TL;DR: Veteran Mediacorp actresses Pan Lingling and Hong Huifang are no longer friends.

This was after Hong sent an industry-wide WhatsApp message renouncing the friendship, apparently triggered by Pan talking openly about the love life of Hong's son, Calvert Tay.

The drama first broke on July 22, 2018:

It was subsequently revealed that Pan had supposedly advised Tay to go for a STD inoculation jab.

This held certain implications for actress Julie Tan, who was allegedly dating Tay.

Pan, however, has since apologised to Tan's parents in hopes of avoiding a law suit from them:

But just when you thought the saga was over, Julie Tan opens up about the feud (and more) in an interview with 8 Days.

On Pan's apology

Tan thought that Pan's apology should end the matter, even though the latter had expressed it largely to avoid getting sued by Tan's parents.

But Tan is okay with it:

In life, you don’t get closure for everything. I cannot force her to apologise to me ’cos it doesn’t work like that."

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Relationship with Pan

Even prior to this incident, Tan said that that she doesn't really talk to Pan even though they have been family friends for a long time.

Actors who are not working on the same show don't talk much to each other, Tan explains, as everyone is busy with their lives.

However, when they were filming A Song To Remember (a Channel 8 series that debuted in end-2011), Tan said that Pan would take care of her.

When asked which veteran star she respects the most, Tan replied Biren-jie (Huang Biren).

On allegedly dating Tay

View this post on Instagram

FRIDAY!!!! I need something sweet~😮

A post shared by Calvert Tay 郑凯介 (@calverttay) on Mar 22, 2018 at 10:24pm PDT

No, she is not dating Hong's son. Instead, the two are "really, really close friends".

The rumour started when both of them (along with more than a dozen people) were at a gathering, playing a multi-player smartphone game.

Tan sat between Tay and her god brother as they were on the same team.

However, someone took a video of them, but a screenshot with only her and Tay was used in an article (presumably one speculating on the nature of their relationship).

Tan is also close with Tay's sister and cousin.

For now, Tan does not want to be in a relationship, even though she has no problem with the age difference (Tay is 18 while Tan turns 26 this year).

On slut-shaming comments

Tan admits that she was "very affected" by the negative comments on her Instagram posts.

"What hurt most was when people said that if I hadn’t been “loose” in the first place, no one would have the chance to say such things about me."

But her past three relationships should not be reason for Pan (and perhaps anyone) to talk about her, she told the entertainment site.

She added that Pan once told her she "shouldn’t get married too young", but instead, get into more relationships to know what she wants.

Moreover, Tan reveals, one of her past relationships was abusive -- not something that she should be staying in.

The actress also touched on the pervasiveness of the victim-blaming mentality, and how people would still talk even if she did not have a boyfriend till 50.

Reputation and repercussions

Since the incident, there's been plenty of fallout.

As Tan assists her father in his business, some of his business contacts have called to ask if everything was okay.

Besides having her credibility in the business world questioned, Tan added that her father is "so angry" with her, as he feels that certain matters should not be aired publicly.

Her reputation, of course, has also been affected by Pan's insinuations.

In fact, Tan cried herself to sleep for the first few days. But she thinks it sped up the healing process for her:

But I think it’s ’cos I allowed myself to feel the hurt and that’s why I could heal faster. I don’t like to dwell in negativity.

Some of Tan's former colleagues at Mediacorp have also expressed their concern for her.

"Everyone’s like, “Hey, are you okay? Be strong.” Some of them also told me not to care about what’s been said and to keep cool. I understand their intentions but to me, if you don’t voice out, you’ll always get bullied."

And Tan is already bouncing back, hoping to emerge from the saga a better person — a completely different reaction than her 23-year-old self would have, who was struggling with depression and self-mutilation after a bad break-up.

You can read the full interview on 8 Days here.

Top image via Julie Tan