Sudden Weekly Magazine Issue 525 08/19/2005

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Bernice on her childhood
Many people think I was born in Vancouver but I'm not! If I was born there would my Cantonese be so bad? More than 20 years ago my parents moved to a town north of Vancouver, a town 3 hours away by car called Prince Rupert. They opened a Chinese restaurant and that is where I lived and grew up.
When I was 2 or 3 years old, my whole family spoke Cantonese but when I started school the teacher told my mom that she hoped our family would start communicating in English as well. Prince Rupert only has a few thousand people, there are very few Asians and if my voice is not perfect, it will affect the other children the teacher said.
Was it unfair? I guess it depends on how you look at the situation. If we had to live in this lifestyle then I guess we would have had to follow it as well. It is a respect like when I moved to Hong Kong I had to learn Cantonese.
Since I was younger, my parents have always gave me a lot of space. They let me learn anything I wanted to whether it was dancing and tae kwon do. I have even learned how to play clarinet. I remember one day when I was about 5 or 6 years old my older sister was sleeping and I was only playing and I took a pair of scissors and cut my sister's hair even making it uneven. My mom was so angry she locked me in my room. Later on, my sister secretly let me out of the room and told me to go into the closet in her room. And then she secretly brought me so junk food and coke.
I had often thought of dancing professionally. In my 12th year of dancing, I participated in a competition and one of the judges came from New York. He wanted to invite me to his dance company to be a dancer there. Did you know, that was a chance that was hard to give up? But my parents thought the lifestyle of a dancer was not set, there would only be money if there was a show to do. Besides, during that time, I recieved a scholarship to go to UBC (University of British Columbia) so of course I would go study more and then I moved to Vancouver.

Applied to pageant to learn more Chinese
I actually wanted to go to medical school to be a pedietrisian because I love little children but it would have taken at least 6-7 years. That is too long. In the end, I took Business Management. There was a new program called International Business and a lot of people with Chinese backgrounds trying to get into the program. Because China has developed very quickly it was almost guaranteed that after graduating you would be able to work for a big company.
I had my life planned out. I had a boyfriend who was a friend from school. We decided that when we graduated at 23 years old, worked for a year, we would get married and have kids at the age of 24. The government also gives health insurance, being a human being was relaxing haha I was so naive.
To take IB, it is required to know another second language. I was going to choose French but eventually I realized Chinese helped me more. I attended a few Mandarin classes and thought it was very hard. At that time, a friend gave me a suggestion, "Why don't you go apply for a pageant? Guaranteed you will learn how to speak Cantonese!" Originally I did not believe it but in the Vancouver pageant, everyone spoke Cantonese. Ironically when I went to Hong Kong for the Miss Chinese International pageant, everyone spoke English! How strange!

I am a product
Honestly, I had never thought of going into the entertainment business. My initial goal was just to learn Chinese! My parents had supported my goal. After Miss Chinese International, I immediately went back to school at UBC. TVB called me to tell me to come work in Hong Kong. At that time, I only had half a year to go before I graduated.
I did not know what to do so I asked a marketing professor for advice. He said, "You can view yourself as a product and that going back to Hong Kong will be a marketing experience, I can always go to school but you don't always get a hands-on experience." My dad said, "Since you were younger, you have always loved to perform. If you will are going to be happy filming movies, then keep on doing it. And if one day you find you are unhappy then we will pack our bags and move back to Canada!" My dad has a Hong Kong ID and said he would move with me, it made me very relieved! As far as university, they have left me a spot for 10 years. 4 years have gone buy and I am now 26 years old, I will think about it again only after 4 more years is up!

Before, I had always thought of myself as a Canadian. 4 years ago when I came to live in Hong Kong, I started to think of myself as a Chinese. After moving to Hong Kong, my dad took me to see my relatives. He is my translator. Each time when I would get home, I would learn to memorize my lines. Usually a person would get 4 hours to rest but I didn't get any rest at all! It was very hard and started to get homesick when I was filming "Virtues of Harmony" I saw that Louis Yuen and Cutie Mui spoke their lines very fast and often "stole my dialogue". I could not follow and one time even broke down in tears. The worst was a friend of mine Canada called and told me they had graduated. After while told me she was getting married and having kids. I had nothing and felt so depressed. I felt that my future looked very unclear. I then asked myself was I really meant for Hong Kong entertainment?
After meeting actors like me who could not read Chinese, like Flora Chan and Angela Tong, they taught me, "Never mind how other people see you. Who said we westerners can't act?" They were right! My dancing teacher when I was 4 years old said, "You are meant to be in entertainment!" So there was no reason for me to give

Opportunitist
For the past 2 years, my Chinese has improved a lot. I still cannot "steal dialogue" but communicating was not a problem. I am usually a person who loves to smile and whose always happy with a "silly girl" image. "Fa daan"? Not yet, I know that I haven't had the experience.
I am now loving Hong Kong more and more. I have recently signed a 5 year contract extension with TVB. I was happy being able to filn "Healing Hands 3" One reason was since I had the dream of studying medicine and the other was playing a professional. I am not just a "silly girl". I will always remember Nancy Sit told me to be a newcomer, you have to work hard and never give up on any opportunity. I think that advice is very accurate. After entering 4 years now, I have filmed movies and went to Hung Goon to perform, helped Sam Hui. Not everyone has that opportunity!
Am I an opportunitist? I think I am. Since I have not graduated from marketing, then I have to cherish my opportunites to make up for it. I hope I'll make myself have more and more value. My goal is to become more talented like Lisa Wang and DoDo Cheng.

Recognizing rumours
I have always concentrated on my work and have not thought a lot about dating. As Moses Chan is a very good friend of mine, he is a good man with a lot of patience and heart to help me. Would we have a chance together in the future? That is hard to say. I love the family lifestyle. I have a wide form, perfect for having kids!
Hopefully the public will not always talk about my rumours! "Fei man" (Rumours) these 2 words are always in the newspapers, I can read it! Now, don't write so much.

Looks like me!
Bernice is really very different from many actresses in Hong Kong. She is very fresh, open and bright and will not be one of those who for a diet will just drink water. She looks good in low-cut dresses. She sees the dresses that are prepared for her and always loves them. She likes dancing to Britney Spears music. Scene after scene her expression is different. You can see she is like us and enjoys what she is doing.
The other day, Bernice's mom returned to Hong Kong from Canada but was too shy for the camera and refused a picture. Seeing her daughter in front of the camera, her mom is like a fan and takes pictures of her daughter non-stop.
When asked if she minds when her daughter wears sexy clothing, "I don't think it is a problem. The costumes she used to wear when she danced were even more revealing."
When asked her she thinks her daughter is pretty she replies, "Of course! She looks like me!"
We finally know, that Bernice's open and bright personality is passed onto her by her mom.