Provoked, Xu Bin's mum once hit him with hangers until he offered a knife

Actor Xu Bin is a stable father of two now, but in his younger days, he grieved his mother with his thoughtless actions.

In an episode of celebrity talk show Hear U Out, he revealed details about his childhood and how his mother sold her businesses to fund his education, only to be vexed by him on more than one occasion.

Xu Bin was born in China and started school two years earlier than the other kids his age. But his grades took a downturn, so his mum decided to liquidate her assets and send him to live in Singapore, where he had an aunt, at the age of 12.

He failed his school entrance examination, but a chance meeting with the principal at the school's gates turned his trajectory around – she thought he had potential and accepted him into the school, thus changing his life, he told host Quan Yi Fong.

He had a hard time in school for the first few years because he knew very little English. But when he finally started to catch up with his classmates, he got complacent, he said.

On one occasion, he went out with friends and stayed out late, ignoring his worried mother's phone calls and even turning his mobile phone off.

"I had spent all my time studying, so when friends asked me to go out and have fun, I was suddenly like a caged bird who had found freedom," he said.

When he arrived home at 5am, his mother, who had been waiting up and crying, walked right up to him and slapped him, her nerves frayed from imagining all the terrible things that might have happened to him.

She hit him with plastic clothes hangers, until they broke and lay scattered on the floor, for a long time, he said.

Finally, in a move that ended the confrontation, he went into the kitchen, picked up a knife and told her, "Use this instead."

Recalling other instances of his own irresponsible behaviour, Xu Bin shared that his mother once returned to China and left him between S$20,000 and S$30,000 as living expenses for up to a year. He spent it all in just two months. "I was in secondary school and suddenly had so much money. I blew it all on food, entertainment and friends," he said.

 It was a valuable lesson that Xu Bin seems to have taken to heart – and his mother must be glad to see her grown son doing well.