Tyler Ten started saving only after realising his peers already have cars and houses

Before his breakthrough in Star Search 2019, local actor-model Tyler Ten used to work part-time jobs like many of us.

In a recent interview with AsiaOne, the 27-year-old discussed a common concern among those of his age — financial security — and how he only started saving after he got his full-time job with Mediacorp.

"When I started working, I just spent. I had no savings account to put aside money," he said.

It was only when he saw what his colleagues had that he started managing his finances.

He shared: "People around me had cars and houses, and I thought, 'I'm their age right now and I don't have all of this. I need to start saving to get them in the future'."

Tyler's upcoming drama Love on a Shoestring, a collaboration between Mediacorp and Taiwan's TVBS, takes a look at "three couples with different perspectives on finances as they each attempt to strike a balance between love and money matters" and strikes a personal chord with the young actor.

He acts as a subordinate to Taiwanese actor Sam Lin and becomes a "middleman" between the latter's character and his girlfriend, whom he initially doesn't approve of because of their differences in perspectives over money.

Love on a Shoestring also stars local actresses Cheryl Chou and Jernelle Oh, and Taiwanese actors Kuo Shu-yao, Lin Da-her, Hush Huang and Katie Chen.

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Tyler considers the romcom relevant to young audiences who may not "have a sense of how to manage finances".

When it came to advice for fellow working adults his age, Tyler emphasised on keeping track of one's savings.

He added: "You need to have a balance in life. You have to meet friends and go out, and that requires money, but you also need to set aside a certain amount to save."

Tyler has been filming Love on a Shoestring in Taiwan since October, only being back in Singapore for two weeks until Christmas.

One of the big differences and the "most fun part" in Taiwan is that the director doesn't call cut after scenes, prompting actors to continue improvising unscripted.

"At first I couldn't catch it and would burst out into laughter," Tyler said. "But now I try to perform for longer and can get into the role."

First-time 'dad'

Tyler is also in the local drama I Do, Do I? which airs Dec 21 on Channel 8, with the first two episodes currently available on meWATCH.

"It's my first time acting as a husband and father — my character has a kid aged about seven or eight," he shared with us. "It's my first time handling a scene with a kid, and I'm still a kid at heart."

This means that Tyler has to curb his urges to play around as "on set you have to be serious", though all bets are off when filming is finished.

I Do, Do I? follows multiple interracial couples in Singapore. Tyler plays local man Mah Kah Poh, who meets South Korean woman Kang Yi-hwa (Ferlyn Wong, also know as Ferlyn G) on a business trip to Seoul.

Yi-hwa hopes to have a home of her own, but can't keep up with the housing prices in South Korea with her salary as a sales representative. After getting engaged, Yi-hwa falls pregnant, and the couple get a BTO in Singapore quickly.

With his mum against him dating someone from another country, Kah Poh has to be a middleman and keep things peaceful at home.

"It was my first time working with Ferlyn, so we arranged a session of couple's yoga," Tyler said. "You need to have chemistry if you've been married for a few years."

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Tyler hopes I Do, Do I? will relate to interracial couples in Singapore, and hopes people will be "understanding of both the good and bad things" that come with dating or being married to someone from a different culture.

I Do, Do I? also stars Cynthia Koh, Felicia Chin, Panitsara Yang, Zong Zijie, Aileen Tan, Jason Godfrey, Juin Teh, Herman Keh and Marcus Chin.

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drimac@asiaone.com

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