When Madam Jenny Kwan found out about this interview, she almost freaked out.

Even though her husband Dennis Foo is one of the best-known nightclub moguls in town, the shy woman does not like the limelight.

The first thing she said when he told her about the interview was: 'No.'

But he had already said yes and he kept the interview from her till the last minute because he knew she would decline. He managed to persuade her because, he admits, 'it's good for the business'.

'Business' is Dennon Entertainment, which is owned by Foo, Madam Kwan and their 26-year-old son, Gordon.

The company name is a clever combination of their names. Dennon jointly owns the successful megaclub complex St James Power Station, along with partners FJ Benjamin, Metro Holdings boss Jopie Ong and the BreadTalk group.

Madam Kwan, 51, explains why she changed her mind about the interview: 'My friends say they are always reading about Dennis in the papers, but they never see anything about me. So I thought, okay lah, just do it.'

Her only condition: That Foo, 55, sits in for her maiden interview at The Living Room bar in Marriott Hotel.

According to him, she was very nervous the whole day and fretted over what to wear. She had chosen a dress in the morning, but he told her to change it as it was 'very low-cut and I don't like her to wear things which are too revealing'.

She finally turns up in an off-shoulder white top and a matching pair of shorts.

Indeed, she appears tense at the beginning of the two-hour chat, constantly wringing her hands and shifting in her seat. But she relaxes after a few sips of Johnny Walker Black Label whisky, the same drink Foo is never seen without.

Standing at 1.6m tall and weighing just 44kg, she looks a good five to 10 years younger than she really is. 'I've been underweight my whole life, even when I was pregnant,' she says.

Partly because she keeps a low profile, strangers still chat her up. 'Sometimes, customers want to buy me a drink, not knowing I'm Dennis' wife. Some think I'm his daughter,' she says with a laugh.

But she keeps these encounters to herself 'or he will not allow me to go out anymore'.

Going out is something she enjoys doing. With an indulgent smile, Foo affirms this: 'Once in a while when I go home, she will say to me 'I was very guai today. I didn't go out'. One day only, and she says she is very guai.' Guai is Cantonese for well-behaved.

Mr and Mrs Foo on holiday with their son Gordon (left) in London in the 1990s.

Asked if she leads a tai-tai lifestyle, she shakes her head and describes a typical day: 'I go to the gym, meet my friends for lunch, go shopping and then have tea.'

Her husband of 27 years mumbles teasingly: 'Have lunch, shopping, tea. Eh, very tai tai, don't you think?'

She pouts a little and rebuts: 'But we don't have tea at high-class places. We always go to Toast Box.'

He laughs and pats her thigh, as if to say 'okay, okay, you win'.

There are plenty of such affectionate moments during the interview. They complete each other's sentences. She calls him 'Papa' and he calls her 'Mummy'. And they share knowing smiles.

When she puts her glass of whisky down after a sip, frowning, he adds ice without her asking.

When she adjusts her top to reveal more of her shoulders, he gently pulls it up. Then, when he is not looking, she pulls it down again.

It is details like these that tell you who is really in charge.

Yes, he arranges the interview and decides what she cannot wear. Scratch deeper and you realise she calls the shots.

If he is the flamboyant icon who rules the clubbing scene, then she is the engine that runs the man.

Performer William Scorpion, 47, the resident singer at St James' Dragonfly who has known them since 1992, observes: 'She is his backbone. She is very tolerant and supportive, and is always there beside him at major events.'

She is Foo's personal stylist and also makes sure the heavy drinker and chain smoker takes his daily dose of vitamins, as well as wholesome soups.

Foo discloses a secret: His amazing ability to remember the names of people is thanks to her excellent memory.

When he spots someone familiar but cannot recall the name, he will call her for help. 'Yes, he is especially bad with the names of actors because he doesn't watch TV,' she says, smiling.

Her close friend Adelina Pang, 41, says she is very straightforward and trusts her husband wholeheartedly. 'Dennis respects her a lot,' says Ms Pang, the chief executive of a fengshui consultancy business.

Given the nature of his business, Foo is always surrounded by pretty young woman but Madam Kwan insists she never checks on him.

Ms Pang says it is Madam Kwan who jokingly complains that he is 'too sticky'. 'He is always calling her when we play mahjong, to ask if she has eaten or if she needs the chauffeur. She will go: 'stop calling me, I'm about to sik woo (Cantonese for winning a game)',' says Ms Pang.

BORN to a jewellery shop manager and a housewife, Madam Kwan is the third of seven children. The tomboy spent her early childhood years with her grandmother in Johor. With three younger sisters and one younger brother, she was very domineering and liked playing the big sister.

After finishing her O levels at Broadrick Secondary School, she worked part- time as a Metro salesgirl while taking a secretarial course. It was then that she met Foo (see story below).

She helped out with her family business. 'Those days were hard. I worked from 9am to 9pm,' she recalls.

Madam Jenny Kwan (second from the left) with her family when she was five years old.

Foo was then running Europa Changi coffeehouse in Changi Village, left behind by his father, who died in 1979. 'When I went to work, he would be sleeping. When I went to bed, he wasn't home yet. We didn't have much time to talk, but our marriage survived because we had a very strong foundation,' she says.

During the financial crisis in 1985, business was bad and there were times when he had no money to pay his staff. She would quietly pawn her jewellery to tide him over. 'I was touched and ashamed at the same time,' he says.

In the late 1980s, she started helping out at Europa when the coffeehouse was understaffed. Over the years, Foo expanded his empire and there were 10 different Europa outlets by 1999.

But in 2001, he was forced to sell the chain after he was embroiled in a legal battle over membership issues in the $300- million Raffles Town Club.

He says she was the rock who saw him through his lowest point. When he lost Europa, he cried, but she put up a brave front and never broke down in front of him. 'The court case brought us closer together. We didn't know anything about lawsuits and we were frightened,' he recalls.

'I didn't tell her about the really bad things, like how I was on the brink of bankruptcy, but she knew,' he says.

He remembers something she said to him that spurred him on. 'I told her 'I have nothing anymore', but she said, 'you still have me and Gordon. Go build a bigger Europa'.'

Those bad days are behind them. The family now live in an apartment at The Waterside condominium in the east coast, and Gordon works as a marketing executive at St James.

Husband and wife share everything about the business, and he says she is so savvy she can accurately predict the daily takings. 'When I come back at night, she will turn to me and ask 'Did we make xx amount today?'. I will be stunned at how accurate she is. Then we will high-five each other, like kids,' he says.

Interestingly, what she likes and dislikes about him has to do with alcohol.

Apparently, when he is high from drinking, he cannot stop talking. 'When he returns late at night from work, he will wake me up with his non-stop chatter and refuse to sleep, talking and talking and talking,' she says.

When she has had a tad too much to drink, he is the doting husband.

'I cannot go to bed with a dirty face. He will change my clothes and clean my face for me,' she says tenderly.

For a girl who dreamt of becoming an air stewardess, Madam Kwan says she never expected her life to turn out this way. The only regret, she says, is having just one child. 'But I'm very happy and I've never regretted marrying Dennis.'

Hearing this, he casts her a sideway glance and says, grinning: 'Are you sure?'

She shoots him a playful look that says 'what do you expect me to say?' and he laughs, contented.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Aug 25, 2008.