SINGAPORE: VnExpress reported that Malaysian actor Zhang Yaodong was spotted doing something pretty unexpected—he was taking orders from customers at a steamed seafood stall! Sources spotted Zhang at a Kopitiam in Singapore’s Tampines industrial area.
The Star reported that just this past Wednesday, a video surfaced on Xiaohungshu showing Zhang working at the stall, casually wearing a white T-shirt.
Calm and down-to-earth
So, the person who posted the video actually confirmed that the stall belongs to Zhang himself! His employee had just quit, so he was stepping in and managing it all by himself that day. What stood out to them was how incredibly polite and professional Zhang was. They were just so impressed by how calm and down-to-earth he was while he was working—they really couldn’t stop raving about it.
Seeing Zhang working at that stall now follows a rough patch he had with his public image last year. Back in July 2024, there were all these rumours flying around that he had kids out of wedlock with women from different countries, which, as you can imagine, really wasn’t good for his reputation. It put him in a tough spot.
Accusations
He was previously with MediaCorp, a media company in Singapore. However, after all those accusations started circulating, he surprisingly filed a police report, and his manager at the time effectively shut down the conversation, stating that Zhang wouldn’t discuss any of it publicly anymore.
Zhang broke his silence and confirmed he’s a father for the very first time in November 2024! He did it by sharing a lovely photo on Instagram of himself and his two daughters enjoying a vacation together in South Korea.
You know, Zhang’s career took a pretty significant detour earlier this year. His talent agency at MediaCorp, The Celebrity Agency, actually came out and announced that they were no longer representing him. And ever since that happened, he hasn’t been in any new TV shows or films, not since February 2024.
Family of hawkers
It seems that Zhang has always had a passion for food in his blood; he comes from a family of hawkers, so it’s no surprise that he’s always had a hand in the food business.
Previously, he ran his own catering service, even opening a roast meat stall in a food court, and you could also find him selling delicious Taiwanese beef noodles in Kuala Lumpur.
History with food
He even tried his hand at a fancier venture back in 2017, launching an Asian fusion restaurant called Maru in Tanjong Pagar, Singapore; unfortunately, that one is no longer around. He’s definitely got a history with food.
So, Zhang, who’s now 48, actually got his start in acting back in 2002. He first caught everyone’s eye when he came in as the first runner-up in the Malaysian “Star Search” competition – pretty impressive! And even before that, he wasn’t new to the spotlight; he had already been working as a model and popping up in all sorts of commercials in Malaysia.