Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan takes wefies with PM Lee and DPM Wong

SINGAPORE – One could say he was everywhere all at once.

Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan took wefies with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong when he visited Singapore recently.

Both Mr Lee and Mr Wong posted on social media about the

Formula One Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix

held over the weekend. Quan was seen taking wefies with Mr Lee and Mr Wong in the posts on Monday.

The American-Vietnamese actor was in Singapore as one of the speakers at the Milken Institute Asia Summit 2023, and attended the Time100 Impact Awards held at National Gallery Singapore on Sunday.

The award recognises those who have gone above and beyond to make an impact and move their respective industries forward.

Quan, who

won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in March

for the science-fiction comedy Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), was honoured alongside entertainers such as Bollywood actor-singer Ayushmann Khurrana and Korean-American singer Eric Nam.

The 52-year-old actor posted about the award on Instagram on Tuesday.

“When I hear the word ‘impact’, I automatically think about all the people who have made a difference in my life,” wrote the actor, who made his big-screen debut as American actor Harrison Ford’s sidekick Short Round in Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom (1984).

“To think that their effect on me is the same effect I may have had on others makes me feel so good inside. Thank you @time for this award and for encouraging me to always strive to do better.”

In his acceptance speech, he mentioned the difficulties he had faced.

“I spent so many years struggling to find work: going to meetings, hoping to convince producers and film-makers to give me a chance, to give me a job, and oftentimes wondering why I never got the call – and what I could have done differently,” he said.

“The Oscars really changed everything for me. Doors opened that I never thought I’d be able to walk through. I didn’t have to go to a meeting to win a job. Film-makers were looking to work with me. Can you believe that? Me, they were looking to work with me. That’s incredible.”

Quan said his struggles were worth it if he could inspire just one person.

“I want to continue to be an inspiration. I want to open those doors for other people. I cannot believe the journey I am on and I want to bring as many people as I can along with me.”