My Perfect Weekend with actor-singer Glenn Yong

Who: Singaporean actor-singer Glenn Yong started his acting career with Channel 8 drama series The Good Fight (2019), before landing his breakout role in idol drama Live Your Dreams (2021), for which he sang a Mandarin song on the original soundtrack. The bilingual singer is also known for his recent collaboration with Malaysian influencer Christinna Kuan, better known as Ms Kuan on social media, on Mandarin single Dear Friend, released in July.

The 26-year-old actor will be starring as a popular teacher in Jack Neo’s I Not Stupid 3 (2024), marking his fourth collaboration with the Singaporean director after comedies Ah Girls Go Army (2022), its sequel Ah Girls Go Army Again (2022) and The King Of Musang King (2023).

I Not Stupid 3 will be the third instalment in the beloved I Not Stupid franchise (2002 to present), revisiting themes about the Singaporean education system 17 years after I Not Stupid Too (2006). The film explores the academic pressure students face as it follows two rival mother-son duos competing to be the top scorer in class.

“To be honest, my weekdays and weekends are blurred due to the nature of my job. Saturdays and Sundays could still be packed with shoots and meetings, so when I have a day off, it’s a luxury for me whichever day it lands on.

On days when I have to work, I wake up two hours ahead of call time to go for a run so that I can start my day fresh. It’s been five years since I started running outdoors habitually. I usually listen to upbeat, high energy songs such as hard-style or electronic dance music to have that adrenaline rush when I run.

Afterwards, when I freshen up and get ready for work, I use the time to prepare my mind and soul for the day ahead.

On my days off, I like to sleep in to catch up on rest from being a workaholic the rest of the week.

Afterwards, I prefer to stay in and recuperate. Since my pace of life is really intense on most days, I like to unwind to chill or healing music, such as Christian worship songs, lo-fi bedroom pop and sad lover-boy songs. My favourite artistes for these moods are American singer Keshi, Los Angeles-based duo Fiji Blue, South Korean indie-rock musician The Black Skirts and Indonesian singer-songwriter Gangga.

I also love to watch anime and romantic comedies – anything but my work. I love romance movies like The Notebook (2004) or the Taiwanese teen romcom Our Times (2015). I really hope I get to act as the male lead in shows like these. I consider American actor Leonardo DiCaprio a role model: I admire his versatility to play any type of role without letting his good looks affect him.

I like to read self-help books and autobiographies on my Kindle. A recent one I enjoyed was The Daily Stoic (2016), a daily devotional book by Ryan Holiday.

In the evenings, I head out to play a round of basketball with my friends. They come from different periods of my life – some from my secondary school and university days, others are work friends. I’ve been playing basketball since I was 13, when I first watched the basketball anime Slam Dunk (1993 to 1996). I even remember the time I learnt my first lay-up shot while watching the anime.

I look forward to enjoying a home-cooked meal with my family. My favourite dish from my mum is her baked salmon with cheese, black beans and garlic. It is delicious paired with white rice. I seldom eat out, but if I do, it would be Korean barbecue because I love to eat meat.”