If one is found, he and his wife, former Hong Kong actress Cora Miao, may be spending more time here, he says.

'I'm looking at what I can do there. Whether it's teaching, making a film in Singapore or working with young film-makers to do interesting films that would reach a larger audience outside of Singapore,' he says, speaking to Life! over the telephone from his home in San Francisco.

The 59-year-old director of films such as The Joy Luck Club (1993) and Maid In Manhattan (2002) is in Singapore this week to take part in a retrospective of his films, leading up to the screening of his two new works, the companion films The Princess Of Nebraska and 1000 Years Of Good Prayers on Oct 16.

He says that besides giving talks and workshops while in town, he will be speaking to local film-makers and meet various official bodies and film-related companies, though he declined to give details.

Born in Hong Kong, Wang went to the United States when he was 17 as a student. Long considered an indie darling for projects such as Chan Is Missing (1982) and Dim Sum (1985), he made the jump to mainstream Hollywood by directing the hit romantic comedy Maid In Manhattan.

Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.