SINGAPORE: Ix Shen is home in Singapore, with many netizens finding this out when the former actor posted a video over Instagram on Monday (Feb 13). This is the first time he’s been back in the country since war broke out in Ukraine, where he had been living with his wife Natalia since late 2021.
The actor provided many Singaporeans with a real-time look into how life had changed after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb 24, 2022, by posting daily videos. But by March 8 of that year, he announced that he and his wife were evacuated from Kyiv.
In his latest video, he said, “I’m glad to be back in Singapore.”
View this post on Instagram
The former Mediacorp actor is also in the country to discuss a memoir he is writing about his experience in Ukraine, telling The Straits Times that people have been asking him to share what he had gone through.
“I think writing this book will be the best way,” he is quoted as saying.
In the video, however, he didn’t speak much about his experience, but of recent happenings “in the sky,” referring to a Chinese balloon that had been shot down by armed forces in the United States when it entered that country’s territory.
Ix Shen also rather cryptically said, “Recently, over the skies of Canada, an unidentified flying object was downed as well. Let’s just hope that we didn’t start a war with someone that we are not expecting.”
Netizens commenting on his IG post heartily welcomed the former actor home, including fellow members of the entertainment industry such as Edmund Tay, Pan Ling Ling, and Belinda Lee.
Others greeted Ix Shen as well, with some urging him to stay in Singapore for good.
Ix Shen first broke into acting after winning the TCS (now Mediacorp) Star Search in 1995. He featured in a number of TV shows, including Honour and Passion, which was produced by MediaCorp Channel 8 and sponsored by the Ministry of Defence.
His last starring role on TV was in 2011, but he hasn’t closed the door on working on a TV series again. In 2009, he moved to China and went on to executive produce the highly successful Wolf Warrior 2.
Ix Shen, 51, married Natalia, a Ukrainian and a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine in 2015. They moved to Podil, a district in Kyiv, lin 2021. /TISG
Ix Shen shows situation on the ground in Ukraine with daily IG videos