Christmas has always been about family for Pierre Png. But our perspectives change as we grow older, and as the actor has matured, his priorities have slowly shifted outwards. Now, at the age of 46, Christmas is also a time to think of those who might not have family to spend the holidays with.
Of course, he and his wife, Andrea De Cruz, love a good celebration complete with feasting and merry-making. But while the festivities were previously kept within an inner circle, in recent years, Pierre has started instituting a new practice.
“Andrea loves to throw parties. Normally, it's just family and close friends. But I'm slowly changing tradition by inviting friends who might be lonely, or with whom I've not caught up during the past years,” he shared.
That probably has something to do with the fact that the couple always makes it a point to go to church and attend mass on Christmas Day, turning the focus away from themselves.
“Every Christmas, I pray for all our dearly departed friends and family, the sick and their families, the lonely and the sad. This year will not be any different,” said Pierre, who was raised in a Catholic family, served as an altar boy growing up and nearly became a priest.
That calling didn’t quite materialise, and he fell into acting instead when, on a whim, he auditioned for and landed a part in the 1998 Glen Goei movie Forever Fever. That same year, he participated in and won the Fame Awards talent competition show, going on to play a pivotal role on the popular sitcom Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd.
WARM FUZZY CHRISTMAS
These days, Pierre is better known as the Singaporean actor who cracked Hollywood after sending pulses racing in the role of improbably chiselled entrepreneur Michael Teo in last year’s much-talked-about Crazy Rich Asians; as well as one of local television’s most sought-after and lauded leading men.
He’s currently working on a 30-episode drama called My Guardian Angels, alongside Zoe Tay, Kym Ng and Hong Ling; and plans to keep entertaining Singapore on TV. One of his dreams is to also perform in a musical some day soon, said Pierre, whose hobbies – besides singing and dancing, which he says are part of his Peranakan DNA – have included Aikido, unicycling and ballet.
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