Bai Yan is one of the most veteran artistes in Singapore, with more than 80 years of experience in the entertainment industry.

Some of you might not be familiar with Bai as he has already retired for more than 20 years.

And Bai is turning 100 this year.

Celebrating 100th birthday in May

Come May 5, Bai is celebrating his 100th birthday with more than 100 Mediacorp artistes and crew at local restaurant Yummy Palace at around noon time.

The celebration was actually initiated by people from the industry to express appreciation for Bai.

Several veteran artistes, albeit much junior to Bai, such as Zoe Tay, Aileen Tan, Chen Xiu Huan, Hong Hui Fang, Zheng Ge Ping and Choo Hou Ren are among the attendees.

Who is Bai Yan?

Bai was born in Wuhan, China, in 1920.

Here's a photo of Bai when he was young, looking pretty suave.

In his earlier days, Bai was part of a performing troupe that came over to Singapore.

His experience in the troupe includes performing magic, acrobatic stunts, singing, dancing and comedic short skits.

He married his wife Ye Qing in 1944 and has three children in total.

However, Bai only joined the television station when he was 65 years old in the 1980s.

Some of the dramas he acted in are Son of Pulau Tekong (亚答籽), Five Foot Way (五脚基) and Pretty Faces (三面夏娃).

Life motto: One is never too old to learn

In 1996, Bai received the Special Achievement Award, which is similar to what Chew Chor Ming received this year.

However, a humble Bai downplayed his contribution and expressed that he felt ashamed to receive this award back then.

In an interview with Edmund Chen, Bai also shared that one has to be observant and keen to learn to keep the audience interested in a small entertainment scene.

Bai was 95 back then but he could not be bothered to keep count his age already by then.

When asked how old was he, cute Bai replied nonchalantly that he forgot and an amused 92-year-old Ye had to answer for him.

https://giphy.com/gifs/VFwmidhMulvenWsRSc

Awwww.

To those who work in the media industry, Bai has been a kind veteran with no airs.

He even has a life motto: "One is never too old to learn".

You can watch the interview of Bai and Ye with Chen here:

Top photo collage from @sgartistessince1963 and Ah Cai La Kopi Youtube

All screenshots and GIFs from Ah Cai La Kopi YouTube