Why Hong Kong actress Fala Chen went back to school

An actress is born Like most kids born in China back in the 1980s, I didn’t have any siblings. I spent my childhood in Chengdu and had the privilege of being both a boy and a girl. I was a rebel, the worst kid you could ask for. I did the opposite of everything my parents asked me to do, and I was well known for my rebellion. Our neighbours were afraid of me because I once stole their bike, disassembled it, split the parts and gave it to other kids.

My parents were the opposite of tiger parents. They were willing to let me discover the world on my own and I appreciate them for that. Once, when I was five or six, they put me on a train to Beijing by myself with my bags. They told the train operators that someone would pick me up there. That someone was my parents’ friend. I didn’t even know what he looked like and I stayed with him and his wife for the entire summer.

My parents just allowed me to be independent. They weren’t worried I’d get abducted or anything like that because, back then, life in China was much simpler. We never had to worry about locking our doors when we went to the wet market or to buy groceries. Small-town life was great.

The big C My mother had breast surgery when I was three or four. One of my earliest memories is running to the hospital, and my dad telling me my mum was sick and would need surgery. I had no idea what it was about. Later on, when I became an ambassador for the Hong Kong Cancer Fund, I asked my mum about it. She said she dis­covered a lump on her breast in her early 30s and, after surgery, found out it was benign. Since then, she’s been extra-cautious about body check-ups and mammograms.

My grandmother had battled cancer. She had leukaemia and underwent therapy for 10 years, but she never once complained. Even towards the end of her life, when cancer had spread throughout her body, she wouldn’t complain. She was such a strong and independent woman and she was a real fighter. I admire her a lot for that.

Going to America I was about nine or 10 when my dad moved to the US to get another degree. Me and my mother moved to Atlanta to join him when I was 14. Being in a new environment was difficult for me, but I had enough new stimuli in my life, so I wasn’t bored. I was pretty much the only Asian kid in class and my classmates were curious about me. College was much more diverse. I came to Hong Kong for the first time for an exchange programme during college.

During my first summer in college, I travelled to California for the first time for a beauty pageant. It was solely for monetary reasons because winners were to get scholarships. It was all new to me, but they paid for tickets and accommodation, so I decided to go. I didn’t expect to win so I didn’t invite anyone – not my parents or friends – but I won and was introduced to more people in the pageant circle. They suggested I participate in another pageant, which led to Miss Chinese International 2005 in Hong Kong. I placed second and was then scouted by TVB.