SINGAPORE - Hong Kong actor Kenneth Ma has been in the news recently but attention on his love life is not what the TVB actor wants.
"I will leave relationship matters to fate, I won't force it. Now, I'm just hard at work filming and making money," the 45-year-old told The Straits Times in Mandarin.
"Housing in Hong Kong is very expensive, you know?", he added jokingly.
Ma was in town on Friday (Sept 27) with fellow TVB artists Mandy Wong, Rebecca Zhu and Lai Lok Yi at the invitation of Singtel TV, which introduced Hong Kong's TVB Jade (Channel 511) and TVB Xin He (Channel 517) to its service earlier this month.
This was the actor's first visit to Singapore after his former girlfriend Jacqueline Wong, 30, was embroiled in a cheating scandal. She was caught kissing Hong Kong singer Andy Hui - who is married to Cantopop singer Sammi Cheng - in a taxi in April.
Dressed in a crisp white blazer for the event at Singtel's Comcentre in Somerset, he appeared to be in good spirits and waved to fans who were there to greet him.
Asked what he has been up to these days, he said: "Nothing much, it's been non-stop filming for the upcoming series. I'm just focusing on that to do it well.
The actor, who is known for roles in TVB serials such as The Exorcist's Meter (2017), was in town to promote the hit medical drama Big White Duel (2019). Singtel TV subscribers can catch the show on e-Le (Channel 11/501) on demand from Nov 1.
Ma plays the lead role Tong Ming, a cardiothoracic surgery head at a public hospital Marshall Paxton on the rocky road to privatisation.
He is now filming crime drama Line Walker 3 till the end of the year, in which he takes on the role of Moses Chan's brother, who is looking to avenge his death.
"It should be quite refreshing for my fans to see me play a bad guy, which is quite different from my usual good-guy characters. Playing the bad guy gives me a bigger scope to express myself," he said.
"When I was acting as the good guy, not many women (in the shows) like me. I don't know if the fans will like me as the bad guy, but hopefully they will." He added a Chinese phrase: "If a man is not bad, women won't love him."
Ma, who was lastin Singapore more than three years ago, said he is heartened by his fans' enthusiasm and support over the years.
"Fans in Singapore are very passionate, even more than Hong Kong fans. In Hong Kong, there are more opportunities to meet fans, at least once a month, so it's not so special anymore. Here, it's once every three years," he noted.
Whenever he visits Singapore, there is one dish he must have: chilli crab.
"I love seafood and the crab pincers here are as big as chicken drumsticks, I love it", he said.
Apart from food, the future is weighing on his mind as well.He said: "No concrete plans yet, but I'm thinking about other opportunities and avenues outside of the entertainment industry - no one can be an actor forever."
