“He’s Just Enjoying His Freedom Now”: Chen Xiuhuan On Xie Shaoguang, Whom She Caught Up With At A Recent Gathering With Ex Mediacorp Colleagues

On Saturday (Sep 23), 70 veteran actors and production crew from Mediacorp met for their annual Mid-Autumn Festival gathering at Chinese restaurant Yummy Palace. This year's event saw the most number of attendees ever, making for one of the most nostalgic reunions we’ve seen in recent times.

Chen Xiuhuan and ex actor Wu Weiqiang took to social media to share snippets of the gathering, which included Pan Lingling and hubby Huang Shinan, Wang Yuqing, and Jin Yinji, as well as former stars Tang Miaoling, Yang Libing, and, wait for this, Xie Shao Guang.

Yes, the elusive five-time Star Awards Best Actor, who retired from showbiz in 2005, was there.

“[Former actor] Chen Xiang organises a small gathering annually, but it just happens that a lot of people were able to make it this year," says Xiuhuan-jie, when 8days.sg reached out to her. "There were a lot of first timers we hadn’t seen in a long time, like Duan Weiming, Chen Fenglin, Huang Yuling, and of course, Xie Shaoguang."

“I haven’t seen him a while," says Xiuhuan about Shaoguang. "I only met him twice when I was hiking at MacRitchie Reservoir during the Covid period. I asked about what he’s been up to recently, and he said he’s just enjoying his freedom these days. I asked about the animal shelter he was running in Johor Bahru, and he said the person who owned it had taken it back already. Now, he is ‘free and easy’,” says Xiuhuan about Shaoguang, whom she adds is back in Singapore.

Although Xiuhuan and Shaoguang never had the chance to work together, they were able to connect through their shared interest of hiking.

Xiuhuan also caught up with former actresses Huang Yuling and Yang Libing. The trio graduated from the same artiste training course, and according to Xiuhuan, are still very close.

At the gathering, Xiuhuan says they spent time reminiscing about “how nice the opening theme songs used to be, and how good the scripts were”.

She then excitedly recalls: “When I was still in secondary school, I went to audition for The Flying Fish. The director for that audition, surprisingly, was at the gathering too! I was still in school and I couldn’t swim so obviously I didn’t get the role, but we spoke a lot about the past.”

When we ask Xiuhuan about the activities they did at the gathering, she laughs: “We played charades, but it was all about TV dramas. So for example, someone would act out the title of a show, like Neighbours (芝麻绿豆), and I had to guess it. It was quite fun.”

For Xiuhuan, the most memorable part was meeting up with retired actors and seeing them in good health.

“It was very heartwarming seeing Tang Hu, who played my dad in The Witty Advisor (1993). He is in a wheelchair because he had his leg amputated due to diabetes. Other veteran actors are already in their 80s, and although some needed a walking stick to get around, at least they are still healthy and can attend the gathering,” says Xiuhuan.

Photos: Chen Xiuhuan/ Instagram & Facebook, Wu Weiqiang/ Facebook

Catch Xiuhuan and Tang Hu in an episode of The Witty Advisor below.