She had seen a therapist and had opened herself up to hypnosis.

And through it, she claimed to have seen what she was in her past life: A Roman woman who was captured and stoned to death, after having a tryst with her lover.

Television host Quan Yifeng revealed this when she met reporters on Thursday, after being sentenced to 15-month probation for an altercation she had with a taxi driver in June last year.

Quan, 37, said: "The therapist told me that this could be due to events in my past life, although I felt I did nothing wrong, the people who are condemning me are also not wrong"

"This is because in the eyes of the public, I have done wrong and this is why I have to bear the consequences. I'm the one who has to carry the burden of my past life."

Emotional conflicts

Shin Min Daily News reported Quan, who was sentenced for committing mischief by pulling out the taxi fare meter and spilling water on the receipt printer in the cab, as saying that she had sorted out the emotional conflicts of her relationships and the media.

She said: "At times, reality and the imaginary become hard to distinguish, which is why I want to release positive energy.

"A successful person isn't necessarily happy, but a happy person will be successful." The Taiwan-born MediaCorp host has been receiving treatment for severe depression, anxiety and sleep problems since 2007.

She also suffered post-natal depression after giving birth to her daughter in 1999.

During the course of her treatments, Quan said she has changed many therapists, but they mostly referred to her experiences before coming up with a diagnosis.

She said that only the therapist who dug up her past life managed to awaken her subconscious, successfully treating her and helping her to let go of her anger.

Quan, who had said that her daughter, 11, was hurt by the negative online reaction to the incident, also said that making the girl change schools would "make it difficult for people to find her", and that she had plans to send her overseas for her studies.

She said: "If my daughter continues to stay in Singapore, she would feel a lot of pressure from forum discussions and the Internet. She would not be able to cope with that."

Quan, who said her daughter had hit her head on the seat in front of her when the taxi driver braked hard suddenly, added that after her daughter injured her forehead, she went to see a psychiatrist and wrote a letter to the taxi driver, hoping that he could forgive everyone.

She also revealed that after she consulted a therapist, she was finally able to let go of her past self.

She said: "In this 10 years, I haven't lost my temper in situations where I should have lost my temper. In situations where I should not have lost my temper, I lost my temper, making me very confused.

"I felt that people were trying to harm me... I was suspicious about the people around me."

She said that she was once afraid to drink a cup of water because she thought that someone might have poisoned it. The fear caused her to lose weight until she was just 39kg, she said.

Bear with it

At Thursday's press conference, Quan said that her grandaunt, ex-TV host Mary Chen Ming Li, told her that even if people spit at her, she must bear with it.

When asked by reporters if she could really do this, Miss Quan said: "I will definitely bear with it!"

She added: "Next time, when people spit at me, I will take it that he is a living Bodhisattva helping me.

"If people provoke me, I should actually thank them. I will shout my name three times and remind myself that I must not argue with others, as I cannot forgive myself one more time!"

About the case

In June last year, Quan, her daughter and her personal assistant, Mr Loo Chung Siong, boarded a taxi driven by Mr Chan Swee Kong, 52, to go to Changi Airport to catch a plane to Mauritius, where Quan was to film a variety show.

She was unhappy that Mr Chan didn't help her with her luggage, and that he asked for directions to the airport even though there was only one possible route.

Things came to a head when Mr Chan braked suddenly, causing her daughter to hurt her head.

During the dispute that followed, Quan sat in the driver's seat and rummaged through Mr Chan's belongings, littering them on the front seat and floorboard.

Mischief

Quan was charged with committing mischief by pulling out the taxi fare meter and spilling water on the receipt printer.

A charge of committing mischief for kicking the taxi's passenger door and a charge of committing criminal force for pushing Mr Chan in the chest and attempting to kick him were taken into consideration during sentencing.

District Judge Low Wee Ping took into consideration Quan's medical problems and background, but said that although these were strong mitigating factors for putting her on probation instead of in jail, they did not excuse her actions.

He warned her that if she breached the probation order, she would be back in court to be sentenced for this offence as well as any fresh offence.

This article was first published in The New Paper.