Oh, My Child

Ex-Ch 8 actor JASON OH looks as boyish as ever, but did you know the 50 year old has a 24-year-old daughter with his ex-wife, and a five year-old son with his longtime girlfriend?

- Yip Jieying

"Aiyoh, you didn't change at all!” shrieks Jin Yinji when she bumps into former actor Jason Oh (aka Qin Wei to folks who know him by his Chinese name) at the Mediacorp wardrobe unit. The veteran actress grabs him by the shoulders and examines him like a critical mother-in-law, which is a pretty normal reaction considering that many of his peers haven’t seen Jason Oh in person or on the small screen in at least five years. If his name sounds familiar, that’s ’cos you’ve seen him in Ch 8 dramas such as 2011's Secret Garden, 1999’s Wok of Life and, of course, 1995’s The Dragons Five. The drama about five dashing policemen comprising Jason, Thomas Ong, Andrew Seow, Raymond Yong and Henry Tee packaged the quintet like a ‘90s version of our current Eight Dukes.

On the surface, it seems like nothing has changed for Jason. He’s still acting (his next drama is Ch 8’s Fifty and Fabulous, for which he's doing the imaging for his character when we meet him for this interview). He’s also 50 and fabulous. While some stars fight and lose the fight with middle-aged flab, Jason still has his wholesome good looks. “I think my appearance has changed lah, maybe Jin [Yinji]-jie is just being polite!” he tells us modestly. “I think it’s important to eat healthy and stay positive.” Which is why it comes as a shock when Jason reveals that he had brought his 24-year-old daughter, Vanessa Oh, to Mediacorp today. What? A 24-year-old daughter? “She’s doing some screen tests for dramas,” he says. “She expressed an interest in acting, so I called up some friends in the drama unit and asked if they’re loo