NEARLY 30 years ago, local actor Chen Hanwei - then an 11-year-old boy in Johor Baru's Foon Yew Primary School - was caught cheating in a test.

LIKE FATHER: For his role as a teacher in My School Daze, Hanwei dressed like his dad. PICTURE: MEDIACORP

Punishment came swiftly as his father, a teacher in the same school, caned him in front of his classmates.

'When I was punished publicly, my self-esteem was destroyed,' Hanwei told The New Paper.

Humiliated after the three strokes on his buttocks, Hanwei refused to talk to his dad for one year.

But father and son eventually patched up and became closer than before.

It's from Hanwei's memories of his father, who taught Chinese, that the actor is drawing inspiration for his role as teacher Tan Xiangchun in the upcoming TV drama My School Daze, which opens on Channel 8 on 29 Apr.

Hanwei's father, Mr Chen Deliang, now 73, was a teacher for 32 years.

Said the actor: 'My character Xiangchun is a very traditional and boring teacher. When he speaks in his monotonous voice, the students fall asleep.

'Similarly, when I attended my father's classes long ago, I felt like dozing off. My classmates were not paying attention too.'

He even modelled the fashion sense of his screen character after his dad's - short-sleeved shirts with stripes or checks and plain trousers, also known as 'ah pek pants'.

Speaking to The New Paper over the phone from his home in JB, the senior Mr Chen explained how he ended up caning his son all those years ago, though the misdemeanour wasn't committed during his class.

'Hanwei's teacher was unwilling to cane him and insisted on me doing the job,' said Mr Chen.

He added: 'When I wielded the rattan cane, my heart was in pain. Although he did not cry (from the beating), I guess the hatred went deep inside.

'At that time, I was young (in his 40s) and impulsive. I chose to hit him in front of others so that no one could accuse me of being unfair.'

After the caning, when father and son were not on talking terms, Hanwei's mother - Madam Chu Kon Thye, now 71, a housewife - had to be the go-between.

But the silence finally broke a year later when Mr Chen had to travel to China.

Hanwei said: 'I missed my father, so I cried before he left.'

Did the right thing

In retrospect, he felt his father did the right thing to punish him. Otherwise, Hanwei said, he would not be able to 'face his former classmates now'.

Still, Mr Chen apologised for that incident when it was brought up this year.

Hanwei said: 'I won't say 'I love you' to my dad because that's just not our style of communication, but I really care about him.'

Though his career keeps him here, Hanwei - a Singapore PR - travels home to JB more than 10 times a year to be with his parents.

'Whenever I leave home, my dad gives me a red packet for good luck,' Hanwei said.

'And I keep all these red packets intact within my passport pouch till today,' he added.

Hanwei said he does not share his woes with his parents. 'I don't want them to worry for me,' he said.

Nonetheless, Mr Chen was aware of his son's challenges. He said: 'When he was just starting out (in showbiz), he didn't get many roles. My wife had to encourage him not to give up.'