We have a newfound respect for veteran Mediacorp actor Richard Low.
In a recent video posted on The Celebrity Agency’s Instagram, the 71-year-old took a trip down memory lane with Mediacorp actress Chantalle Ng, 28, whom he watched grow up.
“I’ve known Chantalle since she was in primary school, we’re very close!” beamed Richard, who’s pals with Chantalle’s mum, Mediacorp actress Lin Meijiao. Chantalle’s dad is former actor Huang Yiliang, with whom she remains estranged.
Believe it or not, Richard was Chantalle’s Math tutor when she was 12.
“I have three kids so I had experience teaching them. When Chantalle was taking her PSLE, I tried my best to help her,” he recalled.
Richard has an eldest daughter, Elaine, 37, who’s an influencer based in the US, and another daughter and son, who are 36 and 35 respectively.
What touched Chantalle the most was how Richard went above and beyond for her.
“He purposely bought a textbook to revise and to practise the questions before he taught me,” she revealed.
Chantalle then asked Richard why he decided to tutor her.
“Is it because I’m cute?” she quipped.
“No. It’s because I thought your Math was terrible,” he replied mercilessly. “Your Math was very bad right? You’re great at everything else, except Math.”
“I taught her until I wanted to vomit blood and she still couldn’t understand,” lamented Richard as Chantalle cackled uncontrollably next to him.
So what grade did Chantalle get for her PSLE Math in the end?
When 8days.sg reached out to her, she chirped: “HAHAHA, I got C for Chantalle”.
Richard beamed with pride when talking about Chantalle.
“[Chantalle] is a little girl that I’ve doted on since she was young, so I’m very happy to see everything she’s achieved today,” Richard said as Chantalle gave him a hug while trying to hold back her tears.
Richard went on to share that the actress once told him that her dream was to become a singer. If she were to have a concert, he would be the first person she would invite.
Though Chantalle didn’t realise her singing dreams, she had him in mind when she was preparing her acceptance speech for a previous Star Awards ceremony.
“I imagined, if I really could go on stage to receive an award and I have to look for one face in the audience, it would be yours,” she shared.
Was there a reason Richard paid Chantalle extra attention?
“Chantalle’s mum takes very good care of her, so she very happy now. But there were also some unhappy things that happened in her childhood,” he explained.
The actress, whose parents divorced when she was only a few months old, then quickly assured Richard that everything turned out great for her.
“It’s okay, because I’m very happy now that I’m grown up,” she said.