No paparazzi here: Tony Leung reveals he visits Singapore often, even knows Bird Park moved

If you spot a Tony Leung lookalike in Singapore, do not think twice, because it might just be the Hong Kong superstar.

After all, the 61-year-old was spotted this February at Gardens by the Bay — his second time visiting the nature park — and took photos with two elderly women.

Speaking to local media yesterday (Dec 21) to promote his new movie The Goldfinger, Tony shared that he stops by Singapore frequently because he has friends here.

When asked if he visits to avoid Hong Kong paparazzi, he agreed, saying: "I like to enjoy my time at the poolside, go for a swim and sunbathe."

He added that these are things he can't do in Hong Kong.

Tony added that he used to travel here frequently in the 1980s for promotional activities, filming or other work.

He said: "Occasionally, I would reminisce about life in the past, such as the food stalls, Singapore delicacies and I frequently visited some parks, such as the Jurong Bird Park, which I understand has now moved."

When asked how he knew about that, he explained: "Because I also visited Singapore recently. I love to go to parks. Whenever I go to a country, I like to go to their parks for a walk. I asked about the bird park [during the recent trip], and was told that it has moved."

He added that he hasn't been to the new Bird Paradise.

Tony, who was here this time round with director-scriptwriter Felix Chong and executive producer Ronald Wong, also shared that he loves local food, including laksa and chicken rice.

Does he have any intentions of purchasing a home here? He revealed that he had read up a bit to understand the property market here, adding with a laugh: "It's very expensive now. The living standards here are very different."

Tony plays con-man Cheng Yiyan in the new crime-thriller movie The Goldfinger, who builds his own international conglomerate through a series of bold investments, messing with stock markets and involvement in corruption and fraud, leading to a 15-year cat-and-mouse chase with Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) principal investigator Liu Qiyuan (Andy Lau) to uncover the truth.

The movie, which also stars Charlene Choi, Simon Yam, Alex Fong, Phillip Keung, Catherine Chau and Carlos Chan, opens here on Dec 30.

ALSO READ: 'I want it to be more passionate, but I can't': Tony Leung on kiss with Charlene Choi and working with Andy Lau in new movie The Goldfinger

yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com

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