My Perfect Weekend with singer-busker Jeff Ng

Who: Singaporean singer Jeff Ng, 34, is a familiar sight at The Cathay. He sometimes busks at the open space there on Saturday nights, doing on-the-spot song requests.

The large crowds he attracts have brought him places. On Oct 5, he held a ticketed show at Gateway Theatre. On Oct 19 and 20, he performed at the Michael Kors store at Mandarin Gallery, as part of the American fashion brand’s debut collaboration with a local artiste.

Ng is slated to take the stage again on Oct 26 at a solo show at the GSC LaLaport BBCC cinema in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is married to Ms Zona Tay, 27, a civil servant.

“As I often give private vocal and keyboard lessons and perform on weekends, this part of my week is not usually free. When I am free on Friday nights, I spend them with my wife, who is around four months pregnant. We would go on date nights – shopping or watching a movie. She enjoys Hong Kong and Taiwanese films, and I also like action movies, like Marvel films.

We recently caught the action flick High Forces, starring Hong Kong star Andy Lau, and found it thrilling, because it is about a group of criminals who hijack a plane. It was entertaining as we did not know if the bad guys would get away or if Lau would be able to save everyone.

My favourite theatre is Golden Village VivoCity’s GVmax because the screen is gigantic – about the length of two buses combined. So, I think paying around $16 each, after discounts, to watch a movie there is very worth it.

My Saturdays and Sundays are largely occupied with work, but I sometimes have Sunday evenings off. My wife and I will then visit our grandmothers. They are in their 70s and 80s and live on opposite sides of the island, so we alternate between the two every week. There, we bond as a family, watching television, catching up and eating.

Recently, our extended families have been quite curious about our baby. They offer advice on which confinement nanny to consider hiring and what foods my wife should eat during confinement. Since this is our first child, I am quite happy they are open to sharing their experiences with childbirth. They have given us a lot of useful advice so far.

During our visits, our family members, who often attend my shows, also ask about my performances. They are more familiar with older songs by performers such as the late Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng and Hong Kong’s four Heavenly Kings.

They are sometimes curious when I perform new songs, such as the Mandarin song I Will Wait (2023) by Chinese singer Cheng Huan, which they have not heard before. I typically get such song requests from social media, such as TikTok and Xiaohongshu. I am glad our families are open-minded and get to learn about new music through me.”