Dai Luwa’s recent appearance on the Chinese variety show My Little One 2026 has rubbed viewers the wrong way. The 29-year-old actress shared some bad experiences in her family and it’s now led to accusations that she’s “sacrificing her parents for the sake of public sympathy.”
On the show, she complained that her mother had failed to provide her with enough emotional support. She said that the family of her ex-boyfriend, whom she had dated for seven years, was the first to make her feel as though she had a “real family.” She also recounted that when she was in her final year of high school, her father slapped her, after which she ran away from home for a month without anyone looking for her.
However, they’s also the story that after her family went bankrupt, her mother had to work as a postpartum nanny, saving more than 100,000 yuan just to pay for Dai Luwa’s private school tuition and acting classes. Her mother was even prepared to sell their family home to send her abroad to study if need be. Dai Luwa was criticized for telling a “selective version of the story,” focusing only on the bad. Nevertheless, others defend that netizens are reading into it too much. The actress also revealed on the show that she gives her salary to her mom each time and bought a house for them and in any case, actions speak louder than words.
Lisa
I think the moral of the story is, Asian parents show love in a different way. There are always exceptions of course. I do think people have nothing better to do than criticize others for the most miniscule things.
blueclue
Agreed. Her story is typical, Asian parents generally would do whatever they can to support their family and kids. To them, working hard to earn money to give their kids a comfortable life is how they show their love. I found that most people put all of these celebrity in some high pedestal just because they’re celebrity.
Coralie
luwa’s parents are not great at emotional support. unsure if they find her a transactional ROI tool, given that they didn’t give a crap about her running away from home. too many asian parents have that mindset. i don’t blame her.
Minnie
This is not the entire story. When she ran away, her parents knew where she was and she was spending their money on hotels and whatnot. They knew she was safe and gave her space instead of locking her up which is better than what most Chinese parents would do. Also, not many Chinese families would spend money for their children to pursue arts and drama so for DLW to speak of her parents that way after all they did for her would obvs rub a lot of C-netz the wrong way.
Coralie
thanks for the context! while it sounds much better that they actually knew where she was and gave her sufficient funds to stay in safe housing, i still don’t know if it wouldn’t be considered neglect. for example, my uncle’s family believes in tough love. when my cousin was a kid, he “ran away from home,” and while my uncle and aunt knew he was safe, no one cared to check on him. to me, that’s neglect.
so it’s not like luwa’s assessment is wrong. just because your physical needs are met, doesn’t mean your emotional needs are. as for pushing her thru for performing arts — honestly there can be many explanations. we just don’t know.
so netizens have no right to make a judgement call either way. neither do we. but just that running away confession, i can already feel the neglect coming through. you call it giving space, but i see it differently
Applefish
Actually, when u were young, n u run away, n your parents knew where u were, n u have money to spend on hotels n food, u might think your parents neglect u, but they possibly don’t want u to run away for real. Asian parents believe at being there for their kids, n don’t want to impose so much that cause the child to run even further away. So for her parents not checking up on her, is also understandable. I have no problem with her not understand this when she was in the heat of the moment, in her 20s, n lack of life experience. But at 29? She’s literally a year away from the big 30, n she has been working in the most cut throat industry for what? 5yrs+. She should have more sympathy n understanding for her parents.
Coralie
but if the kid was caught without their parents, that is considered neglect (also depends on ages too) – at least that’s true in the west. but anyone under 18 without parental custody can be arrested. even as simple as the kid going to the store by themselves.
i have never run away from my family. wanted to? sure. but actually doing it? nope. I don’t know any families with good parents where the kids actually want to run away. not blaming the parents here, as this might just be the kid’s personality as well, but for luwa to say that she ran away, parents didnt ask her whereabouts and wasn’t concerned…err, there’s something missing in the picture there. plus she is giving her wages to her family and bought housing for them. i guess you can consider this her return. as for whether she emotionally cares about their reputation, well, they got what they sow.
Coralie
as another example, that cousin of mine ran far, far away from home the moment he had the opportunity. he now lives across the country from his parents lol. but he still comes back to visit every now and then. like i said – you reap what you sow.
Coralie
oh now that i think about it…my niece is the same way. my sister is a very generous parent – gave my niece everything and anything she could’ve asked for growing up. but she was emotionally abusive and does not care where my niece hangs out and with whom that much, even if she’s gone for days. the result? my niece now lives opposite the country from my sister.
material sustenance and assurance of the kids’ safety is not enough.
Lisa
I’ve actually had quite the opposite experience. I had very overbearing parents, who wouldn’t let me go out with friends. Pretty much kept me home as much as possible so they always know my whereabouts. I also ended up on the opposite side of the country lol