Film maker and former Mediacorp actor Ix Shen may now be playing one of the most important roles of his life, bearing witness to the distressing daily drama in Ukraine, where he now lives.
Two days after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb 24, he started posting videos daily on his Instagram account.
Mr Shen, 50, married his wife, Natalia, a Ukrainian and a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine in 2015. They moved to Podil, a district in Kyiv, late last year,
He told The Straits Times in a Zoom interview on Feb 24 that he has no plans as yet to leave Ukraine. The former Mediacorp actor said that his wife is a reservist and may be called up to serve as a medical officer in the army.
Thousands of people have viewed the videos that he posts. They are both heartbreaking and inspiring.
In his first Instagram video, he described the attack as “very intensive” and thanked everyone for their concern.
Since then, speaking in both English and Mandarin, he has given an assurance every day that “everyone is safe and okay”.
In his most recent clip on Thursday (Mar 3), he stood in an open stairway as the snow fell. “Hi, we are safe and okay. Even though like this,” he said, pointing to the sky. “It’s snowing, raining, and wet. It’s very energy-sapping for the defenders of Ukraine.”
He added that he is sure that Ukraine would continue to show “the strength the world has never seen before.”
On Wednesday, he took videod himself drinking teh tarik, saying that a curfew imposed earlier had been lifted, although they had been told to stay home as it was not safe to venture outdoors.
“Since we are still well-stocked, we will not be making any grocery rounds today,” he added.
He had posted a video on Monday (Feb 28) of himself in a long queue of people waiting in line for a supermarket to open. “Morale is high, everything is good,” he said.
He continued talking and smiling as the supermarket opened and he headed towards the toward the door, signing that all was “OK”.
Many netizens, including friends in the entertainment industry, have left comments hoping that he and his family stay safe and well.
Mr 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.
/TISG
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