Actress-director Annette Lee takes long walks to get respite from hectic work schedule

Who: Singaporean Annette Lee is a multi-hyphenate best known as a content creator, writer, actress and singer-songwriter. She now adds film-maker to her growing list of occupations with her feature film debut Dream Stall, now showing in cinemas.

The English-Mandarin comedy is described as a modern Singapore dream. It follows Enya (Lee), a university graduate who takes over her family’s bak kut teh stall that is managed by her father (Mark Lee). Annette Lee also wrote and performed two songs for the film, Strangers’ Land and Better Than Yours (The Bak Kut Teh Song).

The 33-year-old film-maker wrote on her website pledging full refunds to moviegoers who feel they wasted their time watching her film. She also encouraged them to give her feedback at a special event on June 5 at *Scape on how she can improve her future work.

Lee has a 3½-year-old son whom she shares with husband Raphael Foo, 35, a hedge fund manager.

“My schedule is all over the place, so I don’t get fixed weekends. Sometimes, I get a weekday off, but sometimes I don’t, maybe just half a day off here and there.

Because of that, I’ve had to be very clear about what feels restful for me. So, a perfect weekend for me is just going out for a walk with my family or just with a friend.

I recently went for a long walk with my friend, who flew in from Australia, after my film’s gala opening on May 21. We were just walking around and hanging out.

I like going for walks. I do not go to any specific places; it can be around town, followed by a meal. Other times, I would hike up Bukit Timah Hill, then head to Beauty World Food Centre to eat something. There is something about being out in nature that is very healing for me.

I am trying to cultivate a new habit of going for either a jog or a walk every morning. Because my work is so noisy by nature, being able to find a bit of serenity on the weekend or on days off is such a big win. Walks are an easy way to reset without planning.

If walking is my ideal day, movies are my ideal night. In reality, it is rarely that neat. I have been so busy with work that I have been unable to do that as well.

Weekends also belong to my son. We recently took him to Tiong Bahru Park, which has a nice playground. He also tagged along on one of the days when we were shooting a scene from Dream Stall, which is set in the Ang Mo Kio dragon playground.

Sundays are for church and family ‘chill’ time. It is a time of decompression for me before the work noise starts again.

I am hoping to take a short break in June before things get busy again. June is the wedding anniversary month for my husband and me. We have not thought of where to go, but we are going to plan soon.

After that, there will not be much time for holidays, as I will start work on another film in July. I will just be acting this time.

I joke that my dream in life is to one day be able to watch a movie every night and perhaps squeeze in time to read a book. Right now, that’s impossible.”