“Don’t go around breaking young girls’ hearts” — or so Mark Lee’s mother told him — while Shane Mardjuki received a lesson in forgiveness from his own mum. In an interview with AsiaOne for Boi Kwong’s latest film Geylang, Mark and Shane shared some important life lessons imparted by their mothers that they still use today.
“My mother always told me, ‘Don’t cheat people, don’t tell lies’,” veteran actor and comedian Mark, 54, shared.
He revealed that his mother said it to him when he was around 18 because he had just gotten his “second or third girlfriend”.
He explained to us in greater detail that even if he cheated his friend of a small amount like $2 — which his friend might not know about — Mark himself would still be aware of his own transgression.
“Then I would remember that day when I cheated him of $2, and I would think, ‘Hey, does he know that I cheated him of $2?’ And this thought would follow me throughout my whole life,” Mark said.
“If you don’t cheat people, you’ve got no stress. You can talk to anyone — so don’t cheat people!”
Jokingly, he quipped: “But I’ve never cheated people, it’s always that people cheat me!”
‘A lesson I’m still trying to learn’
On the other hand, Shane learned his lessons by watching his mother.
He said: “My mother is very good at forgiving people. If someone cheated on her or if someone treated her badly, she was very good at forgiving and not letting it weigh on her.
“I realised that a lot of the time because of that, I would get extra angry for her — and then I realised that I’m hurting myself even more just hanging on to this grudge.”
Shane continued: “That’s what she’s very good at — just letting go. And that’s the lesson I’m still trying to learn.”
In the film Geylang, Mark and Shane portray a pimp and a doctor respectively.
While Mark’s character Fatty tries to clear his debts and earn money in any way he can while protecting his father (Steven Woon), Doctor Sun (Shane) is willing to give everything up if it means his daughter is safe.
Geylang also stars Sheila Sim, Gary Lau and Taiwan actress Patricia Lin and is currently showing in local cinemas.
For more on the interview with Mark, Shane, Sheila, Gary and Boi, watch our E-Junkies video.