Food, fun and friendship connect Taiwan actor Austin Lin to Singapore

SINGAPORE – For Taiwanese actor Austin Lin, Singapore is a land of food, fun and friends.

Last here in September 2025 at a fan screening of the Taiwanese movie 96 Minutes (2025), Lin was back in town this week for a watch event.

On the evening of Sept 9, he wore a Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph to the opening cocktail party for the Audemars Piguet: Perspectives On Time exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore. The exhibition explores the Swiss watchmaker’s history and features rare timepieces.

In an interview with The Straits Times earlier that day, the 38-year-old said he had enjoyed his last visit here, which included a post-movie Q&A session at GV Bugis+. It was a rare chance to meet local audiences in a cinema here, he added.

He said of local fans: “They are very enthusiastic, and their reactions very direct. For actors, this is very precious, because the audience’s reaction is an important source of strength for an actor’s performance.”

He also waxed lyrical about the food here, including local dishes like chilli crab. Despite having only two days in the Lion City before returning to Taiwan on Sept 10, Lin managed to have his fill of chicken rice.

In addition, he has a friend here – Singaporean actor Glenn Yong. The two met when they were guests at the launch of a collection by fashion brand Kenzo at the ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands in 2023.

Since then, when Yong visits Taiwan, they meet up for meals. Yong also turned up to support Lin during the 2025 screening of 96 Minutes in Singapore.

However, Lin’s schedule this time was too tight for a catch-up.

Still, he managed to take some photos in Singapore. Back in 2025, he uploaded images of himself posing around the Suntec City area, including one with the Singapore Flyer in the background.

He said: “Singapore has so many beautiful streets and special corners. Once, I was wowed seeing the light show at Gardens by the Bay and felt very lucky to catch it.”

Since entering show business through the second season of Taiwanese singing competition One Million Star in 2007, Lin has become better known as an actor.

He won Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Horse Awards for playing a high school student in the romance film At Cafe 6 (2016). More recently, he was nominated at the Taipei Film Awards for Best Actor for portraying a gay ghost in the comedy film Marry My Dead Body (2022).

In addition, he was named Best Host in a Reality or Game Show at the Golden Bell Awards for the third season of Taiwanese variety show Three Piglets (2022).

In recent years, several projects have taken him out of Taiwan. They include his first South Korean movie, action thriller Tristes Tropiques (2025), as well as cyber thriller Candlestick (2025), a Japan-Taiwan co-production.

Lin will wear the producer hat for the first time for an upcoming movie about dogs, currently in pre-production, in which he will also star.

He said: “I realised that the most important thing about being a producer is that you have to really believe in this story, and then you have to really want to tell this story.”

The dog lover adopted a mixed-breed named Aqua and celebrated its fourth birthday in February.

He said: “I feel Aqua changed some of my views on life; how I look at people and animals has become completely different. So I also hope to capture this feeling: how a dog changes a person or what exactly a dog can bring to people.

“Whether one has raised dogs or not, I think they will be able to see their adorable expressions and be moved.”