Men In Kindergarten: It’s back to pre-school for Allan Wu, Wang Weiliang

SINGAPORE — They say guys never grow up, and Men In Kindergarten hosts Allan Wu and Wang Weiliang would agree wholeheartedly with that.

In the reality television show, the two help out at a kindergarten to hilarious effect. Wu, of course, is a father of two, but Ah Boys To Men actor Wang hadn’t had much experience with children prior to his kindergarten stint.

“I was worried I wouldn’t know how to communicate with them and what I was going to do if they ignored me or started crying,” he confessed.

As it turned out, going back to pre-school activated his paternal instincts — the 28-year-old now wants to have kids more than ever. “It’s time, I feel. I don’t want to be too old a father,” he said, sharing that his favourite part of kindergarten work day was naptime — and not because that was when he got a break.

“They each had different positions and ways of sleeping. I took care of them all day — when they were asleep, that’s when I felt the greatest sense of satisfaction,” he said. “If I could, I would have my own baby. But the lower half of my body isn’t equipped for that!”

Seriously, though, he’s looking for a partner because “if you are going to bring up a child, you have to give it a family. I say that because I come from a broken family.” But there’s a possible spanner in the works: Wang admits he can be childish. “I don’t like giving in to others. That’s probably why I still don’t have a girlfriend,” he said. “I have never looked for romance but as I’m getting older, I know that it’s something I need. Yet, I also know I am childish and impulsive.”

Wang is in good company: Wu also described himself as being “like a big kid”.

“When I was married, (ex-wife Wong) Li-Lin would always say she had three kids: Two kids and me,” he quipped. “There’s a part of me that wants to be mature but that humorous side, that comical side, makes people think I’m just this big, funny, laughable meathead. All the other parents at school are dressed nicely for work and I’m usually in a T-shirt, board shorts and slippers! Boys will be boys — we all grow old but we don’t all grow up.”

Therein, perhaps, lies the fundamental difference between women and men. “The teachers were mostly women and they were strict and serious. It was good cop, bad cop,” Wu recounted. “If we guys saw a kid bullying another kid, for instance, we’d speak to them nicely about it. The teachers would say, ‘Time out! Go stand in a corner. None of this. Stop that. Even we were scared of them!”

That said, Wu also managed to singlehandedly make all the kids cry — accidentally, of course.

During a Korean Heritage Week at the kindergarten, he donned a Taekwondo uniform for a demonstration. “They had these Taekwondo instructors teach me some basic moves and how to break pieces of wood. They said, ‘When you’re about to hit the piece of wood, just scream at the top of your voice.’ So I go up there, I’m breaking these pieces of wood and screaming at the top of my lungs, and these kids are just freaking out. They start crying all over the room. They’re terrified. The teachers were laughing, the kids were bawling their eyes out,” he laughed.

That must be why actors say you should never work with children or animals.

Catch Men In Kindergarten on Tuesdays at 8.30pm on E City (StarHub TV Ch 111/825).