Compiled by C. ARUNO, DIYANA PFORDTEN and R. ARAVINTHAN
MALAYSIAN actor Hero Tai confessed that he missed Malaysian food so much that he burst into tears upon tasting his mother’s cooking recently, reported China Press.
The 37-year-old, who is originally from Parit Buntar, Perak, got hitched to Ukrainian model Tatiana Lin just one year ago. He told the audience of a variety show about the compromises he has to make being married to someone from a different culture.
“I have done all that I can, such as learning her language and accommodating her habits.
“However, what I could only compromise on a surface level was the food. She only eats food from her home country, but I like hot rice with soup.
“It has been so long that I have forgotten what I really like to eat,” said Tai, who lives in Taiwan.
It led to an awkward moment back home in Malaysia recently where Tai began sobbing at the dinner table.
“When I came back to Malaysia, my mum made me a meal. I started eating and could not stop the tears from streaming down my cheeks.
“My mum kept asking me what the matter was, but I had no clue how to answer her,” he said.
Lin, who also appeared on the show, praised her husband for his sacrifices and being a thoughtful man.
She explained that she did all that just so that their daughter will get to experience Ukrainian culture even though they were so far away in Asia.
“I hope that my daughter can one day speak with my father and mother back home. I fear living in Taiwan, she will not be exposed to the Ukrainian language.
“To help our daughter learn the language, he would sing to her in Ukrainian every night,” she said.
Tai and Lin got engaged in June 2023 before registering their marriage in Malaysia later in September.
They had a daughter Karina Tai together earlier this year.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.