Huang Yiliang, 65, Returns To Acting After 19 Years, Says It’s “Like [Being] A Fish Back In Water”

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After 19 years away from the screen, former Mediacorp actor-turned-hawker Huang Yiliang is making his return to acting — and he’s doing it alongside a familiar group of old friends.

Yiliang, last seen onscreen in 2007 drama The Golden Path, stars in local microdrama Bingbingbiangbiang Kopidiam, alongside former colleagues Cassandra See, Qin Wei, Cherie Lim, Jin Yin Ji, Apple Hong, Tang Miao Ling, and Joy Yak.

And while you might think he returned because he missed acting, he reveals that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Speaking to 8days.sg at the press conference for the kopitiam-themed microdrama, in which he plays the familiar role of a crab bee hoon stall owner (yes, just like in real life), Yiliang looks slightly out of place. After all, it’s been nearly two decades since he was last a regular fixture on our screens.

In fact, before accepting the role, he didn’t even know what a microdrama was.

When asked what made him want to return to acting, he says it was largely thanks to his former colleagues.

"I’m very thankful to this whole group of old colleagues. They supported me, encouraged me and cheered me on."

"When we got together, I heard them talking about making a short drama. To be honest, I had been out of the industry for so long that I didn’t even know what a ‘microdrama’ was. Short dramas, short videos... all these things were very unfamiliar to me. I was quite out of touch with the media scene," he says. 

When he was asked to join the project, he was told filming would take place on his day off, which was a big reason why he agreed.

Thinking it sounded like fun, he went for it, only to realise later that it was a "much bigger production" than he expected, complete with overseas shoots and multiple roles.

While Yiliang was happy to reconnect with his old colleagues, he admits that returning to acting was never really on his mind.

"You know how some people say they have the ‘itch’ to return to filming after some time away? I didn’t have that urge at all. Honestly, I hadn’t thought about coming back to acting at all in these 19 years. Even now, I don’t have that ‘itch’. That’s really the truth," he says.

What he does miss, however, is spending time with the people he used to work with.

"I enjoyed getting together with them — having meals, drinking tea and chatting. We worked together for so many years, so I enjoyed catching up with them much more than I enjoyed acting," he shares.

"I think what I really missed was the people I used to work with, rather than acting itself. Maybe it’s because I’m busy with my own life. I simply never thought about acting again," he adds.

When asked if he faced any difficulties returning to acting after such a long break, Yiliang responds with a question of his own.

"Twenty years ago, I could swim, and I was actually quite a good swimmer. Even though I haven’t swum for 19 years, if you throw me into the water, do you think I’ll still be able to swim?"

Apparently, the answer is yes. For Yiliang, getting back in front of the camera felt much like getting back in the water.

He reveals: "When I started filming, the first scene, the first shot, felt quite fresh. But it also felt like I was a fish back in water. It wasn’t unfamiliar at all. I didn’t have the fear that a newcomer would have, because I already knew how to swim. I’m a fish! If you throw a fish into the water, of course it can swim!"

When asked if he would ever give up his Circuit Road crab bee hoon stall to return to acting, Yiliang declares without hesitation: "I don’t want to give up either one. I like both of them." 

It’s clear that his hawker business is still very much a priority. After the press conference and a round of interviews wrap up, Yiliang is eager to get back to his stall. It is, after all, a Friday, his busiest day at the stall. As the man in charge, he still handles pretty much everything himself.

“I do everything myself. I handle everything from start to finish. It’s like being an octopus!" he laughs.

He says he’s gotten used to juggling multiple tasks at once, much like many other hawkers who run their stalls largely on their own.

"Once you keep doing it, practice makes perfect. The more I do it, the faster I become, and the better I get at it," he adds. 

As for his highly publicised spat with his hawker stall neighbour... Yiliang keeps things brief: "We’ve drawn a very clear line between us. You do your thing, and I do mine."

We also ask Yiliang, who is known for being outspoken and not one to mince his words, what he makes of the recent Roxy Square incident, and what he would do if someone touched his child’s head without permission.

“Let me tell you, I really don’t agree with touching someone else’s child. It’s not appropriate. Times have changed. Nowadays, you can’t just casually touch someone else’s child,” he says without skipping a beat. 

“Of course, the father also overreacted. He shouldn’t have pushed [the old man] over like that,” he adds.

“People nowadays don’t like it. Even if you see someone holding a child, you shouldn’t just go over and touch the child. You shouldn’t. I’m a father of two myself, and I wouldn’t like it either if someone came over and touched my children.”

So what would he do if he came across a particularly adorable child at his stall?

“Even if the customer’s child is very cute, I tell myself that I mustn’t touch them. Because I don’t like it when people touch my children, so I also won’t touch other people’s children,” he says. 

“Unless the child comes over to me first, then it’s different. If the child comes over and hugs me, and the mother says, ‘Go and give Uncle a hug,’ then of course I’ll hug the child.”

Photos: BingBingBiangBiang Kopidiam

You can catch updates on BingBingBiangBiang Kopidiam on the web microdrama’s social media pages on Instagram and TikTok