I’M STILL the same. Motherhood has not changed a thing about me.

That seemed to be the message Chinese actress-singer Vicki Zhao was adamant about getting across to the local media.

The 34-year-old star of martial arts epics Red Cliff and Mulan was unveiled yesterday afternoon as wellness centre Mary Chia’s new brand ambassador.

Looking zestful and radiant in a cleavage-baring red bandage dress, Zhao beamed as she showed off her voluptuous new figure.

In April, after giving birth to a baby girl at Gleneagles Hospital, she was at her heaviest at 62kg.

Now, having shed 10kg, Zhao seemed more than eager to return to her former self.

“I don’t think my personality or state of mind is any different,” she told The New Paper.

“Being a mum has only brought more joy into my life.”

Perturbed

It was clear that the straight-talking, fun-loving lass was back. That was what she had come to be known as since her breakthrough role as spunky Little Swallow in the 1999 television series My Fair Princess.

And she will not hesitate to bite, should her feathers be ruffled.

At one point during the group interview, Zhao seemed slightly perturbed when a reporter asked why she was still sporting a girl-next-door image in her latest Mandopop album We Are All Big Directors.

Shouldn’t her showbiz projects reflect her evolving maturity, now that she is married with a child?

“I think it is very unhealthy to think that a woman needs to change, just because she has tied the knot, or she has given birth,” said Zhao, whose husband is Chinese property tycoon and Wuhan native Huang Youlong.

The couple, both Singapore PRs, registered their marriage in Singapore in 2008.

“Just because I’m a married woman, it doesn’t mean that I would automatically become a huang lian po (a derogatory Chinese term used to describe housewives who are detached from the outside world).

“It’s quite demeaning to the modern female...such old, traditional concepts should be thrown away.”

Chuckling as she described herself as “a feminist”, Zhao added that she believes in “living for oneself”.

“Occasionally, I like to drink and hit the discos. Why should I stop doing all this just because I’m a mother?”

Boozing

But she was quick to clarify recent news reports about her high alcohol tolerance and over-the-top antics when indulging in revelry.

Her ex-mentor and now vice-president of movie company China Film Group, Peng Jiang Ping, was said to have described Zhao thus in a TV programme: “If she didn’t pursue acting, she could probably sell wine with that kind of ability to drink.”

Peng said she once finished a whole bottle of red wine in one night.

But Zhao said: “All these are just rumours, they’re not true at all.

“If I were really such a great drinker, there wouldn’t have been all these stories about me.

“I would have stayed sober and expressionless.”

Zhao hasn’t explored the nightlife in Singapore though, despite having lived here for more than six months.

She and Huang, who is in his 30s, reportedly share a condominium in the Orchard Road area.

“One of my favourite activities here is going shopping in supermarkets,” said Zhao.

“Singaporeans are generally very nice. Although they recognise me, they usually respect my need for privacy and would just smile at me from afar.

“I get a sense of freedom when I’m in Singapore.”

With a laugh, she added that she already knows “where to get the best buys and eats”.

“Some shopkeepers give me discounts when I visit their stores.”

She and Huang have no intention to take up Singapore citizenship, but Zhao doesn’t rule out enrolling her daughter in the Singapore education system.

“It really depends on what she wants.”

This article was first published in The New Paper.

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