Glenn Yong sleeps 4 hours a night to give parents a good life and landed house

Since the release of Ah Girls Go Army, local actor Glenn Yong has become a rising star. 

While he’s certainly come a long way in terms of his career, the 25-year-old isn’t resting on his laurels. Just last month, he announced that he would be taking on a corporate job as the head of marketing at Confirm Good, a local lifestyle platform. 

During the media event for Ah Girls Go Army Again, AsiaOne sat down with Glenn to find out more about his decision to take on another job despite his newfound success in showbiz. 

“I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur and to do business,” Glenn explained. “I felt at this point of my life, where my career as an artiste is more or less stable, I thought, it’s time to take on another challenge.” 

Ah Girls Go Army Again, the sequel to Jack Neo's film released earlier this year, delves deeper into the girls' military training where they develop a stronger bond and mature together. Glenn plays the role of Sergeant Chow, who oversees most of the girls' training. 

Apart from his marketing job, Glenn also recently released his first English single and music video Up Up, which was entirely written and produced by himself. 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT787ETTueI[/embed]

So, how does he manage to juggle everything?

“Basically, I don’t really get much sleep," he said. "I’m only sleeping maybe about four or five hours a day, because I’m juggling both jobs. To be honest, at this point in my life, I’m still trying to find a better work-life balance.”

He added: “Recently it’s been crazy because I’ve been working on my music video, which I self-produced. It’s a lot of work, from the logistics to the administration.” 

[[nid:583714]]

When asked about his daily schedule, Glenn looked at his manager sheepishly and said: “I usually sleep at around three [in the morning]. I’ll wake up at around nine on a good day and workout for about half an hour. After I shower, I’ll head out for meetings, which are usually back-to-back.” 

However, if he's filming, he has to wake up as early as 7am. 

He gets home at about 11pm, where he continues working on his phone or laptop until bedtime. 

“I think I’m a workaholic to a certain extent,” he joked. “If you ask me to take a break for three or four days and just do nothing, I think I’ll die. I’ll feel very fidgety.” 

However, having such a packed schedule does come at a cost, literally. 

“Nowadays, I seldom take MRT or the bus, not because I don’t want to, but because I have no time. My transport fees, oh my gosh, it’s really expensive,” he laughed. 

Although he confessed that the going gets tough sometimes, one of Glenn’s biggest motivations is his family. 

“My dad has a dream of retiring in his 60s and he’s 58 this year, so there’s not much time left to reach that goal,” he explained. "Of course, they didn't pressure me do it but I see it as more of me giving back to them." 

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/BkUYcaolj6l/?hl=en[/embed]

He added: “My main priority now is making sure that my family gets to live a good life… my parents have a dream of living in landed property and in Singapore it’s not cheap. I hope that I can make that happen for them while they’re still here.” 

While he’s working hard, his parents are very supportive of him.

"They're not like the typical Asian parents, they're very empowering, so they'll encourage me to chase after my dreams and they always have my back."  

Doing 'little favours' for his colleagues 

Glenn might be a celebrity but when it comes to working with his team at Confirm Good, he tries his best to be himself around them. 

“It’s about the vibe [that I give off], I think it’s important; people can sense your vibe. And if I act like I’m a celebrity and I’m on a different level, they can feel it. I tell [my colleagues] not to see me as a celebrity. I’m just your colleague, we can work together. You don’t have to worry that I’m a snob.” 

That being said, it doesn’t stop some of them from asking Glenn for little ‘favours’ for their family and friends. 

“The most common is them coming up to ask, ‘Can you record a video to say hi to my cousin or mum?’ I know it’s a short video but it would mean the world to the person who’s on the receiving end, so I do it if I can.” 

Ah Girls Go Army Again is now in theatres. 

claudiatan@asiaone.com