Nurul Aini Says She Learnt Mandarin From Ch 8 Dramas; Once Told Off An Actress Who Dissed Her In The Language Thinking She Didn’t Understand It
The talented actress, who appears in upcoming Chinese drama The Heartland Hero, can speak three languages and is one of the few stars who acts in Malay, English as well as Chinese shows.
With five Most Popular Female Personality wins at Medicorp’s Pesta Perdana under her belt, it’s no wonder that Nurul Aini is often hailed as the “Ah Jie of Suria”... but it’s a title that the actress humbly declines.
“Oh my god, no! I feel very paiseh when people say that, you know!” the 39-year-old exclaimed during a phone interview with 8days.sg. “People say I’m the ‘Zoe Tay of Suria’, but I’m not leh! Of course I know it means people see me at a certain level and that makes me happy, but it also makes me feel very humbled and paiseh. (Laughs)”
In fact, Nurul, who grew up watching Ch 8 dramas like The Unbeatables, On The Fringe, and Samsui Women managed to pick up Mandarin along the way (more on that impressive fact later).
She admits she is a huge fan of Zoe’s and has vivid memories of the first time they met in person.
“I was a presenter at the Asian Television Awards and was in the same room as Zoe,” she recalled. “When I saw her, I couldn’t believe she was in front of me, but she was super nice and waved at me. I tried to keep it cool but I was freaking out inside. (Laughs)”
As someone who can speak three languages, Nurul is one of the few artistes who has been cast in Malay, English and Chinese productions.
She will soon be seen in several episodes of new long-form drama The Heartland Hero as Nora bin Rashid, a well-liked doctor in a neighbourhood clinic. Fellow Suria star Fauzie Laily also joins the cast as her brother Adam bin Rashid, a police officer.
While Nurul was supposed to speak only English in the series, the executive producer added some Mandarin lines for her upon learning at the imaging session that she could speak the language.
This isn’t the first time Nurul delivers dialogue in Mandarin. Back in 2005 — the last time she was seen in a Chinese drama — she was paired up with Vincent Ng in Love Concierge.
Anyway, back to how Nurul learnt Mandarin simply by being an avid viewer of Chinese dramas as a kid.
“I started watching Ch 8 dramas with English subtitles when I was about seven years old, but I didn’t realise how much Mandarin I’d actually managed to pick up until I went to secondary school,” she shared.
According to Nurul, a girl came up to her on the first day of orientation and spoke to her in Mandarin, and to Nurul’s own surprise, she was able to understand everything and even reply in the same language.
“I myself was shocked!” she exclaimed. “Since then, I realised that I can actually understand and speak Mandarin. I also had a lot of Chinese friends in secondary school, so I started to speak more Mandarin when I was hanging out with them.”
Knowing the language definitely had its advantages for Nurul.
Before joining showbiz, she worked at a hotel, and being able to understand Mandarin — even if she admitted that she “can’t speak it 100 per cent well” — made her job a lot easier, especially when dealing with guests from China.
It also helped her defend herself in an epic way after once hearing someone talk about her behind her back in Mandarin, thinking that Nurul wouldn’t be able to understand (which by the way, is not a cool thing to do).
“It happened with another actress, but I’m not going to say who it is,” she said. “We were in the lift with a few other people, and she suddenly said, ‘(In Mandarin) Why did they choose her? Isn’t there anybody else?’ I turned to her and replied, ‘(In Mandarin) Why can’t it be me? You’re so good meh?’ She was so stunned that she kept quiet.”
While she didn’t go into detail, Nurul shared that the actress was questioning her involvement in a job that was neither Love Concierge nor The Heartland Hero.
She also clarified that the actress who made the not-so-nice remark later apologised to her.
When we asked Nurul if her 10-year-old son Shan, eight-year-old daughter Shaista, and two-year-old daughter Shania have picked up Mandarin as well, she said that “unfortunately”, they aren’t as “they find it so difficult”.
“I truly understand lah ‘cos I heard from my friends that their children are struggling with Chinese as well, and if I were to put my kids through that, it would be very hard for them,” she said.
She added that it wouldn’t be fair to compare herself with her kids.
“I watched Chinese dramas ‘cos I loved them so much and there wasn’t much else to watch back then, unlike now where there’s Netflix and all that. I can’t sit them down and force them to watch Chinese dramas, and I won’t be able to teach them myself anyway ‘cos I can’t read Chinese.”
The Heartland Hero is slated to begin airing in early September.
Photos: Nurul Aini/Instagram, Mediacorp
