Mark Lee Didn't Cry During His Daughter's Kidney Disease Test 'Cos He Wanted To Be Strong For His Wife

Mark Lee seems like a guy who has no problem keeping his emotions in check. When the 52-year-old found out he was nominated for Best Actor at last year’s Golden Horse Awards, his first reaction was to calmly make a cup of coffee.

He also kept his cool when his wife, Catherine Ng, told him she was pregnant with their first child, 12-year-old daughter Calista.

However, the comedian broke down — several times, in fact — while discussing his younger daughter’s illness on this week’s episode of Mediacorp talk show The Inner Circle. In fact, we think that might’ve been the most emotional we’ve seen a guest get on the show.

In 2018, when Mark was filming his directorial debut Make It Big Big, a then-five-year-old Calynn was diagnosed with glomerulonephritis, a rare kidney disease.

Recalling the day his little girl went to the hospital for tests, Mark choked back tears as he talked about seeing the doctor taking samples from Calynn’s kidneys so they could determine whether she was suffering from a chronic (slow-growing) or acute (fast-growing) condition.

“If it was an acute condition, both her kidneys would be completely gone in nine months, but even if it was chronic, she would need to undergo blood and urine tests every month, and the protein deficiency would mean she might stay at that height forever,” he explained.

As heartbroken as Mark was watching the needle being inserted into his daughter, he refused to cry back then as he wanted to put on a resilient front for his wife. “If I wasn’t strong, she would’ve fallen apart, so I held back [my tears].”

As you can probably imagine, waiting for the test results was a very scary and agonising process for the family. “You could lose this child in a very short period of time,” said Mark, choking up again.

Sadly, the star was unable to halt production on Make It Big Big to focus on caring for Calynn. “I think this is the saddest part of being in the film industry,” he said with a wry laugh. “We were in a rush, and many companies had invested in the movie, so I was definitely under a lot of pressure.”

Mark also didn’t want to tell Catherine about his struggles. “I was sad, but I think my wife had it even harder. After all, she did carry Calynn in her body for nine months. What’s more, my personality is that of someone who doesn’t like to tell others about unhappy things.”

Fortunately, Calynn’s red blood cell count returned to normal after three months of treatment, and she is healthier and in a much more stable condition now.

In fact, the spunky lass, now seven, was able to join her mum Catherine, as well as her older brother Marksonn, nine, and big sis Calista as the surprise mystery guests on The Inner Circle, even though she rarely spoke and was just completely adorable sitting there.

During this little family segment, it was revealed that Catherine is the stricter parent. For instance, while Mark allows the kids to watch TV after they have finished their homework, Catherine usually won’t even allow it at all. ‘Cos of this, they see their dad as more of a friend than their mum.

That said, Catherine added that when Mark gets angry, it’s no laughing matter. Once, Calista said she wanted to eat pizza, but she didn’t specify which restaurant she wanted, and Mark ordered from the wrong place.

“After I bought it, she said, ‘I don’t want this pizza!’ I was so mad, I slammed the pizza down on the dining table,” said Mark (wow, dramatic). “But I later realised that what I did wasn’t right.”

From then on, the father-and-daughter pair came up with a hand gesture, which consists of a high-five followed by a handshake, to show that all is good between them after an argument.

Watch Mark Lee’s full episode of The Inner Circle here.

The Inner Circle airs Wednesdays at 8pm on Ch 8. Episodes are also available on demand for free on meWATCH.

Photos: meWATCH, Mark Lee/Instagram, Catherine Ng/Instagram, Calista Lee/Instagram, Cheers for Calynn Lee/Facebook