Yao Wenlong Went Back To JB After His Mum Suffered A Stroke And Probably Won’t Be Back In Singapore Until 2021
He’s taking this opportunity to spend time with his family.
Mediacorp drama A Quest To Heal could be the last time we see Yao Wenlong on TV for a while. The 49-year-old Malaysian actor has been back in Johor Bahru since filming for the drama, which is now airing on Ch 8 and meWATCH, wrapped in May, and he'll likely be staying there for the rest of the year.
"I’ve been home for about two months now," Wenlong tells 8days.sg from his JB home, adding that he had completed his 14-day quarantine in Malaysia on May 26. While he was working on A Quest To Heal, where he plays the lovesick marketing exec of Xu Bin's restaurant, Wenlong, who would normally commute between Singapore and JB before COVID-19 happened, had stayed at the Furama Riverfront Hotel for two months so that the filming wouldn’t be affected.
Wenlong is putting his family first for now
Even though he knew that it would be a while before he can come back to Singapore for work, Wenlong decided that being with his family during this period was more important (but more on this later). In retrospect, the actor tells us that this is also the first time he’s given himself an extended break since the Star Search alum entered showbiz in 1993.
“I’ve been very busy because I’ve always taken on back-to-back projects with no long break in between. I’m really enjoying this period of time where I’ve allowed myself to stop and smell the roses. It’s something I’ve never tried even at this age. It’s a good life lesson that I’ve stumbled upon during this period of time, and it’s something that I now treasure.”
He says returning to Singapore this year seems “highly unlikely” due to the strict cross-border measures put in place by both Singapore and Malaysia because of the pandemic. “If I were to take on new projects, it might take me three months to film a drama. I won’t be able to come home to JB at all since it’ll affect filming if I shuttle between the two countries and require to be quarantined each time,” he says.
Wenlong's mum with his two children
“I missed my family. If I didn’t come back in May, I might have had to wait for up to nine months to return and since I don't have any acting projects on hand, it seemed like the right time for me to [leave Singapore].” He’s also taking this opportunity to spend more time with his children, Jianyu, 13 and Luohui, four. “It’s a good chance for me to pay more attention to them, especially their education,” he says.
He used to shuttle between JB and Singapore daily, which, while time-consuming, was also fulfilling as it allowed him to spend time with his kids. Even then, he didn't have a lot of time with them as he would often need to leave early in the morning for work and only returning late at night.
“Also my mum suffered a minor stroke in March, so she wasn’t in the best of health. I was worried that I wouldn’t have been able to make it back if something happened to her, so I made my decision both to see my family and also to look after my mother.”
Wenlong’s mum, who will turn 80 in October, has become his priority as he tells us that he will adopt a wait-and-see approach for now. “I'm worried about my mother and I don’t want to end up being unable to come home for an extended period of time,” he adds. “[The stroke] affected her movements quite a bit, but she’s a lot better now. We’ve been looking after her at home, so her condition has improved very quickly.”
Catch Wenlong in A Quest to Heal weekdays at 9pm on Ch 8.
The first 25 episodes of A Quest to Heal are now available for free on meWATCH, while eps 26-30 are on meWATCH Prime.
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Photos: Yao Wenlong's Instagram
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