Pursued by popular actress Lina Ng, this former national bowler set her a test to see if she was the one for him

How would you react if one of the most popular actresses in Singapore took a liking to you?

Lina Ng catapulted into the limelight when she came in first runner-up at Star Search in 1993. The popular Mediacorp talent competition was a star-maker for many talented and good-looking young people, particularly in the ’80s and ’90s. It was recently rebooted in 2024.

Lina, then 19, quickly became one of the most recognisable actresses and television hosts in the country.

Within a short span of three years, she was named one of the top five most popular female artistes at the 1996 Star Awards, placing her in the ranks of hot favourites like Zoe Tay and Fann Wong.

Lina Ng won the “Top 5 Most Popular Female Artiste” award at the 1996 Star Awards.

Mike Lam had been a national bowler. At the age of 18, he was made a member of the Singapore National Youth Team, representing Singapore at the 1st World Bowling Championships in Manila, the Philippines in 1988. At 22, he was picked to join the National Bowling Team, and clinched the Bronze Medal at the Asian FIQ Bowling Championships in Taiwan. He retired from the national team at the age of 28, and joined the Singapore Sports School to set up its bowling academy, which trains students to qualify for the national team.

One a superstar and the other an athlete – how would they meet and fall in love?

A heart so broken that she could not cry

Given Lina’s popularity, it is hard to reconcile that she was not very well-liked in school or at her previous places of work.

“I was very loud, boyish and competitive. So, I don’t have many friends and I was always hungry for love and acceptance,” explained Lina, now 52, in an interview with Salt&Light.

She sought love in relationships but they all seem to fail over time. Such experiences left her heartbroken. 

In 1996, she was so devastated by a break-up that she found that she could not even cry. No tears would come despite the pain she was feeling within.  

“I tried to make myself cry by pinching myself and drinking beer out of self-pity, but nothing worked,” Lina recalled.

She was worried and afraid that her inability to cry would affect her career because she needed to cry on demand on set as an actress.

At that time, a friend of her ex-boyfriend’s, knowing that Lina was feeling down, invited her to Cornerstone Community Church.

Lina was already a Christian but backslided years after her form teacher at Geylang Methodist Secondary School brought her to faith. Distracted by what the world had to offer, she stopped attending church after secondary school as she found “no compelling reason” to go.

But now, feeling desperate, Lina decided to take up the offer to go to Cornerstone one weekend. That day, the Pastor preached a message about God’s love, as described in John 3:16.

The message touched Lina deeply. She had been searching for love since she was young but had not found a love that fully satisfied her.

At the end of the service, she responded to the altar call.

She asked God: “If You love me, why do I have to go through so many betrayals and failures in my relationships? I just want to be loved.”

For the first time in her life, she heard the “still, small voice” of God.

He said to her: “Why didn’t you seek My love? My love is everlasting; My love never betrays. I love you, Lina.”

She told Salt&Light: “When I heard that, I cried. I knew it was God. I hadn’t been walking with Him for years so it was not something I could have made up in my head. His response was instant and I knew it was in line with His character and His Word.”

That day, God healed Lina both emotionally and physically, through the onslaught of tears that flowed out of her.

A prayer for her love life

When Lina re-dedicated herself to the Lord that day, she also “challenged” Him.

“God, I know You love me and You will give me the best. I will not look for love again. I do not want to keep dating again and again. You will choose the next man for me. This man must be my boyfriend and eventually my husband,” she prayed.

A few months later, Lina heard that Mediacorp – where she was working – was calling for participants to represent the organisation in friendly bowling tournaments. She was interested in the popular sport but did not know how to bowl.

An actor colleague of hers knew Mike Lam, a former national bowler, and introduced Lina so she could learn the sport from him.

Former Singapore national bowler Mike Lam (centre), who also set up the bowling academy in the Singapore Sports School. Seen here with his former students from Singapore Sports School Bernice Lim (left) and Daphne Tan (right) at Hanoi SEA Games 2022.

It was love at first sight for Lina when she set eyes on Mike at Ang Mo Kio Striker’s Bowl.

“It turned out that he had also brought some Sunday School children from his church to teach them how to bowl. It was quite rare then to see a man taking care of young children who were all running around. He seemed to tick all the boxes for me: Patient, godly and good-looking,” she told Salt&Light.

Though she only had one bowling training session with him, Lina’s interest in him was piqued.

She tried not to make her interest in him obvious, but it was also hard to hide that that she was hoping for something more than friendship. She would go to the bowling centre to watch his tournaments and offer to give him rides to and from the bowling centre, citing the fact that he had heavy bowling balls to carry.

Mike, however, tried to keep his distance from her. He was intimidated by her being a famous actress and wondered if she was out to “play” with his feelings.

“Stop calling me” 

It came to a point where, after Lina had called him several times on the phone, Mike told her to stop calling him. He needed time to think carefully about any possible relationship, as he felt he was not a equal match for her.

Lina acceded.

After two weeks, Mike decided to call her instead. He was interested in getting to know her better but felt that it was more appropriate for the man to make the first move.

As their friendship developed, Lina hit a roadblock. She discovered that, before they met, Mike had taken a liking to a Taiwanese woman, who seemed to reciprocate his feelings.

Lina felt that the only reason why Mike did not try to get together with the Taiwanese woman was because she was not a Christian and he did not wish to be unequally yoked in marriage.

Although she and Mike became close friends as time went on, Lina had no idea where she stood with Mike romantically.

Sharing the Gospel with her rival in love

During that period, Lina was scheduled for a work trip in Taiwan. When Mike heard about it, he asked her for a favour: Would she help him pass his Taiwanese friend a Bible and share the Gospel with her?

Understandably, given that she had affections for Mike, Lina wrestled with whether or not to comply with his request. 

“If his Taiwanese friend became a Christian, I knew there was a high chance of them being a couple,” she concluded simply.

Lina (right) with Aileen Tan (middle) during their work trip to Taiwan.

In Taiwan, she shared her struggle with fellow actress Aileen Tan who shared a room with her. Aileen, also a believer, encouraged Lina to do the right thing by putting God first.

“At that time, I was very fervent in sharing the Gospel and bringing people to church,” Lina explained. “So I felt that if I don’t do the same for the Taiwanese woman, just because she is Mike’s love interest, it was not right.”

She met the Taiwanese woman at her hotel, passed her the Bible and had a short chat with her.

“She was happy and grateful and smiled so brightly. Then, she even borrowed my handphone to call Mike, thank him and catch up with him,” said Lina, who walked away when the call happened, not wanting to hear their conversation.

Lina was still feeling a bit sore when she returned to Singapore and met up with Mike.

A “test” of true love 

It was then that Mike revealed to her that the Taiwanese woman was long “out of the picture” romantically for him as there were too many intercultural differences between them.

He had given Lina the Bible task to complete as a “test”.

“He explained that it was a test to see if to see if I love God more or I love him more,” Lina recalled. “He said I had passed the test.”

Lina was not too happy at being subjected to a test, but it led to a deeper understanding of Mike.

“I understood when he explained that he had to be very careful to make sure that my feelings for him were real,” she said.

“Compared to my fame, he felt like a nobody and did not know what I saw in him as he had just started out in his career as a prison officer and his pay was low.”

Mike attending Lina’s baptism.

The couple’s dating days.

From that time, Lina developed a deeper appreciation of Mike’s God-loving and God-fearing traits.

The pair began dating formally in 1996, and were married four years later, in 2000. 

Today, the couple – who will celebrate their 26th anniversary next month – are proud parents to three sons. Mike is the Deputy Director of Administrative Operations at Hwa Chong International School, while Lina continues to act on an ad hoc basis while parenting her sons.

Read Lina’s story about how God ordered the steps of her career. 

RELATED STORIES: 

“I spent 13 years in the ‘wilderness’ before I found my true purpose”: Lion Mums actress Lina Ng on leaving full-time acting and finding her way back

Once she said “God is dead”, but after 10 years in the wilderness, Singaporean singer Kit Chan returned to her faith

“If God tells you he has the one for you, are you patient enough to wait?”: Belinda Lee opens up about the man she waited 8 years for

The post Pursued by popular actress Lina Ng, this former national bowler set her a test to see if she was the one for him appeared first on Salt&Light.