Fans of Rebecca Lim who are upset and distraught by her sudden ‘retiring’ announcement made via a post on Instagram this morning, fret not, the actress is not planning on retiring from showbiz anytime soon. Instead, the actress is “endorsing the spirit of retiring” for an insurance company, or to put it in layman terms, advocating a mindset of early financial planning.
In a conference call conducted with local media at 8.15pm today (Feb 12), hours after the post went up, the actress apologised for the hoo-ha that erupted after fans, friends, relatives and the media saw it as an announcement about her retirement from showbiz.
“In the first place when I decided to post this message it wasn't with any ill-intentions, it was all with good intentions. Personally I’m an advocate of saving for retirement and I’m making a strong stand on this [through my post]. My intention is to have people take notice of it and have people focus on the word retirement,” she explained.
However, she did not expect to receive such an overwhelming response and reaction from people around her. “We actually intended for a reaction - but not such a reaction,” she shared, “The reaction we were expecting was to grab the attention of the young Singaporeans who would otherwise not relate to the idea of retiring itself.”
Apologising for the misunderstanding caused by the post, Rebecca clarified that she was just trying to maximise her reach as a celebrity and was by no means making use of the media.
“I’m very sorry that many people have misunderstood it which is why my managers and I really wanted to clear the air immediately,” she added, “When people started misunderstanding and misinterpreting – some of them came up with suggestions that I struck the $9.5 million Toto, got married or pregnant – I felt there was a responsibility to clear the air immediately.”
The actress also shared that she has always been “very careful” about what she shares on social media, preferring to post things that are positive which would encourage people. “I know the power of social media and I’m in a very blessed position – I don’t want to take that for granted and abuse that.”
Commenting on the messages and love conveyed to her via Instagram and Facebook by concerned fans, friends and colleagues, she said, “I’m touched because it’s a weird attempt to get people’s attention, but I didn’t expect so many people to get the reaction that I’m retiring from the entertainment industry.”
“I’d definitely give them (my concerned friends and relatives) a call to reassure them that I’m not planning to stop working in the entertainment industry.”