THREE months after her no-show at a citizenship ceremony here kicked up a storm, Chinese actress Gong Li showed up at one on Saturday to collect her Singapore identity card. The 43-year-old got her citizenship certificate from MP Lee Bee Wah at a ceremony held at the Teck Ghee Community Club along with 149 other new citizens. She stood, with her right fist on her chest, and recited the pledge.
The actress, who was born in east China's Shandong province, had applied for Singapore citizenship earlier this year and was supposed to collect her pink IC in August. However, she was not in Singapore at the time as she was filming a movie overseas, said her close Singaporean friend and celebrity hairstylist David Gan.
She raised the ire of some Singaporeans over her no-show at the ceremony in August, with some questioning whether she was showing disrespect to her new country. In 1996, she married Singaporean tobacco businessman Ooi Hoe Seong, 57.
