Actress Tasha Low overcomes cat phobia after Emerald Hill

Singaporean singer-actress Tasha Low has always been scared of cats, for fear of getting scratched. Yet, the dog lover found herself becoming pawrent to two kitties she rescued from the streets in the most serendipitous way.

- Joanne Soh

Low, who stars in the local blockbuster series Emerald Hill, adopted Luna, a female grey cat believed to be a Maine Coon-Norwegian Forest mix, and Pumpkin, a female ginger community kitten, in December 2024 and January 2025 respectively.

In the Mandarin period drama, Low plays Xinniang, a kindhearted street urchin who is later taken in by the rich Zhang family. Emerald Hill is streaming on Netflix and mewatch, and will air on Channel 8 on weekdays at 9pm from March 19.

The Mediacorp artiste rid herself of her feline phobia when she was in Renggam, a town in Johor, Malaysia, filming the show in August 2024.

"We were in a pineapple plantation and there were many stray cats and dogs, especially in the house where we were filming indoor scenes," says the 31-year-old. "There was no way I could avoid the stray cats, so I had to get used to them being around."

One day, she noticed a tiny kitten under a table, shivering and looking "defenceless". She started buying goat's milk to feed it and subsequently took it to a veterinary centre.

"The vet said it was about two weeks old and after treating its flea problem, I was taught how to care for it," Low says.

As her filming schedule was packed, she had to place the kitten in a pet hotel.