25 Questions: Tan Kheng Hua On The Love Of Her Life, Being A Career Creative And More

An intimate glimpse into a woman who has never felt the need to be anything but herself.

By Larissa Wong - published 6 Nov 2026

Tan Kheng Hua has spent decades bringing stories to life, moving between Singapore’s entertainment scene and international productions with a career that continues to evolve. From the beloved local sitcom Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd to Crazy Rich Asians and The CW’s Kung Fu, the veteran actress and producer has never been one to rest on her laurels. With a voice role in the 2026 animated film The Violinist and an upcoming FX crime drama pilot on the horizon, Kheng Hua remains as curious about what lies ahead as she is passionate about the work itself. Beyond the screen, she is a woman who wears her heart on her sleeve, finding meaning in the people she loves, the life she has built and the simple joys of being human.

As part of Harper’s BAZAAR Singapore’s 25th anniversary, we invited the actress to reflect on 25 questions about the life she has lived and the lessons she continues to learn, from her bond with her daughter Lim Shi-An and the enduring love she holds for her mother to what it means to be a “career creative”.

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

First of all, “perfect” is not in my vocabulary. I really don’t think anything is perfect. So how about I say, what is my idea of happiness that is closest to perfect? It’s a family meal and we call it “Dalvey dinner”. Because my family home is along Dalvey Road. And the family gets together for food with my 90-year-old mum and a lot of times at Dalvey dinner with the simplest food, I find myself closest to perfect happiness.

2. What is your greatest fear?

My greatest fear is not being the person I want to be when I die.

3. Which living person do you most admire?

I would say I most admire my mum. At 90 years old, she is living proof that you need to exercise what comes naturally to you that is good, and good for everybody around you. Also, what does not come naturally to you, but is good and is good for everybody around you. My mother, even at 90, does this all the time.

She has a natural tendency to understand some of the philosophies that make her life and my life better, and I admire that so much because it is natural and also counterintuitive for her, but she works at it all the time.

4. What is your current state of mind?

I’m constantly self-reflecting. My current state of mind is in a state of jet-lagged calm, balance and peace. That’s exactly what I felt this morning when I woke up. It was the first sort of eight hours of uninterrupted sleep that I’ve had because in the last two months, I’ve taken something like more than 12 flights, half of which were long-haul flights.

I actually think a balanced state of mind is once again counterintuitive for a lot of people. At 63, I reflect a lot on all the things that give me peace, give me balance and give me calm.

5. What do you consider the most underrated virtue?

Thinking before you act. Being a little more thoughtful. When I think a little bit, when I take a couple of steps back, I make better decisions—decisions that last longer, that have a greater positive effect on everybody. All my spontaneous decision-making in the past may not have been very good for me. Some have been good, but some have been pretty disastrous. So I would say being thoughtful.

6. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

I’m actually being made fun of for using this by my group of friends that actually don’t live in Singapore. I’ll always say “free and easy”. I think I sometimes misuse it? I don’t know how free and easy people can be in Singapore sometimes. I find myself quite free and easy, but then I’m old, and I think if you get older and you don’t get freer and easier, then life is quite hard.

7. What or who is the greatest love of your life?

Shi-An. She’s my significant other, she is my better half, she is the greatest love of my life. I know a hundred percent, she will always be the greatest love of my life. I’m enjoying all the evolution of my love for my child, my only child.

8. When and where were you happiest?

The day I gave birth to Shi-An. I was happiest on that day because it happened only once. I felt every single bit of this amazing experience, and I know that I will never experience a moment like that or moments like that ever again. So the day Shi-An was born.

9. Which talent would you most like to have?

Only one? I think I would like to sing really, really well.

10. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I want to be maybe two and a half inches taller, just two and a half. I think I would like to be 5’ 5”. Not too tall, not too short. Everything else? No need to change. I’m very happy with whatever has been given to me.

11. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

My greatest achievement is being a mum. Specifically, to Shi-An. I’m not about generalities. I’m not about “oh, being a mum is my greatest achievement.” No, being a mum specifically to this unique person, Shi-An. Motherhood to me is a very specific, unique, individual thing that mothers have with a specific child. I like very much who I am as a mother to her. I like my style of mothering for her.

12. If you were to come back as a person or a thing in your next life, what would it be?

I think I would like to be a mountain. I would like to be a thing that gives a human being the sort of feeling that it has given me, which is a sense of stoicism, a sense of beauty, something that doesn’t change at great speed and therefore can be reliable to a certain extent.

13. Where would you most like to live?

I want to live where I live now. I love my home. I live in Joo Chiat. Sure, I travel a lot, but there is only one place that I call home, and that is my house in Joo Chiat.

14. What is your favourite occupation?

Being a career creative. “Occupation” basically means you make money from it, right? It’s a career. I feel that I make money and I earn a living from being creative in a variety of ways.

15. What is your most marked characteristic?

My most marked characteristic is I am almost, almost, always on time, and my “on time” means 15 minutes earlier. I get anxious and nervous when I am not on time. I love this characteristic of mine.

16. What do you most value in your friends?

I most value time. The best thing that human beings can give to each other is the gift of time—to spend time with somebody. I have this group of amazing friends, we’re all in our 60s. We mark time together, we all value the time that we have with each other, we respect the time that we give to each other. Not just in the past, but also in the present, and you know what? In the future as well.

17. Who are your favourite writers?

It’s impossible, because there are so many different types of writers! But a name does come into my brain and that is Milan Kundera. I think that name comes to me because, at that time in my life—and I would say it was from 19 to about 25 years old—I read a lot. I remember just lapping up The Unbearable Lightness of Being and just identifying with every single line as a young adult looking for love and wanting to understand love.

18. Who are your heroes in real life?

Again, so easy and these are real heroes. My mum, even at 90, has a hero mentality, you know? Let me explain what that means. When I go to the supermarket with her, this is a 90-year-old woman, and she will say to me, like a real hero, “Let me carry that, it’s too heavy for you.”

You’ll see a lot of recurring answers and they’re all real, because they’re all like consistent guiding lights.

My daughter is a hero to me. In her, I see a young person who is experiencing life with youth and newness. I mean, newness comes with youth, right? I see her struggles and I see how she handles her struggles. There is one big way in which she handles her struggles that always makes me think that she’s a hero, and that is, Shi-An always goes towards the light. I have some darkness in me, but Shi-An always goes towards the light. Sometimes, to her disadvantage but that’s her make-up.

19. What is the trait you most admire in others?

Let’s talk about my best friend, Val. She has so many traits that I admire so much. Val’s relentless devotion and commitment to making decisions walking towards the light. If everybody in the world did that we would be living in light. Whenever I am stuck, she’ll say, “If you thought about the light, what decision would you make?” and it always makes my decision-making so much easier.

20. How would you like to be remembered?

There are many ways in which I would want to be remembered. I would like to be remembered as hardworking, kind, loving, tenacious, resourceful, resilient, that I could change for the better, that I give as good as I take, that I could give a good chuckle, that I was fun and many, many more. Like that I am pretty agile, which I am, that I was energetic. I could go on and on, but I think the first three or four [are] important. Kind, loving and tenacious.

21. What is your motto?

Do better.

22. What is something you’ve always wanted to try?

Lately I’ve been sort of really interested in... directing? Both for the stage and maybe for film? I am going to try film directing for a short film at the end of the year. I think I would like to try to explore these other areas that are related to my life as a career creative in a deeper way. Maybe like writing more and more intentionally?

23. Who has had the most influence on you?

I would say Shi-An, for sure. I like making decisions on my own, and therefore I’m not easily influenced, but Shi-An really influences me because she is one of the very, very few people in this world that I need her approval. When I think about the influence that she has on me, I like that influence because that influence brings out the best in me.

24. What is one small thing that never fails to make you inspired?

My runs. My best ideas come when I’m running. I run with very little judgment and very little glamour. Sometimes I don’t even know where I’m running, and when I’m running, I’m either thinking about something, reciting something, or working something out.

This morning, when I ran, I had certain sentences that came into my mind because my daughter is getting married and I’m supposed to give a little speech, and there were just like certain lines that just appeared in my head about—“oh, I need to note this down and put it down,” just in case I may want to talk about this thing.

25. What is something you will never compromise on?

Compromise is a very necessary part of human life. So it’s very hard for me to talk about something that I would never compromise on, but I think at this point in my life I will never compromise on something that I know Is a hundred percent bad for my health.

Every day of my life I value the health that I have. As a woman in her 60s, I can wake up and I can still do everything that I want to do to the extent that I want to do.

Videographer: Scott Tan
Creative Director: Windy Aulia
Digital Director: Annabelle Fernandez
Content Producer: Larissa Wong
Hair: Colin Yeo and Dorene Low / Tress & Curvy
Makeup: Zhou Aiyi
Nails: Winnie Mathers
Fashion: Loewe
Videographer’s assistants: Elisa Lioe and Navin Vaswani
Location: Shangri-La Hotel

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.