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Olympic kitefoiling bronze medallist Max Maeder’s parents, Valentin and Hwee Keng have been married for almost 30 years, but did you know they have never taken studio shots before?
“Wow! This is the first time we are taking pictures like this together,” laughed Hwee Keng, 52, as she and Valentin, 60, posed for 8days.sg.
The couple, who also has two other sons, Karl, 15, and Valentin Jr, nine, shared that most of their cherished pictures were taken casually among family.
Hwee Keng, a Singaporean, first met Swiss native Valentin in 1996 during a dinner party where a cheeky exchange happened.
He was doing business here and she was on her first job assignment “selling advertisements for a dive magazine”. They both now work at the Wakatobi Dive Resort, which they built, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
“Everyone stood up [after dinner] and I immediately commented, “Oh, wow! You are very tall” to which he responded, “I had shorter girlfriends”.
“I remember thinking, “What is he talking about?” recounted Hwee Keng.
It seems Valentin was in full charm mode, even wanting to call a cab for Hwee Keng as she was leaving but she rebuffed him, saying: “This is my country. I know my way around.”
Yikes. Is it just us or are we seeing where Max and his brothers got their independence from?
However, it seems whatever Valentin did must have won Hwee Keng over as they exchanged numbers during that dinner party.
Hwee Keng shares that when they started dating, she initially left for London while Valentin stayed on in Singapore.
“We only saw each other more than a month later after returning,” she says.
Of course, we couldn’t help but ask between the couple who apologises first after a quarrel.
While Valentin gamely admits it’s him, Hwee Keng simply responds: “There are apologies… and there are apologies.”
“Men like to say, “I’m sorry” not because they are sincere, [but because] they don’t want to get into any more trouble,” she adds.
But Hwee Keng says she doesn’t see it as who apologises first, but more of whether she remembers the incident or not.
“I will go to bed angry, and wake up forgetting I’m angry,” she laughs.
Valentin good-naturedly chimes in: “They [your partner] must have a good heart, good humour…”.
Hwee Keng then cheekily adds, “…And bad memory…” before Valentin says, “…And low expectations.”
He goes on to share a memorable incident that confirms that Hwee Keng was the woman for him.
Hwee Keng was riding a horse with her niece when it suddenly took off.
“By the time the horse had stopped, her [Hwee Keng] knees were all bloodied from being dragged along the gravel,” says Valentin.
“But she didn’t once look at her injury as she was too concerned if the child was alright,” he adds.