What is former actor Thomas Ong up to? And other facts you didn't know about him

For the national carrier Singapore Airlines, in fact. It was his first job after graduation and he got the position on the first try. Thomas Ong quit a few years later as he didn't really get to travel and see the world for free as he kept getting posted to the same destinations.

Thomas Ong later got scouted to become a model and was signed to the Television Corporation of Singapore (the predecessor of Mediacorp). He made his debut in the 1994 television series Dr Justice, thus beginning his showbiz career.

Thomas Ong made headlines in 2020 when he announced that he was retiring from showbiz. This came after news that he wasn't part of the nominations for Star Awards' Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes category. His swan song was the 2020 drama Super Dad.

The former actor added that he would consider returning to acting if he "runs out of money" or need funds to cover the cost of his charity in Cambodia (more on that later).

Call it filial piety. Thomas Ong revealed on the talk show Hear U Out that he used to film one drama year so that his later mother could show off to her friends and family. He also shared how her mother was a driving force to encourage him to pull himself out of depression and get back in front of the camera.

Confessing that he can be "too carefree and messy, with no clear goals", Thomas Ong recounted a time when he was homeless for four months as he was in between rental agreements. During this period, he slept in his car in spots around Singapore and took showers at a "club with cheap membership fees". To top it all off, Thomas Ong wasn't in good financial health either as he burnt through his savings and racked up credit card bills.

So how could he have pulled himself out of financial burden? By having many business opportunities. Thomas Ong most recently served wanton noodles at the Singapore Food Festival 2022, sold durians and health foods, corporate gifts and crystals and was even an ambassador for Ann Kok's now-defunct castella bakery in Malaysia.

Thomas Ong couldn't do it in 2020 due to the looming Covid-19 pandemic that would relegate everyone at home. He focused his time on his businesses instead.

Remember the charity in Cambodia we mentioned earlier? Thomas Ong founded a company Project C to sell citronella-based products with the proceeds going towards funding two schools he helped built in Cambodia. He shared in 2017 that he also spent $30,000 of his own money yearly to support the education of 500 children.

Besides that, Thomas Ong had also pitched in by donating part of his earnings in 2020 from his ambassadorship with durian seller Durian Edition to the social enterprise Kindness Mart to support those in need.

ICYDK, Thomas Ong and Sharon Au were a couple back in the 1990s. The two remained as close friends and spilled the beans on their relationship in a Facebook Live back in August 2021. The two joked that the difference in taste was a factor for the break-up - Sharon Au preferred to enjoy and didn't mind spending more while Thomas Ong wanted to stretch the dollar with cheaper hotels.

In August 2021, Thomas Ong shared an encounter with classmates in their 20s when he attended a food safety course. In the Instagram post, he detailed how the "brats" questioned his age (he was 43 then) and that Thomas Ong had looked older than his own parents who are of the same age, even going as far as apologising for being blunt. In the end, Thomas Ong recounted the story as he found the encounter funny and admitted that he is "very old" and "realised that even if I didn't wear a mask in class, no one would recognise me."