FORMER beauty queen Jaime Teo and radio deejay Daniel Ong have more in common than just being married to each other.
They come from similar family backgrounds too - they were both raised by divorced single mums who had to juggle two jobs to raise their kids.
Both Jaime and Daniel were just 1 when their parents got a divorce.
The New Paper on Sunday met up with Jaime, 32, and her mother, Madam Serene Lim, who is in her 50s, on Wednesday .
Madam Lim, who studied up to secondary school, recounted how she brought up her two daughters.
'Because I chose to take custody of Jaime and Angeline (Jaime's sister, who is a year older), I knew it was my responsibility to give them proper care,' she said.
To make ends meet, she worked as an administrative officer in the day, and a cashier at a recreation club at night.
Jaime, who is making a comeback to showbiz after a two-year hiatus, said: 'She was so busy that I hardly saw her when I was a little girl.'
She was mostly cared for by her grandparents. When she went to primary school, her mum took up a job in a clinic.
Jaime, a former Miss Singapore Universe and MediaCorp artiste, said: 'She worked split shifts so she could come home to cook lunch and to spend a bit of time with us. She was a stubborn woman who just wanted to do everything herself.'
Madam Lim said she and her ex-husband, who died 11 years ago, did not keep in touch after their split.
Having worked as a former storeman in the army, Madam Lim adopted a military-style way of raising her children.
Jaime, now a Fly Entertainment artiste, recalled: 'My mum was very strict. Up till Secondary 4, I wasn't allowed to go out with my friends - not even to catch a movie.'
She and her sister were also forbidden from going out after 6pm.
Madam Lim said she constantly worried that her children would not 'grow up properly'.
But her mum's strict ways did not sit well with the rebellious Jaime.
Stayed away from home for 8 years
When she was 17, Jaime ran away from home. She stayed away for almost eight years.
The first two years, she refused to talk to her mum.
Jaime said: 'When I was young, I was very self-centred. All I could see was how bad-tempered my mum was.
'I would think, 'Why is she always snapping at me?', 'Why is she always not around?'. I forgot she was working all the time and was deprived of sleep.'
Madam Lim was also upset when Jaime joined the Miss Singapore Universe pageant in 2001.
'It didn't seem like the proper thing to do,' she explained. 'I didn't know what kind of people she would mix with.'
But when Jaime took the crown, Madam Lim admitted she was filled with pride.
She added: 'It was funny because her uncle had said, 'If she wins, I will chop off my head.'
Over the years, she has come to accept her daughter's showbiz career.
She said with a chuckle: 'She's none of my business now.'
Almost immediately, she said she would worry about Jaime, even when she's 80.
'Mothers will always be mothers,' she said.
Mahjong's important
These days, mother and daughter meet at Madam Lim's three-room flat in Balestier for their weekly game of mahjong.
Incidentally, the mahjong table was where Jaime's husband, Daniel, won over his mother-in-law.
The 987FM deejay told The New Paper in a phone interview how he 'courted' Jaime's mother, whom he had already met two months before he and Jaime started dating officially on 23 Aug 2005.
'Whenever I sent Jaime home after a date, I would shout from the void deck in Mandarin, 'Niang (Mandarin for mother in olden Chinese times), we're back'.'
The couple tied the knot in April last year.
Daniel, 33, also shared how he was raised by a single mum in Toronto, Canada. He has a sister, Yvonne, who is three years older.
The family had moved to Toronto to be with relatives after the divorce.
Daniel's mother, Madam Linda Lim, worked 15 hours a day - as a secretary in the day and as a waitress at night.
Daniel said: 'She's my beacon of strength. It was so tough for her as a single Asian mum in Toronto. She was both a mum and a dad to me.'
His mother would bring the young boy on fishing and caravan trips. Mother and son also bonded over sports.
When Daniel was 10, the family moved back to Singapore.
Daniel said: 'Until today, I seek her advice about different issues in life, even on buying property.'
Well, his 58-year-old mother is a former property agent after all. She is now retired, and spends her time taking care of her daughter's two children, whom she lives with.
As Daniel had to host roadshows over the weekend, he said he celebrated Mother's Day with his mother in advance on Friday. The family took her to an Italian restaurant.
As for Jaime's mum, her children will be celebrating Mother's Day with a barbecue today.
