Local actor Chen Xi, whose parents and sister are also in the acting business, has announced his engagement to a Japanese woman.
According to him, the lucky woman is an IT engineer whom he met about four years ago while doing an online course.
Source: Chen Xi on Instagram
His parents, veteran actors Edmund Chen and Xiang Yun, have already given the happy couple their blessings.
Chen, who had not previously revealed that he was in a relationship, announced the surprise engagement over Instagram on Sunday (5 May).
In the post, the 32-year-old shared a photo of himself and his lady love embracing each other from the back inside a church. Only the back of her head could be seen.
Source: Chen Xi on Instagram
He also posted a photo of what looked like an engagement ring.
Source: Chen Xi on Instagram
In the caption, Chen thanked a special someone for being his anchor, compass and “home from home”.
This was especially since she followed him “from the Land of The Rising Sun, across the seas, and all the way to England”.
Chen moved to the United Kingdom (UK) last year to study arts management at the King’s College London.
He acknowledged that it wasn’t easy for her to follow him amid “tumultuous times with constantly changing contexts”, but she has been a constant companion throughout.
The lovestruck guy then wrote a few lines in Japanese, professing his love and thanking her for being by his side, adding:
Let’s write the next chapter together.
In an interview with Lianhe Zaobao, Chen said that he was visiting the town of Crewe in Cheshire with his girlfriend, as well as his cousin and his girlfriend.
When they entered a 16th-century cathedral, he decided it was the right place to pop the question.
Source: Chen Xi on Instagram
He proposed to her in Japanese with words that he had prepared for a long time and a ring he’d bought a while ago, he added, but was still shaking with nervousness as he was worried he would mispronounce his words.
Chen met his fiancée, whose nickname is “Mimi”, about four years ago via an online language exchange course, he told Zaobao.
At the time, she was working in Vietnam, and due to the Covid-19 pandemic both their jobs were at a standstill, he said.
Thus, they started chatting and got to know each other better.
Mimi is about the same age as him and has the same interests like drawing, comics, reading and cats. They also have very compatible personalities.
They thus decided that they’d found a soulmate in each other.
After the pandemic, Mimi came to Singapore to work, and that was when she found out that Chen was an actor — she saw a movie he appeared in while on the plane here.
Better still, the place she rented in Singapore happened to be just three streets away from his home, he said, calling it “fate”.
When Chen moved to the UK for studies, she followed him there — which touched him, he added.
Source: Chen Xi via Zaobao Entertainment on Instagram
It helped that she was an IT engineer, who can work anywhere in the world.
As for their plans for the future, Chen said they plan to hold a wedding within the next two years.
He’s about to graduate from his studies and will start a new chapter of his life in Singapore, he added.
He hopes to focus on work to save enough money to officially marry Mimi.
When that happens, the couple will hold a traditional wedding at a Shinto Shrine in her hometown in Kyushu.
Chen has already met her parents in Japan, and is working hard to learn Japanese.
Mimi is also actively learning English and Chinese so she can communicate with his family.
Speaking of his family, Chen’s parents, as well as his sister Yixin, have given their blessings to the union.
Xiang Yun told Zaobao that she was extremely happy when she heard the news.
As her son has a “low-key” personality and would’ve given a lot of thought to choosing a partner, she was worried that he might end up being single because of this.
Now that he’s finally found someone to share his life with, she wishes them “all the best”.
She also likes her future daughter-in-law, saying she’s a “very traditional Japanese girl” who’s hard-working and takes good care of Chen Xi.
Father Edmund Chen congratulated his son and revealed that he’d known about Mimi when he last visited them in the UK.
His family showed their support below Chen’s engagement post, with Yixin offering words of love and encouragement and Edmund welcoming Mimi into the clan.
Source: Chen Xi on Instagram
Several fellow celebrities like actor-singer Gavin Teo, deejay-actor Dennis Chew and singer Derrick Hoh also offered their congratulations to the couple.
Also read: S’pore influencer Simonboy announces he’s engaged, proposed during seniors’ walk in Pasir Ris
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Featured image adapted from Chen Xi via Zaobao Entertainment on Instagram and Instagram.
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