Singapore—After the news on Sunday (May 31) that the couple behind the extremely popular Night Owl Cinematics’ (NOC), Ryan Tan and Sylvia Chan, have gotten divorced after 10 years of marriage, one man’s story of almost losing his love because he put his work above everything else in his life has gone viral.
Mr Tan and Ms Chan posted a heartfelt video explaining their break-up on YouTube, saying that the reason why they ended their marriage is that over the years they had prioritized their business over their relationship.
On June 1, the day after the couple made their announcement, Geraint Liu took to Facebook to tell the story of himself and his now-fiancée, adding a sweet photo of him kissing her on the forehead. The post has been shared over 3,500 times.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158577677198459&set=a.10150256520468459&type=3&theater
Mr Liu wrote that the video from the NOC couple reminded him about his own experience with his significant other, especially after hearing the reason why they ended up getting divorced.
He wrote that when he and his girlfriend were in the courting phase six years ago, he went out of his way to make her feel special. “I would make her handmade cards, plan for dates and treat her to good meals and we were just infatuated with each other.”
Mr Liu called this the “honeymoon phase” of their relationship.
Shortly after they became a couple, he started working as a financial advisor even while he was still studying.
“That’s when everything changed,” he wrote, because he spent more and more time on work, and less and less time with her. It got to the point that they were only getting together for one dinner a week, which led to “problems and arguments” between them.
“She would complain that I wasn’t spending enough time with her and I would argue that I was focusing on my career so that I could give her a better future.
I saw no purpose in putting as much effort into the relationship when my own business, work and finances were not even stable yet.”
While Mr Liu’s girlfriend felt neglected, he felt that she wasn’t being understanding toward him.
Things got so bad between them that after three years of “disagreements, arguments and cold shoulders,” they nearly separated.
Fortunately, the couple decided instead to start anew with one another.
“I began to put in more effort in the relationship, while she gave me my own personal time and space to do my work.
We still have some disagreements here and there but our relationship has been way better than before!”
Presently the two have gotten engaged, and according to Mr Liu’s post, “are both more in love now more than ever.”
He added, “Our relationship still isn’t perfect but it doesn’t matter because we strive for progression instead.”
Mr Liu offered readers some advice about what he had learned both from his own experience, as well as from what Mr Tan and Ms Chan went through.
“Treat your relationship like how you’ll treat all aspects of your life like fitness and your career, always strive for continuous improvement, progression and development.
? Like a flower, if you don’t put in the effort to water it, it’ll one day wither away. ?” —/TISG