SINGAPORE - Mediacorp actress Rebecca Lim is now engaged. The 35-year-old posted several photos to her Instagram account on Monday night (Nov 15), which showed a man proposing to her in front of an elaborate set-up with balloons and "Marry Me" spelt out in huge block letters.

The photos and post did not reveal the face or name of her mystery fiance. Lim captioned the photo with an emoji of two hearts and a diamond ring. In an interview with The Straits Times, Lim shared that her fiance is a 35-year-old Singaporean who works in corporate branding.

They met through friends at the beginning of the year. "Our mutual friends were very excited that we were both single at the same time," the actress says.

She gave more details about the big proposal, which took place last Friday (Nov 12) in a friend's art gallery.

"I did not register immediately that it was a proposal - I thought it was an art installation at first," Lim recalls. She adds that though she did not know the proposal was happening, she had her suspicions because her fiance is "not a very good actor".

"Usually we dress very casually when we go out for dinner, I'll have only very light makeup or no makeup at all. But the night before he told me to please wear something nice. So I immediately called my sister and told her he asked me to dress up and if she thinks he might propose tomorrow.

"But I thought it was not possible because he had not asked my parents for my hand in marriage yet and my sister was like, 'Yeah we'll definitely tell you when it's happening.'"

In truth, both their families had known about the proposal and had been keeping it a secret from Lim for two weeks.

The most attractive trait of her husband-to-be is that he puts family first, just like her. "He gets along perfectly well with my family and our families love each other. That's something I've always wanted in a relationship."

Asked if dating for less than a year before getting engaged is taking things too fast, Lim replies: "When you know, then you know. It felt just right. I guess we are both in a stage of our lives where we approach the relationship with utmost honesty and no pretence."

Lim, who says she is "excited to be a wife", wants to hold her wedding next year and says she will definitely reveal more details about her beau over time. "I really want to share everything with everyone but I'm still slowly introducing him and his family to the world that I'm in."

Her celebrity friends, including Zoe Tay, Sharon Au, Zheng Geping and JJ Lin, sent their congratulations to her.

Fellow actor Ian Fang, 30, who was once rumoured to be dating Lim, also congratulated her but has seemingly expressed his disappointment at her marriage on his own Instagram account.

Hours before Lim's announcement was posted, he shared a screenshot of the Mandopop song Guest by Zhang Yuan on Instagram. He wrote: "So this is how it feels like." The song describes a man attending the wedding of a former lover. He also lamented getting "scolded" after Lim's announcement. These stories have since been deleted.

In another Instagram post before Lim's announcement, Fang wrote cryptically: "Not every Christopher Lee will have a Fann Wong and not every Fann Wong will stick by Christopher Lee's side. Not everyone can be like them. When people think you two will end up like them, but not everyone thinks so too."

Some netizens chided him in the comments section, who wrote: "You should have cherished a good girl like Rebecca Lim." He replied: "Yes, I was awful."

Another netizen wrote: "Didn't you say the two of you are good friends? Why are you being so dramatic now if you're good friends?" In a heated reply, he wrote: "Why do I have to explain anything to you? Why do I have to tell you anything? Will you help me? Will you stop the wedding? No? Then shut up."

He also received encouraging comments from other celebrities like Elvin Ng and Romeo Tan, who assured him that he will find happiness of his own. The entire post, with its accompanying comments, has since been deleted.

Fang and Lim were linked for years until Fang was caught exchanging sexually suggestive messages with Mediacorp actress Carrie Wong in 2019. Fang and Lim have never publicly confirmed their relationship with each other.

In response to Fang's social media posts, Lim says: "I've been so extremely touched and overwhelmed receiving all the well wishes from everybody that I teared up twice last night. I've not had time to deal with anything else. He did congratulate me and sent his regards as well."