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For many of us, receiving our first paycheck is an important milestone. And we probably did something poignant with it.
For local actor Chen Hanwei, who grew up in Johor Bahru, he bought a cup of lemon iced tea with his first salary. It may seem strange, but it has a deep meaning.
“I come from a humble background. We could only afford to go to Chinatown in Singapore (of Johor Bahru) once a year, and the four of my family shared a cup of iced lemon tea,” he told host Quan. Yi Fong on the latest episode of the meWATCH Hear U Out talk show.
The 51-year-old had entered the 1988 Star Search competition and received a contract with Singapore Broadcasting Corporation, the former incarnation of Mediacorp.
With her first paycheck, she ordered lemon iced tea at a Malaysian cafe. “That cup of lemon iced tea was a luxury for me and it made me very happy,” she said.
We can only imagine how he felt the moment he had a drink for himself, without having to share it with anyone else.
But that wasn’t the only “luxury” item Hanwei bought with her first salary.
“A few days later, I bought an air ticket from Senai in Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur,” he recalled.
While it was only a half-hour flight, it was his first time on a plane. “During the whole trip, I was looking out the window and smiling.”
Yi Fong chimed in saying it was a privilege to travel by plane back then, and Hanwei commented that it was an “indescribable feeling.”
He even kept his trip a secret from his mother because he was afraid she would call it a waste of money. Relating the experience, Hanwei said, “I fulfilled this strange wish of mine.”
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