Former Channel 8 actor Xie Shaoguang appears in Singapore with Pan Lingling

Singapore ― A number of overseas-based Singaporean celebrities have taken the opportunity to return home, with life and work at a halt in many countries around the world due to the pandemic.

One of them was actress Yvonne Lim who cried at Changi Airport when she returned home from Taipei with her husband and two children in August after being away for about two years.

Then at the start of September, JJ Lin posted on social media about having coffee with his mother in Singapore and cycling around the CBD area with his friends.

The latest news is former Channel 8 actor Xie Shaoguang too has come back to Singapore.

Recently, veteran actress Pan Lingling posted on Instagram two images shot with the elusive 60-year-old at LingZhi Vegetarian restaurant at Velocity@Novena Square.

“We don’t meet often, but we will chat for hours when we meet! He is one of my very favourite screen partners,” she wrote.

According to AsiaOne, Xie had a shaved head and a slight smile in the photos.

Many netizens, as well as Singaporean stars like Huang Biren, Irene Ang, Christopher Lee and Chen Xiuhuan were surprised and delighted to see Xie, who is regarded as the best actor Singaporean TV ever had.

A number of netizens said they miss him, while there were some that wished he would return to acting.

It is not clear if the actor is back for good or if he will start acting again. He was also not seen with other celebrities.

In 2005, Xie retired from showbiz and moved to Johor Bahru, Malaysia and stayed mostly out of the limelight.

There were bits of information about Xie once in a while, such as how he opened an animal shelter in JB, was ordained as a Buddhist monk in 2013, returned to secular life more than two years later, and worked as a chef in the vegetarian eatery Three O Cafe.

In January, during an episode of the meWATCH talkshow Hear U Out, Huang told host Quan Yi Fong that she had called Xie a few times between 2008 and 2009 when Xie was running an eatery in Malaysia. The duo were screen partners in many dramas.

“He was either busy in the kitchen or occupied with other matters. Moreover, he’s very low-key and didn’t want to be in contact with others. He picked up a few of my calls and told me he was busy and would call me back. But he hasn’t till now. I’m not complaining, I just really miss him,” Huang had said in the talkshow.

In July 2020, Huang met an industry colleague who bumped into Xie serendipitously at a market. It was unclear whether it was in Singapore or Malaysia. The two of them took a photo together and the colleague showed it to Huang.

“He’s put on weight,” Huang had said. “A lot of emotions ran through me when I saw the photo, and I want to tell him so many things. But I’m contented, knowing he is well.”

Hope Huang can finally meet Xie this time round for their long-overdue tête-à-tête. /TISG