Yvonne Lim is finally moving back to Singapore.
The 48-year-old Mediacorp actress has been living in Taipei with her businessman husband Alex Tien and their two kids AJ, nine, and Alexa, seven, for the past decade.
In a post on Instagram yesterday (Nov 21), Yvonne revealed that she’s coming home and that she has launched her new YouTube channel Life With Yeve.
When 8days.sg got on a call with the actress, she tells us that she’s still in Taiwan, and is hoping to move back by the end of the year.
Are her kids nervous about the shift?
“They’re really excited! They’re very happy and are looking forward to return to Singapore, which is a good thing,” she says.
While Alexa will attend primary two when she returns to Singapore, AJ would need to take a test to see if he goes on to primary five or has to repeat primary four as there’s a difference in syllabus between Singapore and Taiwan’s education systems.
The family will also be moving into a condominium near the kids’ schools.
“My husband wanted our kids to be in an international school, but I still want them to be enrolled in a local school,” she shares.
She acknowledges that her kids have quite a bit of catching up to do when it comes to English — they can converse well but have to adapt to the new syllabus. They might also need to start having tuition, which they didn’t have in Taiwan.
Yvonne says the time is really right for them return to Singapore as it was getting too difficult for her to teach her children Math and Science, which are all taught in Traditional Chinese in Taiwan.
“Do you even know what photosynthesis is in Chinese?! Every time I teach them, it’s like I’m back to being a student too. It’s tough,” she laughs.
She also wishes her kids to know more about Singapore since they’re Singaporeans.
The frequency of natural disasters happening in Taiwan was also one of the dealbreakers.
“I’m very scared of earthquakes. Sometimes I can’t sleep well over here ‘cos I’m so scared,” she says.
When we ask if they’ve sold their apartment in Taipei, Yvonne chuckles: “It will remain ours. You’re welcome to Airbnb [if you ever go to Taiwan].”
The most difficult part about the move is “leaving the friends [she] made over the years.”
“I like to plan gatherings and invite people over. Many of my friends asked me: ‘After you go back, what’s going to happen to us?” she says.
The friends she has in Taiwan are also very different from those in Singapore.
“At the beginning, they only knew me as just a regular mum and not an actress. We’re just parents of our kids and we bonded,” she adds.
Yvonne says she doesn’t have friends who are parents of young kids in Singapore. Most of her friends here are those she made at work.
The worries she has about the move has inspired her to start her YouTube channel, Life With Yeve.
“I really don’t know how things are going to be like after we move back,” she says.
Coincidentally, the word “Yeve” also means “to give back”, which is exactly what she wants to do with the channel.
“I want to give back to everybody who has always supported me,” she says.
“I’ve received a lot of ‘welcome home’ messages from the public, and it’s a good start. Everyone’s very positive and I’m so thankful that they’re all welcoming me home.”