Human-interest story on the man behind the"God of Fortune"

1. people people
chef what, that’s why my size is like that,” he says with a laugh. The only sport he’d “Enough to make me very happy, lah”
It’s River Hongbao time soon and as usual, visitors will
consider is joining“eating competitions”. he replies.
want to get cosy with the roly-poly Cai Shen Ye. LEONG
WAI KIT beats the crowds by knocking on the door of the May fortune smile on you Next stop?
‘God of Fortune’. Alec’s yearly appearances at the River Hongbao since 2003 means sacrificing Although Alec considers playing God
private time during the Lunar period. Reunion dinners are always eaten two days of Fortune a “bonus job”, he hopes to do
before the actual night. The next 17 days will be spent zipping between home, it for as long as he can. And after that ....
He should be so temples, and the many places that request his godly presence.
“What’s there not to like about this?” Alec asks. “Isn’t it nice to have a horde of
people bai nian (pay New Year visits) with me? Plus, my family is with me the whole
time so we do get to spend time together”.
He pauses, and says, “I might go into
monk hood.” I wait to see if he’ll burst
out laughing “gotcha!”. Nope.
It’s quite funny to imagine Alec in
lucky, lucky, Alec relates an incident that happened a few years ago. A 40-something-year-old
man, who had asked for 4D numbers from him, returned to the River Hongbao three
nights later. “He actually knelt before me and presented me with a thick red packet
monk garb sweeping the pathways of
a monastery. The grand red robes suit
him so well that we hope he’ll continue
030
LifestyleFeb07
containing $888,” he says, widening his eyes for dramatic effect. making people happy as God of Fortune
lucky Erm, so how much do you make every year, I ask, hoping not to sound kaypoh. for a very long time.
LifestyleFeb07
031
Advertorial
Huayi:
F
rom Feb 23 to Mar 4, Esplanade brings you 10 days of
exciting programmes for the young and old.
Chinese
Huayi 2007 showcases outstanding works of
Chinese artists through theatre, music, dance and visual
N
arts, so get ready to feast your senses.
o raining gold coins. No basketful of red packets either. The God of newfound persona. Besides advertising
Festival of
One of the festival’s main highlights is the much talked
Fortune is quite busy at the moment, sorry. He’s chatting with his business and hosting deals, the 34-year-old is about Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land, the original play
client but he politely acknowledges my arrival by giving me a quick nod. also invited to make auspicious guest from which An Lian Tao Hua Yuan, the 1991 Golden Horse
Arts – 2007
And as soon as he’s done, he says corporate-toned: “Come, let’s chat in appearances at charity and corporate Award-winning film, was adapted.
my office.” events. Other highlights to look out for include Shaolin kungfu
A while later, a family friend serves a tray of tea. Not just any tea, okay -- Lavender and drums spectacle - A Touch of Zen; local arts group The
Celestial songster ETCeteras’ Game Play, a Singapore Dramatist Award-winning
and Earl Grey fusion.
play; as well as the concert by household name, Wa Wa Jin Zhi
Speaking to Lifestyle in his HDB room-turned-office, Alec Chia, better known as The former Concorde Hotel chef
Juan, one of Taiwan’s most popular balladeers.
the God of Fortune mascot, is still larger than life even in a business shirt. He’s in the says one of his hobbies is singing – not With talented artists and performaning companies from
crystal distribution business and works from home. surprising considering his impressive China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, Huayi 2007 looks
And before any questions are asked, he announces: “1887”. Excuse me? Oh, vocal control. He demonstrates by set to entertain one and all in the family. Just make sure you’ve
wow. As if he had anticipated the question, he says he weighs a whopping 188.7kg. crooning a Fei Yu Qing evergreen, set enough time to catch them all.
“Can buy 4D ah,” he says, before breaking into a hearty laugh, like a jolly Cai complete with falsetto and vibrato. For full list and details of the Huayi performances, log on to
Shen Ye. Then he turns Pavarotti and belts out an www.huayifestival.com
Italian opera, sounding every bit like a
BIG break well-trained tenor (Alec was a choir boy
So how did our happy big boy end up being the God of Fortune? It all started during his Commonwealth Secondary
out with Moses Lim’s kai xin pang pang ju le bu in 1992. That mouthful, when School days before joining the Singapore
translated, means happy fatty club, the then SBC’s candid version of TAF club. Alec Youth Choir in the 80s). No wonder Alec
Photo: Zhang Hong
and his fellow fatties appeared regularly on variety shows and acted in skits with was crowned champion in the 1996
Moses Lim. Pioneer Karaoke Competition.
Lady Luck came to Alec in 1995, the year when he took over from Moses to play But his ultimate hobby, not
God of Fortune in variety shows. Since then, Alec has been getting lucky with his surprisingly, is still munching. “I’m a
Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land A Touch of Zen Sa Chen Piano Recital