Born and raised in China, Jenny came to Australia as an adult and had her only son Carl. She raised Carl as a single mother, from when Carl was two years old. She gave her only child the best that money could buy, including the best private school.
"I always give him the best," Jenny tells SBS Mandarin. "For him, I sacrificed a lot, as he is always my priority."
"As long as he needs me, I will always be there for him.
"He is my life."
Jenny believed Carl had grown up to be a fine young man who shared everything with her and that they had a wonderful relationship. That was until Carl started to rebel against his mum’s strict Chinese cultural ways.
When Carl finished school, he moved in with his girlfriend.
"He was born in Australia, which probably is different from how Chinese were brought up in China," says Jenny.
"When he was 17 years old, he's got a girl friend and the girl's mother has been encouraged him to move out home after he turns 18 to live independently."
Jenny felt Carl was too young to move out and conduct an adult relationship - and that it was going against Chinese culture.
"I didn't think it was a bad idea, but I thought we needed to discuss it thoroughly, " Jenny tells SBS Mandarin. "What he said that hurt me the most was, he said 'mum, I am doing well at university, I got a good job, and I got a girlfriend, I don't need you anymore,' - which makes me heartbroken."
Jenny says she "regretted a bit" as she could have paid more attention to his intention much earlier.
Source: SBS
When the moving out was first suggested via a "casual" mention during a family gathering with Carl and his girlfriend's family, Jenny told her son he was "still too young" for the decision.
"It is too early for him to leave home, to take a full responsibly of a family," she says.
"I also suggested (to the girl's mum), how about we each give them $300,000 to buy a house for them, so my son wouldn't have to bear so much pressure while he was studying at university and working at the same time," Jenny reveals to SBS Mandarin.
"The girl's mother said no, they couldn't afford it.
"I said to her then 'why you encouraged him to move out? Do you want him to pay for everything once moving out?'"
As a last resort, Jenny says she threatened to disown him - something that she never intended to follow through on.
"I even said to him - I didn't take it seriously when I said it - if you move out, it means you betray our family, then you don't come back," Jenny says.
"I thought to give him some pressure, but I didn't mean to let him leave."
With hindsight, the take away for Jenny is that "everyone needs to think considerably before speaking."
Following her threat, Carl, the once mum's nice boy made a determined decision.
"He left home for over 1.5 years, he cuts off every connection with me," she says. "He doesn't reply to my email...He would still answer my call politely when he was with someone, but he refuses to talk to me."
Jenny felt abandoned and betrayed: she couldn’t fathom what had happened between them.
"I kept thinking of killing myself," she says. "My friends took me to see doctor and looked after me in turns."
"During the six months I was on medicines, I was banned from drinking, consuming excess sugar, and driving. But I still felt very depressed.
"I still emailed him regardless if he responded. I always tell him no matter what, you are always my love; I will love you til my last breath.
"He didn't know I suffered depression. I think it's not necessary to let him know. "
Thanks to Jenny's friends, who shared their experience with her and helped her to get through the difficult time, Jenny realised that she had to shift her focus back to business and put her self together again.
Carl walks into the room, ready to see his mother Jenny once again. Source: SBS - Look Me In The Eye
"I also realised that kids will always leave home eventually," she says. "So I tried to think through it and eventually got over it."
It was then that she saw SBS's new series Look In The Eye as a perfect opportunity to help her to re-establish a relationship with Carl.
"Last year, I told him that I was learning. We might have different expectations from life, but I want to learn from you. " Jenny said.
"I told him, 'how about you and me get on the show, you know I love you, I want to solve our issues so we are not going to be strangers. Let us try.' To my surprise, he agreed."
Jenny still felt very emotional she recalled the moment she and Carl sitting face to face and looking at each others' eyes.
"It was so powerful," she says
Will Jenny and Carl finally restore their relationship? Find out and witness the moment they reconnect via eye contact.
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What is Look Me In The Eye?
Made up of six one-hour episodes, this documentary series is a social experiment featuring Australians from a wide range of backgrounds who are genuinely looking to reconnect with someone in their life. Based on the research of neuroscientists who believe that direct eye contact can communicate much more than just words, this series explores what happens when only eye contact is used as a form of communication between two individuals who have grown apart. Both people are brought face to face and, for five minutes, they have the opportunity to look each other in the eye, without speaking. They then decide if theyd like to reconnect with the other person - or not. At various stages of the process participants are interviewed by the host Ray Martin. He asks about their feelings and expectations - as well as the overall experience of looking each other in the eye - as they consider what the future may hold.
