52 YO S’pore Actor Was Homeless and Had to Lived in His Car for 4 Months

For many, the acting industry comes across as a profitable profession. Lucrative even. But it appears that even the viability of the media industry is unable to keep certain top stars afloat.

Though the cause is probably due more to this star’s free-spirited nature than anything else.

Care-Free Spirit

The popular local variety show Hear U Out, which is hosted by showbiz veteran Quan Yifeng, has seen numerous celebrities come along, dish out some jaw-breaking secrets and go.

And it appears that the latest star to do so is none other than 52-year-old actor Thomas Ong.

 

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A post shared by Toto Ong (@thomasong17)

So lest you’re unaware, Ong had left Mediacorp in 2020, but still undertakes roles on an occasional basis. His last onscreen role, in fact, was just last year in the Chinese drama Super Dad.

He has, however, recently announced that he had left showbiz.

Throughout these years, the veteran actor has essentially dabbled in several trades, including the retail of corporate gifts, crystals and recently, durians.

He’s reportedly earning a respectable amount with the spiky-shelled fruits too.

 

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A post shared by Toto Ong (@thomasong17)

But things were not always sunshine and rainbows for Ong.

For six months, he revealed to Quan, he was living the hard life.

“I move around quite often ─ sometimes I buy a place but sell it soon after. I’ve also rented many homes over the years. This cycle keeps repeating itself since I enjoy being in different places,” he explained.

And then came an unexpected gap.

“There was a time when I had a gap in between places as the rent agreement at my previous home had expired and the next place wasn’t ready for me to move in yet.

“So I was homeless for four months.”

52 YO S’pore Actor Was Homeless and Had to Lived in His Car for 4 Months

According to Ong, his car became his refuge during those difficult times. Left with no home, he would spend his night in his vehicle.

But being the care-free spirit he was, he still made sure to drive around the nation and sleep at different locations.

What about basic hygiene protocol, you wonder.

Well, it appears that a particular membership club was his saviour in the whole shower department.

Professing that he wasn’t that well-off at the time, Ong said that he would take daily showers at a “club with cheap membership fees”.

Though he wasn’t in debt, those months evidently took a toll on his finances.

“I wasn’t in debt at the start [of the six months],” he said. “But I didn’t have much cash either.

“I probably had a couple of thousand dollars in my bank account but it depleted quickly in those four or five months. [When I ran out of cash], I resorted to using my credit card and the bills just piled up.”

Help

Though Ong may have long since escaped those car-huddled days, it appears that his finances have not exactly been up to par with an actor’s savings.

But unlike previous times, his ‘plight’ was for a good cause.

Since 2012, Ong has been funding two schools he created in Cambodia.

And in 2017, he spent as much as USD$1600 a month on the institutions, so that 600 students can continue to study.

Now, in more recent times, he has reportedly professed plans to backpack for an entire year once the whole pandemic cools off.

Well, you know what they say;

You can take the money out of a man, but you can never take the free-spirited nature away from him.

Hear U Out

Since last year, veteran host Quan Yifeng has brought multiple stars to her show and learnt of some of their deepest and most well-kept secrets in the process.

Despite being famous for her straight-talking style, she has turned her focus to making celebrities feel comfortable on her show – which may have helped them to unveil secrets they would not have otherwise.

“My aim isn’t to make anyone cry or to feel uncomfortable because they think I’m trying to dig out juicy gossip,” she said. “I want all my guests to stay within their comfort zones and be confident enough to shed their public personas…”

“I tell them before we start filming that we can cut the cameras anytime they don’t feel comfortable, and if they don’t want to answer a question, they can just tell me why and I’ll accept it. There are certain things that people don’t want to talk about, and that’s okay. The production team reviews the footage and gives feedback, so if there’s a segment that doesn’t seem quite right, they’ll raise it so we can make a decision about whether to cut the scene.”

You can watch Part 1 of her interview with Ong here.

You can watch more of her interviews with various stars and starlets here.

Featured Image: Instagram (thomasong17)