By Charlene Chua

AN OMINOUS threat and an accusation that he is a third party in a marriage.

That is what local actor Tay Ping Hui claimed he had to face about two weeks ago.

Indignant and shocked by what he said was a false accusation, the 39-year-old MediaCorp actor poured it out on his personal blog.

Ping Hui wrote in his blog on 2 May: 'My first thought was this was simply ridiculous.'

He later explained in his blog that the whole thing was a misunderstanding between his female friend and her husband.

He said he had been giving relationship advice to the friend, who lives overseas, as she had been having problems with her marriage.

He would send her 'encouraging' text messages that included tips on how to strengthen a relationship.

When asked, Ping Hui declined to give details on those text messages or the female friend.

When the friend's husband read his wife's replies to Ping Hui on her handphone, Ping Hui said he misunderstood them and went ballistic.

He then threatened to send someone to 'ruin me', wrote Ping Hui.

The exact phrase that Ping Hui used was the Chinese idiom 'shen bai ming lie' which means to lose one's self and honour.

Metaphorically, this could mean a loss of fortune or even death.

Ping Hui is currently filming Channel 8 series The Ultimatum opposite Zoe Tay and Fann Wong, where he plays a professional thief.

The actor revealed that he had met this female friend during an overseas work trip some time back. The pair maintained contact after he returned to Singapore.

In an e-mail interview with The New Paper, Ping Hui remained tight-lipped about the details of the incident, saying he 'wanted to respect my friend's privacy'.

He said that when she visited Singapore for work some time ago, the pair met up for coffee and she opened up to him about her marital problems.

Ping Hui emphasised that he had 'only good intentions' and wanted to help her through this rough patch.

'Futhermore, the text messages that we sent to each other were nothing special. My conscience is clear, and I just hope that my friend and her husband can work things out between them,' he said.

The threat has not fazed him as Ping Hui added that he feels secure in 'law-abiding Singapore'.

He did not respond to questions on whether he had made a police report. But he has stopped all contact with his friend at the moment in a bid to avoid more misunderstanding.

What frustrates him the most, however, is that his friend's husband had made him the scapegoat for their rocky marriage.

Said Ping Hui: 'A lot of times when things go awry, many people like to find the nearest thing or person to blame.

'Hasn't he (the friend's husband) considered that he's the cause of their marital problems and that perhaps a clash of their characters hasn't helped?'

Ping Hui said he hopes the couple will give way to each other and put in more effort into nurturing the relationship.

With such insight into married life, is Ping Hui thinking of settling down?

The long-time bachelor, who was rumoured to have dated actress Joanne Peh, said he sees himself getting hitched in the next two years.

His plan is to marry before he turns 45 and he wants two children.

But ask him if he already has a life partner in mind and he turns mysterious.

Said Ping Hui: 'I have a feeling that she's just around the corner.'

This article was first published in The New Paper.