Most grandparents become completely powerless in front of their grandkids. Martial arts legend Sammo Hung, for example, is afraid of telling his two grandsons to go to bed.
Then there are those like veteran Mediacorp actor Chen Shucheng, who handles his grandkids with a firm hand.
In a recent interview with Chinese media zaobao.sg, the 74-year-old star revealed that his daughter has two kids — an eight-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter — and they live just a street away from him.
They live so close by that Shucheng can see his daughter’s balcony from his place.
Shucheng is also very involved in his grandchildren’s lives, which includes their education.
He shared that his daughter puts a lot of emphasis on them learning Mandarin, and that includes making sure they have great penmanship.
Shucheng sometimes stands in as his grandson’s Chinese tutor, though the latter is already fairly bilingual.
“My grandson is left-handed, so it’s tougher for him to write. His mother always complains that his Chinese handwriting doesn’t look nice,” said Shucheng.
His grandson doesn’t seem too thrilled about having him as a tutor though.
Shucheng admitted he doesn’t have much patience even when it comes to his grandkid.
“I lose my temper all the time. Sometimes my grandson would tell his mum: ‘I want you to teach me. I don’t want grandpa, he would lose his temper’,” said Shucheng.
That said, the actor said he doesn’t actually want to go off the deep end with his grandson.
“It aches my heart!” he averred.