Former Ch 8 actor Bai Yan passed away at 3am this morning (Aug 19). He was 100. In May this year, close friends of the retired actor threw him a birthday bash at Chinese restaurant Yummy Palace and more than a hundred guests, including celebs like Zoe Tay, Christopher Lee and Chen Xiuhuan, showed up to celebrate the well-loved veteran star.

Bai Yan, who is affectionately known as Bai Yan-shu (or Uncle Bai Yan), was born in Wuhan, China in 1920. He first came to Singapore just before World War II as part of a Chinese dance troupe and in the '50s and '60s made his name performing acrobatics and magic tricks. He was also a popular skit actor. In 1944, he married actress Ye Qing, who was one of Singapore’s first movie stars, and they had three children together. Ye Qing passed away in 2016 at the age of 94.

He then made his small screen debut at 65, when he was invited to join the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) as an actor. He was the star of period dramas in the 1980s and also became known for playing kind fatherly figures in Ch 8 classics like We Are Family, which was tailor made for him.

He will be missed.