S’pore actress Lina Ng says she's proud to have been 'tiger mum', set ‘no dating before 18’ rule for sons

He had received a very sweet birthday love letter from his girlfriend.

But the next day, it was no longer where he had left it.

That was one of the moments Lina Ng’s eldest son, Jeriel Lam, 22, shared about growing up with strict rules, especially dating ones, at home.

Ng and her son appeared on an episode of 8days DNA, hosted by Rebecca Lim, a chat show that pairs public figures with their children for candid conversations about growing up, family dynamics, and life in the spotlight.

Ng has had no qualms admitting she was a tiger mum (both tiger and lion, according to Jeriel).

Despite the strictness, Jeriel said he and his siblings "loved it".  He compared how, while other parents might have no time to raise their children, the fact that Ng could be "so targeted" in loving and taking care of them gave them feelings of affection and love.

While Ng admits she was stricter when her children were younger, she said she is less so now.

Ng was also honest about why she chose to be a full-time stay-at-home mom from the start.

She revealed that during the merger between Mediacorp and Mediaworks, she wasn't given the option to continue as an actress, but was offered a role in the marketing department.

Ng said she didn't think she would enjoy the proposed position and rejected it.

Her husband then suggested she stay home and take care of their firstborn, Jeriel, instead. And the rest is history.

First girlfriend

A fear of Ng about her strictness was how her children might respond to it, and whether they would become distant from her.

This luckily never happened, but it led to Jeriel having a slight concern about disclosing something to Ng.

During the chat, Jeriel said he did not dare to tell his mum when he first realised he liked someone.

He explained that there was a rule at home that he was not allowed to get into a relationship before 16.

Ng briefly interjected to correct herself to 18, prompting Jeriel to joke that the rule would “always change”.

Jeriel then recounted how his girlfriend had written him a “very sweet letter” for his birthday when he was about 15.

He hid the letter “somewhere under his cupboard”, but it was later discovered during a round of spring cleaning.

When he came home the next day, the letter was no longer in its original place.

Ng said, “I never take it,” while Jeriel maintained that it had been moved.

Jeriel said he was quite angry because she had touched his stuff, but shared that the conversation went well.

As mentioned earlier by Jeriel, Ng turned out to be very even-handed and apologised for touching his things.

Ng then explained her reasons for implementing the rule, citing his current youth and maturity in handling relationships.

They eventually settled on some guidelines, like making sure his grades didn't fall behind.

That was the hardest he had ever studied, Jeriel shared.

Jeriel shared that the relationship lasted.

He said his first girlfriend is someone he has “been together ever since”, drawing a surprised reaction from Lim, who called it “pretty amazing”.

Watch the episode here.