30
8 DAYSliterally and figuratively. She is, as we
speak, behind the wheel of a spanking
new Rolls-Royce Dawn — so new we had
to peel off some plastic wrapping — eyes
focused on her future, looking very, very
#bosslady indeed. It’s not her car, or ours,
unfortunately, but a beaut we borrowed
for today’s cover shoot. We joke that a
few more paid social media posts, and
she would be able to afford the $1.5
million dollar baby. She breaks into her
signature tinkly girlish laugh, exclaiming,
“No lah!” But seriously, there’s an online
story being shared around that she
is Singapore’s richest celeb, worth a
whopping US$55 million. When we ask
her about it, she demurs, “Yes, I’ve seen
the story many times ’cos my friends
keep forwarding it to me! My response
is always: ‘I WISH!’ Anyway, good
entertainment value. I’m curious about
how they calculated the amount!”
Whether or not there are that many
zeros in her bank balance, it can’t be
denied that Jeanette Aw, 38, has made a
pretty penny in her 17 years in showbiz.
Since winning a talent search as a wide-
eyed ingénue in 2000 and signing on with
Mediacorp in 2002, and her iconic Mo
Jingjing character in Ch 8 drama Holland
V in 2003 and her memorable turn in the
career-defining The Little Nyonya in 2008,
Jeanette Aw has dutifully churned out TV
dramas year after year (and two books)
and raked in countless endorsements,
the latest of which is an ambassadorship
with local aesthetics group ClearSK.
And now, after 15 years contracted to
Mediacorp and her management agency
Hype Records, she’s ready to sing, “I
want to break freeeee... I want to breeeak
free!!!” Okay, so those are our words, not
hers. Those familiar with Jeanette know
she would never be so uninhibited, at
least not in front of us. Despite having
warmed up a little to us over the years
and the many times we’ve interviewed her
— we even have WhatsApp chats that go:“Yes! We should catch up!” and at least
one Instagram DM conversation that went
along the lines of “I like doing different
things too... it breaks the momentum
and keeps you connected with yourself!”
(she was commenting on one of our
Insta-stories) — to the extent that we
can imagine for one brief minute that
we’re, like, legit gal pals with her, it’s also
evident that there is a wall that will never,
ever come down.
And that’s okay. There are some things
Jeanette doesn’t want to share, like
details about her mysterious Caucasian
long-time boyfriend of 11 (!!!) years. And
some things she does want to share,
like fried chicken and waffles. After our
shoot, we ended up at Publico Ristorante
at the new InterContinental Singapore
Robertson Quay — in whose driveway we
had shot Jeanette in her Rolls-Royce —
sharing a late lunch (we split the waffles
half-half — I swear we’re almost friends).
But first, her 355K Instagram followers
need to know what she ate — she
snaps a quick pic, and we tuck in. Her
faithful personal assistant and personal
photographer Pauline, who has recently
been upgraded to manager/scheduler,
watches patiently as we chat. The reason
for Pauline’s upgrade, of course, is that
Jeanette is now a free agent, manager of
her own life, driver of her own destiny.
In October, the actress announced her
decision to leave Hype to manage her
own career, writing on her social media:
“Personal growth, the environment,
that little voice within that simply grew
louder, and the universe showing me
it was time to move on... Going solo.
Yes, it’s official. No longer contracted to
both Hype Records-Artiste Networks and
Mediacorp.” The industry was abuzz:
What’s happening with Jeanette Aw? Is
she leaving acting to go become a social
media fashion influencer? How come her
Instagram is so fashun now?
That’s what we’re here to find out.Jis in the driver’s seat,
eane
tt
e
GOLD SUIT, SILK
BLOUSE AND HEELS,
MICHAEL KORS