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SINGAPORE: Meeting Thomas Ong was like a silly adolescent dream come true. Except, it came about 15 years too late.
In the ’90s, the actor — tall, suave and broody (read: “Oh my god, he’s so cool!”) — was many a teenage girl’s Prince Charming.
Now that he is 39 — believe it — the actor still hasn’t lost his boyish charms. Cutting a lanky figure in a sporty jacket, his shades still on, as Thomas walked towards this reporter from the opposite end of the Courtyard lobby café at The Fullerton with a nonchalant swagger, he turned a few heads in the process.
What’s his secret to what seems like eternal youth? “I like to live without pressure,” he said.
Since Thomas joined MediaCorp (then known as TCS) in the early ’90s, he has come and gone and come back to our TV screens, trying his hand at other careers in between — like being a tour guide and an entrepreneur. “I live my life to gain more experience,” he explained. Not that he had to explain himself, of course. Ask him a question he doesn’t want to answer and he’ll say: “Ask, lor. I’ll keep quiet.”
For now, the man’s just happy to be a part-time actor and full-time free spirit. When he’s not working, the owner of corporate gift shop Link Station (located at Lucky Chinatown) is busy catching up with friends and satiating his wanderlust.
“Travelling is my biggest interest. It’ll be good if I have a job that allows me to travel a lot — maybe a travel photographer,” said Thomas, who had just returned from Thailand the night before our interview. He was there for a photoshoot as the face of local menswear label Crocodile.
And as you’re reading this, he is somewhere in the boondocks of China in the name of charity. He visits schools in the poverty-stricken mountainous areas there regularly with donations — in cash and in kind.
“I love children,” he said. However, starting a family is not on the cards for the “social butterfly” (he doesn’t take to that term very well: “Wah lao, it sounds awful!”) who told us he has “no time for one person”. He said: “She’ll feel very neglected.”
Thomas is nothing like the typical Prince Charming character he is so sick and tired of playing. “The producers always give me the same old goody-goody roles. Why can’t I play a pervert?” he said, as he attacked another fried chicken wing with his bare hands.
In person, this Prince is real as it gets, telling it like it is. He’s frivolous (his phone has a Super Mario ringtone) and chuckles an awful lot — mostly at his own jokes (“My bum’s not for sale, or that would be the easiest way to make a quick buck! Ha ha!”).
And he is terribly trusting, leaving his wallet and phone on the table as he scoots off to the washroom. “You mean I can’t trust you?” Of course you can, Thomas. Of course you can.
So, without further ado, here’s Thomas, in his own words:
Did you really get the boot from TCS for speaking publicly about your salary, as the press had reported?
My contract was terminated three or four months before it was up. Yeah, I was naughty, I mentioned my salary, but I told it as it was — I wasn’t out to make the company angry.
But I’m still on good terms with MediaCorp. Four or five years ago, I was asked to come back and I did a few projects (on a freelance basis) including Beautiful Illusions and Love Concierge.
Given your straight-talking disposition, do you think that maybe you’re just not suited to being a TV star in Singapore?
I’m not a star, I just want to be an actor. What do you think it takes to be an actor? Should I be more plastic?
After I started my own business, I realised that put in the shoes of the management, it’s much easier to control a pool of artistes when they’re obedient. The only problem is they don’t give us enough space to develop our characters. They just want everybody to be "guai guai" (obedient). But when you’re contracted, you have to do it.
Another thing I was very against was performing dangerous stunts for charity shows. To the company, we are assets. To us, our lives are our assets. If I get disfigured or break my arm, my career is over. It may make the headlines for two days, but nobody will care after that. I also don’t see why people should win a condominium for donating money to charity.
Do you think things have changed for the better for the new, younger artistes?
I think they are taken better care of and are very sheltered. They call up their managers over everything.
In the past, we used to get scolded and "suan" (made fun of) a lot. We had to swallow our pride ... If everything is so smooth and nicely planned, will a person grow? I think you can only learn by the hard way.
A few young artistes have very good potential, though, especially the girls. I quite like Felicia Chin. They didn’t pair me with her (in 'Perfect Cut')! I was looking forward to that, but they paired her with Julian Hee.
Have you ever worked with any divas?
I can’t mention names! I’ll die!
But I can tell you there’s an actress who thinks she can act very well. She was doing something wrong but when we told her, she insisted she was right. She said: “Don’t tell me what to do. You do your thing and I’ll do mine.” I just walked away. I thought to myself, I never want to see her face or work with her again.
Still guessing? (Laughs) Don’t tell you!
Are you a diva yourself?
No, lah. If you want something to write about, I’ll slam my fist on the table and walk away halfway through this interview. (Laughs)
When we’re filming, I cannot stand people who are late and don’t come prepared because they slow everyone down. I work very quickly because I make it a point to memorise my script even though it means I only get three to four hours of sleep the night before. I’ll pull a long face even if it’s the producer who is slow.
Er, do you actually have good friends in the industry?
When I first joined the industry, I was told people in the business are very fake and that I shouldn’t make any friends here. So, I was wary the first two years. I did what I had to do and went straight home. I didn’t hang out with my co-stars. When I came back (to MediaCorp), I had a different mentality because I’d seen the world outside by then.
Everyone is the same — afraid of betrayals. If you’re sincere and open up, you’ll find friends. I’ve found a few. Like Constance Song, Jacelyn Tay and the late MC King. And recently, I had the chance to work with Terence Cao, Chen Hanwei and Ivy Lee; they’re all very nice people.
Have you come across anyone who is very desperate to make it big?
Not really. It’s not like you can go and sleep with a producer to get a role here ... It has to be offered to you, you can’t offer yourself (laughs). But producers have their “pets”, and the good, big roles will be given to them.
What’s the downside of being a star in Singapore?
When I get very bad service, I’ll feel like slapping the staff or telling them: “Go back to school and ask your teachers to teach you some manners, otherwise don’t be in the service industry.”
But I can’t. Or I’ll end up in the news like Quan Yifeng (who reportedly flipped her middle finger at a road hog and slapped her husband Peter Yu in public).
I think Li Nanxing also got into a spat with an aquarium owner. Such trivial things get published because they happen to celebrities. But that’s only one side of the story, so not very fair to us, right?
Okay, let’s hear your side of the story: What’s happening in your love life?
Nothing’s happening. There are a lot of things for me to spend my time on. I don’t think anyone can give me the kind of freedom that I want. I’m always out with different groups of friends and we travel to various places and I’m all over the place — no time for just one person.
You said Perfect Cut is the favourite drama you have participated in, and you enjoyed it so much you can’t get out of your plastic surgeon role. In your expert opinion, which local celebrities have gone under the knife?
Quan Yifeng, "lor"! (Her highly-publicised nose-job-gone-bad is no secret). I do know a few of them, but whats the point of mentioning? Like Felicia (Chin) - look at her double eyelids before and after Mermaid (her breakthrough role in Portrait of Home). But getting double eyelids has become so common it’s like going for IPL (a permanent hair removal procedure).
I was quite against plastic surgery before doing this drama. But now, I think it’s no big deal. I think given the chance and if they can afford it, many girls would want to look prettier and have a better figure. - TODAY/sh
Catch 'Perfect Cut', weekdays at 10pm, on Channel U.
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