Actor Ryan Lian on why he roamed the streets and ate food used for praying (2025)

SINGAPORE – Local actor Ryan Lian has opened up about the reasons behind his social media post on June 10, in which he disclosed that he had roamed the streets in the last four months.

“I ate the steamed cakes used by people for praying when I was very hungry, and wore the clothes given by passers-by when I was caught in the rain,” he wrote then.

The 39-year-old also wrote that it was around the time when his grandmother died.

“I said to my grandmother’s body that I have to treat my illness and make a name for myself,” he wrote in Chinese. “I will do good deeds in her name when I become successful one day.”

Lian told Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao on June 12 that the wandering about took place around Chinese New Year in 2025. He had suspended conducting live-stream sales then and there was no work to distract him, resulting in him getting stuck in a rut and recalling his lows in 2024.

Lian was in the news when he was arrested in September 2024 under the mental health act. He was caught on video allegedly tampering with the digital door lock of an HDB flat.

The actor had opened up to Shin Min Daily News in 2022 about his three-year struggle with depression. He told the Chinese-language newspaperin October 2024 that he spent five days at the Institute of Mental Health after he was arrested the previous month.

He was injured in a slashing attack outside Nex mall in Serangoon in November 2024, when he was reportedly slashed three times on the face.

“At that time, I kept thinking, ‘Why does this always happen to me?’” he told Zaobao. “I couldn’t get past myself and felt life was unfair.”

Instead of staying at home and letting his thoughts run wild, Lian chose to head out, walking from his home in Buangkok to Tampines and Pasir Ris.

He would sleep by the side of the road when he was tired, and sometimes did not return home for three to four days. When he did, he would change his clothes and go out again.

The soles of his feet developed calluses and bruises after four months of roaming the streets, and his friends were shocked to see the injuries.

On eating the steamed cakes used for praying, Lian told Zaobao that he walked until he was very hungry at that time.

“The steamed cake was a bit strange and smelled like soapy water,” he said. “I put it down after eating half of it.”

Lian said the turning point came when his grandmother died in April, after which he stopped his wanderings. The actor was raised by her as his parents had divorced when he was a child.

His grandmother had been living at a nursing home in recent years and was diagnosed with lung cancer before she died.

“(Her death) was the thing that I have always been most afraid to face,” he told Zaobao. “It was at a time when I was most vulnerable and unprepared for her to leave. I bought the place I am living in now so that I can take her back to live with me, but there is no chance of that any more.”

Lian told Zaobao that his grandmother was always willing to help others.

“I promised my grandmother at the wake that if I have the ability and make money in the future, I would definitely do good in her name,” he said. “From that moment on, I told myself I shouldn’t wander about any more. I have hands and feet and I should come back and do what needs to be done.”

Lian has acted in director Jack Neo’s movies such as Long Long Time Ago (2016) and Ah Boys To Men 4 (2017). He said Neo had attended the wake and talked about them working together.

The actor had also previously received offers from TV directors. But Lian said he was unable to take up the offers as he has not fully recovered from auditory hallucinations.

The actor told Zaobao that he has gradually learnt to live with the occasional auditory hallucinations, and his main issue at present is sleep, which he has to rely on medication to regulate.

He was also asked by the newspaper on the facial injuries he suffered in November 2024.

“My scars have faded during the four months of roaming,” he said. “I’m still very handsome, as long as you don’t come close and look.”

JoinST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.