the Best Supporting Actress at Asian Television Awards in 2021.
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At this point, Lina felt her “greed for fame and recognition” was resurfacing.
“That is why whenever I go back and act, I am very careful about the intention behind it and am selective about the roles that I take up,” she said.
After attending a friend’s funeral, she gained clarity upon pondering about how she would like to be remembered after her death.
She told the publication she has found her “true purpose”, which is to bring positivity and joy to the people she works with. “It is no longer just about me being there because I like acting or because it earns me some money. I must be able to share the joy that I have in my life.”
Lina’s last long-form dramas were 2023’s All That Glitters and Alienated.
She recently guested on local actor Mark Lee’s variety series Did You Mark It? and acted in the microdrama My Girlfriend is An Alien, which also stars cosplayer-actress Rurusama and Benjamin Tan.
Read the full article here
