Even though Singapore is small, it is rare to meet one's former colleague on the streets, let alone on an aircraft they are operating.
However, during his flight to Nanjing on Aug. 12, 2023, local actor Darren Lim was able to reunite with his former colleague from Mediacorp, Jerry Yeo, who is currently working as a pilot for Scoot.
Given the odds of the chance meeting, the 50-year-old took a photo with Yeo before posting about their unexpected reunion on Instagram.
In the post, Lim said he was very happy to see Yeo onboard his flight and was glad to know he was a real pilot and not just acting as one.
Lim also told Shin Min Daily News that he hadn't seen Yeo for 15 years, and Yeo happened to walk out of the cabin on Saturday, Aug. 12, after the aircraft had to undergo a delay to replace its tires.
"I was sitting in a front-row seat, and [Yeo] walked up to me immediately to greet and chat with me after seeing me. While we don't usually contact each other from day to day, we follow each other on Facebook, so I knew from quite early on that he had become a pilot," added Lim.
Lim and Yeo had previously worked together on "Baby Bonus", a Mediacorp TV series, in 2009.
Yeo's bio
According to Yeo's LinkedIn profile, he joined Mediacorp as a full-time performing artist in 2008 and spent around seven years there.
One of the most well-known roles Yeo played was Ye Rende from "The Ultimatum", through which he won the Most Unforgettable Villain and was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Star Awards 2010.
After leaving Mediacorp in 2014, Yeo became a corporate communications officer at Temasek Polytechnic in 2015.
He then joined Scoot and underwent a nine-month training programme in Australia before officially becoming a pilot, Yeo said in an interview with UWeekly.sg.
Yeo is now a First Officer with the budget airline, a position he has held for close to seven years now, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Top images via darrenlim72/Instagram & Jerry Yeo/Facebook