Ever since she debuted in the 1997 drama Starting Point, Yvonne Lim has gone on to star in many iconic and beloved roles and productions. These include Stepping Out (1999), A New Life (2005), Portrait of Home (2005) and Metamorphosis (2007), the last of which earned her a Best Actress win at that year’s Star Awards. But beyond her acting career, how much do you know of the Singaporean actress? Ahead, we’re taking a look at who Yvonne Lim is and all that she has achieved.
We know Yvonne Lim as an actress. But before she joined acting, Yvonne participated in a couple of pageants. She was the first runner-up in the Singapore Polytechnic Beauty Quest and a finalist in the Go Magazine’s Cover Girl Contest. She then joined the 1997 Star Search which paved her road in showbusiness.
Most of you might remember the iconic television show Stepping Out (1999) that traces the lives of Chinese immigrants in Singapore. In the show, Yvonne Lim’s character Hai Yan gets tormented and ultimately contracts boils and warts. In December 2021, Yvonne looked back on the series through her Instagram Stories and talked about how unforgettable the show was for the then-newbie.
“I didn’t know that I had sensitive skin, and to shoot this scene, we had to take two hours to do the special-effects make-up, and then an additional hour to remove it. It caused me to develop a serious skin allergy and I had to visit the doctor many times.”
There was a scene where her character had to walk on hot coals. But fun fact: the coals were real and not props. “My foolish self did not take any preventive measures and stepped directly on [the coals], the soles of my feet were burnt and blistered… Looking back at it now, I really gave it my all!”
The solo Mandarin album was released in 2000. And according to this listing, the album was made for charity with proceeds going towards the Youth Challenge’s Home Alone Programme.
Yvonne Lim made headlines after she clinched her ninth Top 10 Most Popular Female Artiste award at the 2022 Star Awards. This came as a surprise for the actress, who has been away in Taipei since her last acting credit in 2019. She is one award shy from attaining the All-Time Favourite Artiste trophy.
Speaking of Taipei, Yvonne Lim moved to Taiwan in May 2015 with her husband Alex Tien, a member of the now-defunct boy band B.A.D, and her son AJ. The move was made so that Alex could manage his family’s footwear manufacturing and export business. The couple has since had a daughter named Alexa.
In January 2023, Yvonne Lim revealed to Lianhe Zaobao that her dream of moving back to Singapore is coming true. “The earliest is the end of this year. There are many matters to deal with. I get a little scared at the thought of these matters.” She had wanted to return so that her children could receive education here.
Husband Alex Tien, meanwhile, will continue to shuttle back and forth between Taiwan and Singapore. “His job does not follow a typical nine-to-five schedule, so it is easier to make flexible travel arrangements”
In an interview with Singapore Polytechnic’s alumni magazine, Yvonne Lim described herself as an “extremely shy girl”. She also needed to be coaxed to take part in the school pageant (see point #1).
In October 2021, Yvonne Lim and her family had to head back to Taipei after being on holiday here for two months. To ensure the family’s safety, the family had donned full protective gear for their flights to and fro.
Yvonne had also stated in the past that she had “commitment to [her] family as a mother of two young kids,” which meant that her decisions had to factor in her family.
ICYDK, Taiwanese singer Jam Hsiao announced his engagement to manager Summer Lin at the end of June 2023. Yvonne Lim and Alex Tien were present at the proposal party as the latter is Summer Lin’s godbrother. Their son Alex Junior is also Jam Hsiao’s only godson.
“Even though Alex is very close to Summer, she and Jam never confirmed their relationship with close friends and family. We didn’t know if they were really together. It was only during the proposal that everything was confirmed and that was just two days ago.”
The couple had received a rather last-minute invite to Jam Hsiao’s house, which they thought was a surprise birthday celebration for Summer Lin and was consequently underdressed.
“I think maybe when she stepped into the house she [could tell that there was a proposal]. The whole place was beautiful with beautiful flowers, there was a small orchestra playing in the background, and food and drinks set up in case the guests got hungry while waiting. It was so nicely done up that you cannot think it’s a simple birthday gathering right?”
“The part where he said: ‘I want to show the whole world how much I love you, I want to share your burden with you,’ that was very very touching. Sixteen years together is a very long time. Despite their age gap, I think 16 years is enough to prove to everyone that they’re real and they really love each other a lot. See, even when I’m recalling it now I’m feeling so emotional.”
“I was crying while holding a drink in my hand. It was so touching.”
If you follow Yvonne Lim on Instagram, you would be tempted by the many food creations that she made. She’s adept at both baking and cooking and has made items such as elaborate cakes, confinement food and even her own bak kwa. Yvonne has also shared her recipe for making ma lai gao and min jiang kueh.
Singapore is blessed as we are sheltered from natural disasters. Taiwan, however, isn’t so fortunate as Yvonne Lim discovered herself when she lived through a 6.7 magnitude earthquake on December 2020.
“Everybody [I talked to] agreed that it was pretty bad. [A friend] was saying that the building shook for around 50 seconds last night. It might sound really short, but when we going through it, it felt very long. It’s scary for me ‘cos I’m scared of earthquakes all along, and we stay on the highest level of our apartment building too, so the tremors felt worse for us.”
“It happened very suddenly, my kids were going to bed, so while the earthquake was happening, I had to dash to their rooms. [My husband] Alex picked up AJ, and I picked up Alexa, and we went to the living room. The kids hid under the dining table ‘cos that’s what they learnt in school. We were all just squatting there and praying, hoping for the earthquake to go away.”
“I felt dizzy the entire night, as if the building was still moving “There was another [aftershock] around 2 in the morning. It was a shorter one and the kids and Alex were all asleep. I was the only one awake ‘cos I was really freaked out, I didn’t dare to sleep, and stayed awake in case anything else happened.”
“I think us Singaporeans are lucky ‘cos we don’t have any earthquakes and tsunamis, I’m not sure about other [overseas Singaporeans], but personally, I’m really not used it. [Times like these] are when I really want to go home… back to Singapore.”