"Are you sure you don't want to take off your jacket?" I ask private-hire driver Henry Ho Kum Kong.

The two of us are standing on the rooftop of a two-storey car park in Ang Mo Kio, baking under the full glare of the afternoon sun.

Ho, dressed in what can only be best described as Singapore Kitsch — a red-white shirt and pants combo matched with a pair of red loafers; a bright red blazer festooned with stars, rhinestones, and epaulettes bigger than my face — shakes his head resolutely.

Nope, says the 64-year-old, insisting that he is happy to wear it.

Ho's car is similarly quite a sight to behold.

The teal Toyota Altis is plastered all over with stickers of hearts and stars, the Singapore flag, and this year's National Day Parade logo; stickers on its boot scream "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE".

Ho has been decorating his car, borne out of his love for Singapore, for more than a decade. 11 years, to be exact — since 2009.

Singaporeans need to play their part in decorating (aside from hanging the Singapore flag) and celebrating National Day, he says, and not leave the decorating to the government.

It started after he saw a taxi in 2008 covered with National Day decals and wondered to himself if he could do something similar.

So when 2009 came, Ho decorated his then-Prime taxi with the National Day decals given out by petrol stations and since then, has never looked back.

"By doing this I'm also showing people how we can celebrate National Day in a different way!"

Cost upwards of S$1,000

Celebrating National Day differently is an expensive affair. For Ho, it can cost upwards of S$1,000.

His coat and costume (which are self-designed, by the way) cost about S$200. The decals and stickers for his car cost between S$300 to S$500.

The festivities don't stop with Ho's car. Whenever August 1 comes around, he would give out mini Singapore flags to his passengers as well. He pays S$300 for 1,000 mini flags every year.

"I give them out to everybody — children, the adults, the foreigners, and the tourists," says Ho, adding that he even gives out flags to migrant workers at construction sites.

"The whole group of them waiting for the bus, so I give everyone and then we take a picture. People on the MRT I also give."

You are a patriotic Singaporean — that's the most common response by people who receive Ho's flags.

"So I say I patriotic not enough. You must also be patriotic!" Ho laughs.

Has anyone ever told him that his entire get-up is just too much?

"No I don't think so. It's up to you what. This is what I want to do because I'm already old, and I want to make this a legacy for me and for others to follow," he says as he fiddles with his rhinestone-encrusted hat.

Most Singaporeans are patriotic, says Ho, but on the inside. That's not enough because love has to be expressed.

"How do you show your love for your parents? Must have action, what. Cannot just say I love my parents but never buy cake for them, never buy dinner for them, never buy clothing for them."

He believes that decorating our homes as a community is one way of expressing that love for country. In fact, he had, in previous years, bought and hung the Singapore flag for every neighbour in his HDB block.

"Every one of them, I hang because it's my block. Furthermore this is at the junction, so wah, sibei swee (very beautiful)," he grins.

A performer at heart

Heart and passion is what drives Ho and looking at him, it's quite clear that his passion is in performing. As we speak the man gestures freely, as if the entire rooftop car park is his stage.

Ho lets on that he regularly competes in singing competitions organised by the community centre, something that really took off in his late 50s.

"From young I love to sing but no chance. I was rejected all the time," he says.

It was only at the age of 58 that he took back his first singing win — a small consolation prize. It convinced him that he actually had the chops for singing, so he hired vocal coaches and joined singing groups to improve his techniques. Four years later, he took home a championship prize.

"Wah, I felt great! This was what I wanted and I finally got it!" he beams.

Ho also takes pride in sweeping the Best Dressed Awards at the singing competitions.

By his count, he has won this award 376 times. Ho doesn't settle for the smart-casual outfits that many performers gravitate towards. Instead, he likes to come up with personas for his songs and create costumes that portray those characters.

Once, before a competition, Ho shaved his head in support of Hair for Hope. Immediately, he thought this would be a great opportunity to play the role of a man who lost love and chose to become a monk.

"I had to crack my head to find out what songs would be suitable for a monk and I found a song sung by this singer called Zhuang Xuezhong in Malaysia."

Ho called the singer, arranged for a meet up in Singapore, bought the disc from him, and learned the song. During the competition, Ho — with a flair for the dramatic — took off his hat and threw it at the judges, revealing his bald head just before he started his song.

The judges were astounded and asked if he shaved his head just to sing this song.

"Of course I said yes lah," Ho chuckles. And while he earned brownie points among the judges for that, Ho took home fourth place.

"I love the performance more than the competition. I don't care about the competition because after all, competition you either get champion or consolation prize. The important thing is that you get to present yourself with a costume that you make — that is what I want," says Ho, who also regularly performs for old folks with a singing group.

The 64-year-old estimates that he has another four to five years in him as a private hire driver before he sets out on his next adventure: Singing in China.

"When you're standing on a stage in China, you are watched by 1.4 billion people," he chuckles, opining that the Chinese market has space for mature singers.

In fact, Ho went over last year for a competition organised by a singing buddy from China. It was an "eye-opening" experience.

What did he take home from that trip?

"天外有天，人外有人 (there's always something or someone better)," he says, adding that singing competitions in China are bigger and grander than what you'll ever experience in Singapore.

Succeeding as a singer in China is a long shot and Ho knows it. It's OK if he doesn't succeed, he says.

"Most important is to go there and stand in front of the China Central Television. How often can you stand on Mediacorp's stage? No chance man. Here, you can just spend some money and stand there and sing one song."

"可以死得开心 (I can die happy)," he adds.

As we finish our chat and Ho heads back to his car, rhinestones glittering in the sun, I recall something he said during our talk. This palpable passion for performing — be it on the stage or using his car — is what drives him every day.

"I'm really 64, how long can I live if I don't do this? I will say this is the energy that keeps you living."

We are definitely looking forward to Ho's birthday tribute to Singapore in the years to come.

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Stories of Us is a series about ordinary people in Singapore and the unique ways they’re living their lives. Be it breaking away from conventions, pursuing an atypical passion, or the struggles they are facing, these stories remind us both of our individual uniqueness and our collective humanity.

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