To the Los Angeles-based actor, Singapore remains a cypher. The contours, shifts and the landmarks are in a flux of development, and every time Ng returns home, he has to reacquaint himself with the lay of the land. He knows his way around—the memory burns bright with each appearance of a childhood haunt—but the further he ventures away from his parents’ place, the familiarity dims.
Back in Los Angeles, Ng enjoys going for long drives. One of his favourite things to do is driving up to Malibu and beyond for the beaches. He welcomes any opportunity to gallivant outside the City of Angels.
“I have always enjoyed wandering,” the 51-year-old says. “There’s this book, The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles and there’s this line that’s very evocative about how the tourist has a destination, whereas the traveller doesn’t.”
The full line is, “Whereas the tourist generally hurries back home at the end of a few weeks or months, the traveller belonging no more to one place than to the next, moves slowly over periods of years, from one part of the earth to another.” Ng identifies with the totemic traveller, the pilgrim without a destination.
This story is from the April 2021 edition of Esquire Singapore.
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This story is from the April 2021 edition of Esquire Singapore.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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