Musician Hong Junyang recently became a casualty of Singapore’s struggling food and beverage industry.
The 44-year-old singer-songwriter’s name was included in the Sept 26 publication of the Government Gazette list of bankrupt individuals.
Hong told local news portal AsiaOne on Oct 13 that his financial situation arose from debts from his Thai street food restaurant chain The Original Boat Noodle, which had faced difficulties since the pandemic.
“Ever since Covid-19 started, it has been very, very tough for us, up till our closure... I tried my best,” he said.
He opened his first The Original Boat Noodle outlet in 2018 with a 60-seater restaurant at Changi City Point. He later expanded the business with outlets in VivoCity, Suntec City, Bugis Junction, The Seletar Mall and Northpoint City.
Hong, who rose to fame in 2005 as a runner-up on local reality singing competition Project SuperStar, also brought Taiwanese bubble tea brand Machi Machi to Singapore in 2020. It reportedly fizzled out in early 2025.
His other failed F&B businesses include cafe-cum-cloud kitchen Caf and Indian banana leaf rice restaurant BananaBro. Both were started during the pandemic and shut down in 2022.
Oppa Kitchen, a hawker stall at Tam Chiak Kopitiam in Hougang that opened in 2023, closed after a year.
Hong told AsiaOne he is “thankful and grateful” to have the support of his loved ones despite the challenges of bankruptcy.
He is married to actress Candyce Toh, 45, and the couple – who met on Project SuperStar – have two daughters aged nine and three.
He said: “I have family and close friends who stood by me and offered help. They are always there for me.”
Hong added that their support has made him cherish them even more, giving him “better wisdom and discernment” about who his true friends are.
“This has been a difficult and painful experience. But I feel that it’s right that I face it responsibly, and I will continue to choose to face it responsibly,” he added.
“I also take this moment to reflect, move forward, reset, relearn and, most importantly, to rebuild everything to be stronger in the future. I don’t see this as the end.”
Hong was recently a guest performer on JJ Lin’s JJ20 World Tour, travelling with the Singaporean Mandopop star to various cities, including Los Angeles, Toronto, London and Paris. The tour concluded in Beijing on July 13. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
