February 13, 2023, 11:59 AM
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Ix Shen, 50, a Singaporean former actor with TCS, has left Ukraine and is back in Singapore.
An Instagram post on Feb. 12 showed Shen walking along the Singapore River near Clifford Pier and speaking to the camera.
His post was captioned: "Shooting the messenger."
In the video, he said in a cryptic greeting in English and Mandarin:
Hi, I am Ix Shen. Thank you for watching. I am glad to be back in Singapore.
Lately, the skies around the world has been very interesting after the downing of a balloon in the U.S. Recently, over the skies of Canada, an unidentified flying object has been downed as well.
Let's just hope that we didn't start a war with someone that we are not expecting with.
The two incidents he referenced involved objects flying over North American territory.
The first incident was the downing of a balloon of Chinese origins, which was shot down over American territory on Feb. 4, with debris strewn across the Atlantic Ocean.
And the second latest "unidentified flying object" incident referred to a separate case of a craft seen over Canada that was also shot down -- this time over the mountainous and sparsely-populated territory of Yukon in the northwest.
This second craft was described as "cylindrical in shape", but said to have been smaller than the Chinese balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina in the U.S. a week ago.
This second craft was flying at 40,000ft (12,200m) and was said to have posed a risk to civilian air traffic.
Back for a few days
Shen told Lianhe Zaobao that he has been back in Singapore for several days now.
"Came back to see family, friends, and take care of some work," he said.
He further revealed that he returned here mainly to discuss the details of a book with a local publisher.
Shen added: "It is my memoir and personal experience in Ukraine, and I hope to have the opportunity to publish it this year."
"This move will also go towards Total Defence efforts here, as well as give reports to organisations related to humanitarian relief. These are the tasks I will deal with when I come back this time.”
Shen was living in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, with Natalia, his wife of seven years.
This is the first time he is back in Singapore after war broke out in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
Shen told Zaobao: "There is no direct flight from Kiev to Singapore. I transited from Poland."
He will stay in Singapore for a few months, and he said this trip was a temporary move, so his wife did not come back with him.
Given the scenes of devastation due to the invasion of Ukraine, Shen further told the Chinese media: "I would not use 'business as usual' to describe life there, because of the war, we have to constantly adapt to life."
Messages welcoming him back
Shen's Instagram post was greeted with messages welcoming him back to Singapore.
Among those who commented were fellow veteran artistes, such as Pan Lingling and Zheng Geping.
Shen's previous post from a week ago still showed him overseas during the Feb. 5, on the 15th day of Lunar New Year.
In March and April 2022, Shen moved from Ukraine to Poland and back to Ukraine again after war broke out.
Top photo via Ix Shen
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