This may sound like something that was lifted straight out of a drama, but it’s absolutely real.

In a recent interview with Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News, local actor Ryan Lian, 36, who’s best known for his role in Ah Boys To Men 4 and the Long Long Time Ago series, revealed that he has a younger brother, who was given away at birth.

Ryan and his younger brother, Kevin Soh, eventually reunited in 2014, after a couple of missed connections. They had been separated for 28 years.

Kevin, who’s a year younger than Ryan, is a Nanyang Technological University graduate, with a degree in mechanical engineering. He currently works in marketing and is happily married with kids.

Meanwhile, Ryan worked as a martial arts coach before entering showbiz.

After 17 years as a calefare, he met director Jack Neo, who subsequently cast him in his hit movies. However, as the pandemic has led to a dearth in acting projects, Ryan branched out into live stream sales with his non-celeb girlfriend.

The siblings sat down for the interview together, and were very forthcoming about their journey to finding each other.

Soon after Kevin's birth, he was given away to a couple by their parents who received a red packet in return. Kevin was raised by his adoptive parents and Ryan by his maternal grandmother.

While Ryan always knew that he has a younger brother, Kevin only found out about the existence of an older brother when he was 18.

“I remember that year, he came to my home to find me, said Kevin. Through the gate of the door, I saw a young man. My mum had just returned home then, and I heard her say ‘No, don’t look for him’. I felt a little suspicious, and later found out that I was adopted. It was a huge shock for me, and I didn’t speak to my adoptive mother for two weeks after that.

According to Ryan, he tried to find Kevin as he “just wanted to see his younger brother and to know if he was a gangster, or a studious person”.

After making sure that he was doing well, I promised his adoptive mother that I wouldn't disturb them again,” Ryan added.

And true to his words, the actor stayed away from Kevin, with their eventual reunion taking place almost 10 years later.

It all started when Kevin was a guest on the Mediacorp talk show, Smart At Work. Fellow guest, Malaysian actor-comedian Jaspers Lai, who was also in Ah Boys, immediately commented that Kevin really looked like Ryan.

Although Kevin was doubtful, he eventually decided to drop Ryan a message on Facebook to see if they were really related.

Unfortunately, it took a while before Ryan replied as he “didn't have the habit of going through his Facebook messages”.

But once Ryan saw the message, he was over the moon. “My younger brother’s finally acknowledging me!” he said.

Though nervous, the two finally met for the first time at a hotel, and spent hours chatting and catching up with each other.

In the interview, Kevin readily admitted that he was once reluctant to bring up his past, and held a grudge against his birth parents, as well as his maternal grandmother, who’d approved the adoption.

“I've since let go [of my grudge], and no longer harbour hatred [towards them]. It could’ve have been a choice that they had to make back then, but since they’ve chosen to give me up, I wouldn’t deliberately seek them out now,” Kevin said.

He also met up with their maternal grandmother recently. She had been admitted into a nursing home a while back and suffers from dementia.

Kevin said he now wants to encourage adopted children like him.

“Adoptive parents are more admirable than biological parents, adopted children should always look on the bright side, and not brood too much about their past”.

Ryan also chimed in, adding that biological parents should be more responsible when it comes to their children. “If you wait till they’re all grown up before wanting to acknowledge them, you would definitely regret it because it would be too late then!”.

Photos: Ryan Lian/Instagram