Former Channel 8 actor Peter Yu is slowly getting back on his feet
after a high-profile divorce and chalking up a $100,000 gambling
debt
At the height of his fame, Peter Yu won the Top 10 Most Popular
Artistes award at the annual Star Awards in 1997.
Now, he is a taxi driver earning $2,000 a month, about a quarter of
what he used to draw. But Yu, 46, the ex-husband of TV host Quan
Yifeng, says he is happy.
After the couple divorced in 2008, he hit rock bottom and became
hooked on gambling. By 2011, he had run up a debt of more than
$100,000 after partying and overspending on credit cards.
The born-again Christian is slowly re-building his life. He has
sworn off gambling and is now paying off his debts from his
earnings as a taxi driver.
Yu, who was with Singapore Broadcasting Corporation and Television
Corporation of Singapore from 1990 to 1999 and joined the
now-defunct broadcaster SPH MediaWorks from 2004 to 2005, has also
re-married. He has a two-year-old son with his wife, Ms Brenda
Leow, 33, a sales executive.
He also has a 15-year-old daughter with Quan.
Next month, he will act in a church play about hope and prayer, his
first starring role in almost 10 years.
He tells SundayLife! in Mandarin: "I'm contented. In the past, I
was foolish and ignorant. But since I found religion, I know what's
important - leading a good life and being a responsible father and
husband."
His relationship with Quan, whom he married in 1998, was a
tumultuous one, with frequent fights and alleged infidelity on his
part. After they split up, he moved to his older brother's place
and fell into depression.
"Back then, I was a housing agent. But I lost all interest in work
and friends," he recalls. "I'd coop myself up at home, watching
videos on my laptop."
Out of boredom, he betted on soccer online daily, frequented
casinos in Malaysia and China and gambled on cruise ships.
"After my savings were depleted, I borrowed on credit cards.
Eventually, the banks stopped lending me money and I couldn't
afford to pay alimony to my daughter and ex-wife."
Yu, who is not in contact with Quan and his daughter, last saw the
girl in 2010, when she was 11.
"At that point, my world was in shambles. I had lost everything and
felt so useless. I missed her so much but was too ashamed to see
her."
He married Ms Leow in 2011 and the couple live in a three-room HDB
flat in Ang Mo Kio with their son.
They met in a club in 2009.
Says Ms Leow: "I don't judge his past. I, too, had a complicated
past. We can understand and support each other.
"When I first met Peter, he was cocky about a lot of things. But he
has changed. He is now more responsible and caring towards
others.
"When disagreements occur, he used to just ignore them. But now he
takes the effort to work things out."
Yu agrees, saying: "In the past, I didn't devote enough time to my
loved ones or communicate with them enough. Now, I do so with my
family and we enjoy one another's company every day."
He adds softly: "I also want to let my daughter know that even
though we are apart, I will always love her."
Yu, who has completed N levels and was trained as a hairstylist,
became a taxi driver in 2011.
"Initially, I did it to survive. But I realised that there are good
things about being a taxi driver. It allows me to manage my time,"
he says. "If my wife is on leave, I can also take the day off to
spend it with her and our son."
Some passengers recognise him from his acting days.
"They chat with me and some encourage me, saying I'm brave to pick
myself up," he says.
He recalls how one female passenger was dumbfounded after hearing
his story.
"I'm fine talking about my past. She said she felt comforted and
encouraged after hearing about it."
He is at peace with himself now.
"I know I can earn more money if I get back into property or
acting. But for now, I think it's better to lead a simple life as a
taxi driver."
In 2012, he approached Credit Counselling Singapore, which provides
counselling to help debtors repay their debts. It worked out a
repayment plan for him.
He now pays $600 a month to service his debts and reckons it will
take him six or seven years to clear them.
"I might not have as many creature comforts as before, but now my
family is my greatest comfort."
In Window In The Sky, the upcoming theatre production organised by
Bartley Christian Church, he plays a businessman dying from cancer
who undergoes major brain surgery, but slips into a coma after the
operation.
"It feels good acting again. I feel this is more meaningful than my
past work as this is not for profit," he says. "I can understand
exactly what my character is going through as I, too, have gone
through a dark time in my life."
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