SINGAPORE — Quan Yi Fong, 48, the Mediacorp talk show host of Hear U Out, became the guest in her own show in its recent episode. With Guo Liang as the pretend host, Yi Fong revealed that she came to Singapore at 16 to learn English to be a mamasan in a Taiwanese nightclub. 

“My family was really poor at that time, my parents had no time for me and I couldn’t complete my studies,” she started. “So my family had a hope for me — they wanted me to attend a language school here (in Singapore) for a few months [to gain some] proficiency in English and return to Taiwan to work as a mamasan in a nightclub,” Yi Fong added and explained. 

Shocked, Guo Liang asked how these things could happen when she was still a teenager. Yi Fong then remarked that at that time, the idea sounded okay even though she was unaware of what a mamasan does – she thought she was meant to sing and not be in charge of a bar. 

“I just wanted my parents to have a good life, so I thought, ‘Fine, I’ll be a mamasan,’” Yi Fong said. 

She held on to this goal for a long, but after two to three months of completing her English course in Singapore, Yi Fong found herself training to become a TV host. However, she did not let go of the mamasan agenda until a TV contract was handed. 

Guo Liang asked if her family saw the contract and agreed with her having that kind of job — Taiwanese children were subjected to earning money for their family as they entered the real world of society. 

“They told me to consider carefully because it would mean being a full-time artiste and earning a meagre salary,” she mentioned. 

Yi Fong did not explain why she became a TV host and let go of becoming a mamasan. 

For recent Hear U Out episodes, visit Mediacorp Entertainment’s YouTube page here.

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