From doing good to family time in Guangzhou: How local celebs ushered in Year of the Dragon

Joanne Soh
The Straits Times
February 12, 2024

Doing good and spreading festive cheer – those were on Rui En’s mind when the home-grown actress delivered care packages to seniors.

The Oppa, Saranghae! (2023) star shared on Instagram on Feb 9 a video showing herself spending a morning handing oranges, pineapple tarts and care packages to some 200 seniors with members of her fan club, RBKD, and volunteers and staff from welfare organisation Lions Befrienders.

“Festive seasons are not simply for celebrating on our own. Thank you @rbkd and @lionsbefrienders for spreading the cheer with me,” wrote Rui En, 43.

Each care package contained necessities such as rice, biscuits, toilet paper and instant noodles.

According to RBKD, $5,085 was donated towards the charity project.

The festive season was not as kind to singer-actress Gina Tan, who ushered in the Year of the Dragon in the hospital as her children – daughter Paige, 16, and son Pius, 12 – were warded for Influenza B.

However, Tan, her husband Preston Chang and the children were in good spirits and had a lohei in the hospital, according to a video shared by the Sunny Side Up (2022 to present) star on Instagram.

Tan, 47, wrote: “A very ‘memorable’ 2024 CNY for us this year. My two precious (kids) are down with Influenza B, and what are the odds that they have to be hospitalised. Since we can’t spend our usual CNY Day 1 with our extended family, we can still do the lohei at the hospital.

“Here’s the Changs wishing everyone gong xi fa cai.”

Meanwhile, celebrity couple Qi Yuwu and Joanne Peh spent quality family time in Qi’s home town of Guangzhou.

The Once Upon A New Year’s Eve (2024) actor, 47, sent greetings to his Instagram followers on Feb 10, along with snapshots of himself and his actress-wife enjoying the Chinese New Year festivities at a flower market in Guangzhou.

Peh, 40, also shared photos and videos on her social media. She wrote: “I have not been back to Guangzhou for a long time. I felt the strong New Year atmosphere when I visited the flower market this year.

“Wishing everyone peace and joy.”

The couple and their two children last spent Chinese New Year in Guangzhou in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.