Singapore — Former Mediacorp actor Shane Pow appeared on the Facebook livestream of online commerce platform Mdada on Tuesday night (Aug 17), after serving a five-week jail stint.
On Jul 14, the 30-year-old Pow was given this sentence after he entered a guilty plea to a charge of drink-driving. He was also given a $6,000 fine for the offence, as well as disqualified from driving for five years.
The actor was charged with drink-driving on Sept 17 of last year, after being stopped by a Traffic Police officer while driving along Java Road towards Nicoll Highway at around 11.20 pm.
Because the actor smelled strongly of alcohol, a breathalyser was administered to him, which he failed, having 49 micrograms of alcohol in 100 ml of breath when the legal limit is 35 micrograms of alcohol.
This makes the second time Pow has been convicted for driving under the influence (DUI), having received his first conviction in Jul 2014.
Nevertheless, the actor was in an upbeat mood when he appeared on the Mdada livestream with celebrity hairstylist Addy Lee and TV personality Pornsak Prajakwit.
The two, along with fellow celebrity Michelle Chia, founded Mdada last year, and launched Mdada’s dedicated streaming hub earlier this month.
Pow, a close friend of Mr Pornsak, already appeared in a Mdada session last May, before serving his jail time.
When asked about the actor’s participation on the platform amid his legal troubles, Mr Lee told 8.days, “Who hasn’t made mistakes? If someone does something wrong and you don’t give them the chance to change, they’ll always be that way and might become even worse.”
He also called Pow “a super, super good guy,” and added, “At Mdada, we believe that no matter who you are and what you’ve done, as long as you have the determination to become a live streamer and want to start over and stand up again, come and look for us.”
Pow appeared on the live stream to help Mr Lee, Mr Pornsak and Ms Chia sell beauty products. Former actor Kang Chengxi was also spotted joining the live stream.
Ms Chia told Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao that Mr Pow would join Mdada two to three times a week for live streaming. It was reported that Mr Pow was recommended by his close friend, Mr Pornsak.
“His life is just starting out, and he has a bright future. It’d be a shame if we don’t give him a chance. He’s keen to try too, so we invited him to join us,” said Ms Chia.
“We should give him another shot, and he has his talents.”
On Tuesday night, when a livestream viewer welcomed him back, the actor said, “Thank you everyone! I’ve returned! The sky is sunny after the rain!” /TISG
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