Actor Nat Ho endures LA-Singapore flight next to coughing passenger who didn't wear a mask

Someone please give Nat Ho an award for filial son of the year.

The 36-year-old recently flew back to Singapore from Los Angeles — a flight that takes about 18 hours, or longer if there's a layover — to celebrate his father's birthday.

And to top it off, he had to sit next to a passenger who was coughing repeatedly without a mask on.

Speaking to Lianhe Wanbao, the actor-singer said: "I travelled with Qatar Airways and for the flight, we had to wear a face mask and face shield. But the passenger sitting next to me didn't put his mask on after he ate. He spoke very loudly, kept switching seats with his friend, and was constantly coughing."

As the flight was full, Nat was unable to change his seat. As the said passenger was quite tall with a large physique and wasn't fluent in English, Nat decided to bite the bullet and didn't dare to remove his face mask and face shield for the entire flight.

He added: "If I were infected with Covid-19, I would be really angry! I've been obediently staying home since March, so if I had been infected, I would feel very wronged."

Nat packed his bags for Los Angeles in July 2019 to take up a year-long music production course at private music school Icon Collective.

He graduated in June 2020 with a stellar GPA of 3.85 and has successfully applied to stay in the US till August next year, with the intention of focusing on songwriting and music production. He also hopes to find internship opportunities in the US music industry.

But for now, he's back in Singapore and has completed his two-week quarantine period. While serving out his quarantine, Nat unfortunately suffered from pretty bad jet lag. He woke up at three or four in the morning, and only managed to fall back asleep at around 10pm.

What lifted his spirits while in quarantine was the food that his mother, grandmother, and aunt cooked and delivered to the hotel he was at.

He said: "They made pork belly, char siew, and beef brisket. It was definitely better than the hotel food. I felt very blessed."

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Nat admits that he's probably put on weight since coming back to Singapore. But as he has waited a year to taste his mother's cooking, he'll just shed the extra pounds once he's back in the US.

The night he finished his quarantine was the night he celebrated his father's 63rd birthday with the family.

"I'm very happy to be able to celebrate with my family and take pictures together. This makes me feel content. As I'm so far away in Los Angeles, simple things like that have become very important," he noted.

bryanlim@asiaone.com