There is something disarming about meeting Zoe Tay for the first time. You expect stature, maybe even formality. She is, after all, Ah Jie, and the undisputed queen of Caldecott Hill. A veteran whose name has been threaded through Singapore’s television history for almost four decades. Yet, she greets you like an old friend. Warm, easy, and almost casual. She laughs softly when she speaks and holds herself without the weight of someone who is aware of her iconic status.

That warmth is the first thing you notice about her. She is polite and listens before she replies. She pauses when she thinks, and there is neither rush nor tension in her presence. 

Suffice to say, Zoe has the kind of grounded confidence that comes from knowing who she is both on and off camera. And you sense quickly that the myth of Zoe Tay and the woman in the room are not the same thing. One is a legend, while the other is warm, curious, and surprisingly down-to-earth. That balance may be why she has stayed in the industry so long without ever feeling distant or untouchable.

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"Work is work," she tells me later. "When I go to work, I do what I’m supposed to do. There is no such thing as ‘ah jie’ behaviour on set like ‘oh you must listen to me’. We are all here to work, right?" She smiles as she says this before quickly adding that when she goes home, she is just “a mother to [her] kids".

What’s interesting to note is that her career has never calcified into nostalgia. Zoe still enjoys being on set, still thinks about craft, and still feels like there is something to learn each time. She has been acting long enough to understand that the camera is only one part of her life, but still enjoys being in front of it. Currently, Zoe is working on two projects. "I just finished a blockbuster project," she shares. "At the same time, I'm starting another drama series called 'Kids and Not'. It’s a light-hearted drama series about this middle-aged person with a 12-year-old soul living inside it”. The line makes her laugh a little, and she repeats it as if amused by the phrase itself.

It is refreshing to hear her talk about work and how she hardly turns down a project. To her, every project brings something new, whether it is a challenge, a team, or simply a chance to try a different emotional texture on screen.

"When I was younger, I did not understand why I kept getting certain roles," she admits. "I felt like I was maybe being typecast. But I was young and immature then". Today, she reflects on those early years without resentment. "Now I see that even if the character sounds similar, what matters is what you bring into it. You can do it differently. The story can change with how you play it". 

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It makes sense when you think about how she moves through the world: Quiet, steady, and grounded. Zoe often speaks about gratitude and kindness not as things to be performed for the cameras, but rather tenets to live by.

So it feels fitting that she was honoured with the Charity Empowered Artiste award at the Weibo Cultural Exchange Night last November. The event, which recognises stars for their philanthropic efforts and cultural contributions, saw her standing alongside familiar names like Fann Wong and Christopher Lee.

In 2018, she was approached to front the You Can Say No campaign, encouraging women to speak up against domestic abuse and relationship harm. "They said many people came forward to ask for help because they saw my face and knew it wasn’t a scam," she recalls. "It made me feel good because, as public figures, it's the public, and people, who have given us this platform. So, we should use this platform to help others".

Moments like these show her awareness of her influence and the responsibility that comes with it. Yet, outside the intensity of work and advocacy, Zoe holds space for joy in ordinary ways. In her free time, she remains active by cycling and playing mahjong. “I used to cycle along the Green Corridor, all the way up to Bedok Reservoir,” she tells me. “Quite far, right?” She laughs. “Now I cannot because I don’t have the stamina to go so far. But I still enjoy cycling”.

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On days she isn’t cycling, she plays mahjong and talks about it with an almost childlike amusement. “I only know how to play the Singapore mahjong,” she begins, before listing the number of versions her friends have introduced her to, including Hong Kong, Japanese, and even Korean Mahjong. What’s funnier is how mahjong entered her career long before it entered her free time. “Can you believe that I learned to play mahjong only when I was acting in The Unbeatables?” she asks, before breaking into a laugh. She had never gambled before then—a fact that people never believe when she discloses it. “The production team had to ask the girls to teach me how to play, and that’s how I learned”.

Zoe also loves to travel. Earlier this year, she visited China, but the place she talks about most is Jiuzhaigou, the nature reserve in Sichuan famed for its glassy lakes and postcard-worthy views. It had been on her list for years.

"It's super big," she exclaims as she tries to describe it. "The scenery is amazing, and the colours are exactly what you see online. It is almost like a painting". She remembers the clarity of the water, and even though it was crowded and hot when she visited in June, it didn’t matter. “Some views are worth it,” she says. 

When asked which era of her life she would return to if she could pause time, Zoe shakes her head almost instantly. “There’s no such thing,” she says with a small laugh. “What has passed, has passed. In life, once it’s gone, it’s gone”.

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She explains that dwelling on what could have been holds no value for her. “If you keep thinking, ‘Wah, I missed that shot,’ then you’ll keep complaining. But it doesn’t matter,” she says. “Keep looking forward, and when new things come, don’t miss them. The things you missed already… never mind. Just let go.”

Talk long enough to Zoe, and you realise that beneath the discipline, the craft, and the decades of public life, she moves from a place of feeling. Kindness matters to her. Time matters to her. And so does love.

“I think love is very important,” she says thoughtfully. “Without feeling love, or being loved, or loving someone… a person can feel quite hollow”. She searches for the right phrasing before continuing: “You have to have that love. When you love someone, you also love yourself. When people love you, that is important too because it feeds your soul. Without love, the soul can feel quite lonely.”

Listening to her, you realise what she values today is not achievement but the feeling behind it. The younger Zoe might have chased visibility, but the Zoe today is content with something smaller and kinder. “Of course, when you are younger, you think you must be rich, very well-known, very powerful. Success means owning a lot of things, and people listening to you,” she says. “But now… and I don’t know if people consider this success, but having a job, family, friends, and good health are important to me”.

Age and motherhood recalibrated that scale. “People say children will teach you how to be human again,” she reflects. “When you get older, you think you are wiser, but sometimes kids make you rethink your decisions. It’s part of the puzzle in life. You will fail, you will grow, you will succeed, and you will learn.”

She pauses for a moment, then adds with a kind of soft certainty: “There is no right or wrong. It’s the process that is important.”

Make-up Artist PETER KHOR
Hairstylist RYAN YAP/Passion Hair Salon
Photographer’s Assistant EDDIE TEO