Actress Florence Tan left Mediacorp over a decade ago when she married her Taiwanese businessman husband, but Singaporeans have not forgotten the 42-year-old.
"I still sometimes get free 'liao' or food when I eat at hawker centres," she says in a telephone interview with The Straits Times.
Tan, who is now based in Hong Kong with her family, chalks her enduring popularity here up to the many beloved local dramas she has done, such as Wok Of Life (1999).
The Malaysia-born actress left the local broadcaster in 2006 after getting hitched and later gave birth to twin daughters, who recently turned 11.
Tan, now managed by Fly Entertainment, has been acting both in Singapore and China.
Some of her more notable roles include those in adaptations of the late Louis Cha's wuxia novels - The Heaven Sword And Dragon Sabre (2003) and The Demi-Gods And Semi-Devils (2013) - and 2012's Mystery In The Palace.
"I always tell my agency I'm very happy to come back to act. Mediacorp is a very comfortable, familiar environment for me," says Tan.
After her last role here in last year's Mind Matters, she is back to act again - this time for the competition that launched her entertainment career.
The 1997 Star Search winner, who competed alongside former Mediacorp actors such as Jerry Chang and Vincent Ng, will return to the local screen for this year's Star Search semi-finals.
The talent scouting competition, which is returning from a nine-year hiatus, approached Tan and 1999's Star Search winner Jeff Wang to star in short films against this year's top 24 finalists.
The films will be part of the show's semi-finals and will play a role in determining whether the contestants advance to the finals.
"I initially thought it might be tough acting opposite complete rookies, that I might need to be more patient with them, but they all knew how to perform. Their mentors have taught them well," says Tan.
This year's finalists are mentored by local artists Chen Hanwei, Huang Biren and Christopher Lee.
Tan adds: "The three of them were on set with us the whole time, watching the finalists and giving advice."
Tan says new talents who join Mediacorp are in luck as the environment and pace of work have improved over the years.
The actress, who starred in several period dramas such as The Return Of The Condor Heroes (1998) and The Legendary Swordsman (2000), says: "When we were filming Condor Heroes, time was tight so we filmed six days, six nights in a row. Now, there are more restrictions on how long you can film for at any time, so it's not as tiring.
"And because there aren't as many local period dramas now, they won't have to wear the heavy headpieces we wore back then."
Despite how laborious and complicated period dramas can be, Tan has plenty of fond memories about filming.
She says: "We went to Beijing for Condor Heroes and Yunnan for The Legendary Swordsman, and back then, there was this big period drama set at Tuas, so we filmed there as well.
"I remember during Condor Heroes, I was sweating buckets because of the period costume but Fann (Wong) still looked so pretty. But after doing so many period dramas, I realise this - you can actually control your sweat, you just have to keep cool in your mind."
• The Star Search 2019 semi-finals will air live on Oct 6 and 13, at 8pm on Channel 8 and Toggle.
