However, she lets on that her mother-in-law is quite media shy and got startled when she was recognised on the streets.
“She was asking for directions while out and was quite taken aback when the person immediately went, “I know you! You are Jeffrey’s mum!” she laughs.
Though her healthy relationship with her mother-in-law is the envy of many, Felicia shares that there are no immediate plans for Jeffrey’s mum to move to Singapore from Shanghai and live with them just yet.
“We think it important to stay on our own for now because that comes from a place where we want to develop our own family culture,” she says.
However, when probed about what habit she would need to change should her mother-in-law decidedly move in, she sheepishly admits that she will need to close her eyes to certain things.
One of which is how she hangs freshly-washed laundry.
Umm… Seriously?
8DAYS.SG: Closing your eyes as to how laundry is hung? Tell us more!
FELICIA CHIN: You know how our parents feel that laundry should be hung where the sun is? But both me and Jeff like things to be neat so seeing clothes everywhere was a little of an eyesore.
Maybe you can get those drying racks with UV and fan functions?
We have that! But that comes the next thing – the sun is always better. Also, the older generation always say such drying racks waste electricity.
Speaking of which, another thing I might need to get used to is living in darkness as she seems to like minimal lighting at home.
Another parental thing about saving electricity (laughs).
Make us feel better about ourselves. Were there any other disagreements considering she is from a different country?
There weren’t any outright disagreements, but there was once I had a argument with Jeffrey and she kept saying “guai yi dian” which to me translates to “be more obedient”. I immediately got defensive, even borderline offended, even asking her what she meant.
Apparently, that’s how Shanghainese comfort their children saying everything is okay which made me feel a little silly after.
Oh, that sounds so different from our understanding of ‘guai yi dian’.
Yeah, I did my best to take the time to be direct with her in a comfortable way, allowing us to understand where we both were coming from.
We might be of the same race but with different cultures and upbringing.
The key is taking the time to nurture the relationship. That makes a difference and if there are things I don’t understand, I would always ask Jeff first.
Other than giving us a peek into your relationship with your mother-in-law, you also shared about previously having an unhealthy relationship with food. What made you go public about it?
I wanted to share a personal and vulnerable side of myself so that others might not feel like they are alone. There are little steps that we can take to treat ourselves better because we deserve it.
Wasn’t it scary to be so open online?
It was and I felt out of my comfort zone. But I also see it as part of my work and be more proactive about sharing my experience.
If someone in my 20s had shared with me how I am doing now, I probably would have felt less alone.