Romeo Tan’s dad became a taxi driver so he could drive his family around and pick his kids up from school

In a recent video shared on The Celebrity Agency’s Instagram, Mediacorp actor Romeo Tan, 39, invited his dad to share some never-been-told stories about him. 
The first thing father and son talked about was why Romeo has such an interesting name.
If you thought Romeo was named after Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, you’re wrong.
He actually got his name from Italian luxury car maker Alfa Romeo. 
According to Papa Tan, he thought the Chinese transliteration of ‘Romeo’ would only consist of two characters.
He later realised that it was “Luo Mi Ou”, meaning his son’s Chinese name would have four characters after including his surname ‘Chen’.
Thankfully, Papa Tan decided to just stick with it. 
“What’s important is that he’s healthy and safe,” he said. 
Also, Romeo was a really naughty kid.
“When he was young, you couldn’t take things from him. He would widen his eyes and stare at you before throwing the thing onto the floor… the item would get broken,” lamented Romeo’s dad.
The actor then said he and his younger brother Rowell — they also have an older brother named Robin — used to love playing with water but never had the chance to visit a water park.
So Romeo coerced his little bro to turn their house into one. 
“We went to the toilet, filled up a pail of water each and poured it all over the floor of our living room. My brother and I then kept sliding from one end of the room to the other,” he recalled.
“When my parents came home, they saw that the living room was flooded and shouted at us. We immediately hid in our room,” said Romeo, adding that they got a beating and spent over an hour cleaning up. 
It was also revealed that Romeo’s dad became a taxi driver just so he could have a car to drive the family around.
“Every Sunday, he would drive the whole family out to play and eat good food,” recalled Romeo.
Papa Tan also made sure to send his sons to school and back every day. And he continued to do the same even after Romeo started working.
His dad, who is now retired, was the more supportive parent when Romeo decided to enter showbiz.
“It’s great [that he wants to become an actor], all that matters is that he likes it,” said Papa Tan.
The actor, who joined Mediacorp after finishing fourth in Star Search 2010, loved acting as a kid and even signed up for a children’s acting class.
His mum, however, would find many excuses to stop him from going. 
“In the past, people are more easily influenced by their surroundings. Especially when waiting to pick their kids up from school, some mums would like to compare the grades of their kids. My mum probably wanted me to get good results and become a doctor, lawyer or teacher,” said Romeo.