‘I don’t care what they think’ — Dawn Ying Yuen breaks free from all traditional barriers to achieve what she wants

SINGAPORE — Dawn Ying Yuen, is starring in the feature film “The Harvest”, a family drama about a son who returns home to his family to take care of his father, only to encounter conflicts about cultural traditions and generational traumas. 

In an exclusive interview with The Independent Singapore, the actress shared that she is very different from her role in the film – saying that she is ‘more independent’ in her thinking. “If it’s not logical, I wouldn’t do it. I am quite a non-conformist, I always chose to do it my way. If I want to pursue my passion, I would just go and do it. Like, if I have a dream, I would pursue it, I wouldn’t stop myself,” the actress said.

Ying Yuen plays the role of ‘Youa’, a Hmong mother who is very traditional and always careful to follow the cultural beliefs of the Hmong community. 

Unlike the conservativeness of Youa in the film, in real life, Ying Yuen breaks free from all traditional barriers to achieve what she wants. She does not let other people’s opinions about her affect her decisions. “I don’t care what they think. If I fail, I fail… If I make it, then that’s great… It’s my own accomplishment,” she added. 

When asked if breaking traditions is a good thing, Ying Yuen mentioned that it depends on one’s standpoint – how one chooses to view the change. “It depends on if you want to stand in the standpoint of being a conservative person or if you want to stand in the standpoint of the freedom of every human right to choose your path,” she explained. 

The actress revealed that there would be a lot of breaking free of traditions in the film which will surprise viewers. “It is a surprise because they are going against the tradition… They are kind of going against the popular expectations of the Hmong values and beliefs,” she said. 

“Personally, I grew up in a very conservative environment.. My grandmother actually was from China.. She was the one who raised me… “I was adopted as a baby.. The family that adopted me is extremely conservative.. Performing arts is actually a no no for her.. she said that girls who are in performing arts will end up basically a bad girl,” she admitted.

Her grandmother believed that girls should be pure, and the only role of a girl is to stay home, take care of children, clean the house, and prepare for the family.

“But I… because I am an adopted child, so genetically I’m a bit different.. My DNA is different from hers,” she declared.

She added: “From a very young age, I love performing so I want to dance.. I want to sing.. I want to act… I just love it. It’s just in my DNA so I would always do it but I will not tell her. If she doesn’t know, it doesn’t hurt her… So I would just do it.” 

The Harvest is a film written by Doua Moua and directed by Cambodian filmmaker Caylee So. It was well received last Feb 12, 2023, having its World Premiere at Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The film was awarded a 3rd screening to close the film festival.