SHE'S always thought of changing her name.
But it took an incident with a Singaporean tourist to finally convince MediaWorks star Apple Hong to do it.
She's changed her Chinese name. So, say goodbye to Hong Yiping. And say hello, Hong Eexin.
Jet-setting Apple, who is currently shooting a six-part series in Singapore helmed by director Kelvin Tong, told The New Paper: 'I went to Pulau Tioman recently on vacation and bumped into a Singaporean tourist.
'He came up to me and asked: 'Are you the actress from Singapore?'
'He seemed to know my career well - from the time of Star Search, when I joined MediaWorks, to my current projects.'
Then he asked me meekly: 'By the way, what's your name? I have forgotten'.'
That was when it struck her that she should change it.
'Hong Yiping is a very simple name, but some people had trouble remembering it!'
Apple revealed that she had met other fans who also couldn't remember her name.
But she added that changing her name was not a hasty decision.
She said that since she was a child, people have told her that her name wasn't lucky.
She never got round to giving it serious thought until recently, though, when she saw a fortune-teller in Kuala Lumpur.
FORTUNE TELLER CHOSE NAME
'When he gave me the name Eexin, it felt good and I liked it immediately,' said Apple.
The last person she consulted before making the change was her boss, Mr Man Shu Sum.
'When he said okay, I took that as a sign to go forward.'
The name change will not make it to her identity card though.
'It's too much of a hassle - I'll have to make reports to both the Malaysian and Singaporean authorities,' said the Kuala Lumpur-born actress who now lives in Singapore.
But she added: 'I've already sent out SMSes to my friends to tell them they can only call me Eexin from now on.'
Like fellow MediaWorks colleague Kym Ng.
'Kym Ng is so cute. When I messaged her, she replied 'Cheers! Yeah!',' Apple recalled, with a laugh.
