Eden Ang is a former Singaporean actor and Youtuber. He has appeared in local television shows such as ‘Yes Mdm’ and ‘Tanglin’. In addition to his main Youtube channel ‘Eden Ang’, he has been featured on local Youtube channel ‘Wah!Banana’ as an actor on several occasions. In 2018, several sexual harassment allegations surfaced against Eden Ang.

Eden Ang
Eden Ang portrait.jpg
Born9 November 1987
Singapore
CitizenshipSingaporean
EducationNanyang Primary School (Singapore), Taipei American School (Taiwan)
Alma materUniversity of Canterbury (Degree in Chinese Studies)
Eden Ang as Private Jeremy Ang (left) in Toggle series 'Yes Mdm'.
YouTube thumbnail for video promoting Tanglin, where Eden Ang (left) portrays Michael Tong.

Background

At 10 years old, Eden Ang moved to Taiwan with his parents. In Taiwan, he studied in the Taiwan American School. Subsequently, he moved to New Zealand at the age of 13. He furthered his studies in Christchurch, New Zealand at the University of Canterbury and had to return to Singapore at the age of 20 to complete his National Service (NS).[1]


Eden started karate training at 8 years old and went on to represent New Zealand in tournaments. He also pursued breakdancing during this period and was recruited into a New Zealand breakdancing crew ‘Common Ground’. He then went on to work for Universal Studios Singapore as a break dancer in the performance group ‘Rockafellas’.[2] Subsequently, he ventured more into acting and producing YouTube videos.

Career highlights

Eden Ang’s presence in Singapore’s entertainment scene ranges from commercials to theatre productions. In 2015 and 2016, he acted in Starhub’s Chinese New Year campaign commercials. In 2012 and 2013, he participated in two productions titled ‘Spring Awakening’ and ‘Rabbit Hole’ respectively. In 2014, Eden Ang had been nominated for the Best Supporting Actor award under The Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards for his performance in Rabbit Hole.[3] In the musical ‘Spring Awakening', he played the role of Moritz.[4] These two productions were organised by Pangdemonium! (Official website), a local theatre company directed by the husband-wife pair, Adrian and Tracie Pang.

Television

Yes Mdm (2016)

Eden Ang played the main character Private Jeremy Ang Bai Zhi on Toggle’s Chinese-language show ‘Yes Mdm’ (Toggle Episodes). As Jeremy Ang Bai Zhi, Eden Ang assumed the role of a happy-go-lucky soldier. The show is centered around the budding romance between Jeremy Ang and his no-nonsense superior, Yang Lei. The show aims to provide a more light-hearted perspective on Singapore’s National Service.

Tanglin (June 2015 - 2017)

Eden Ang played the character Michael Tong, the son of Adam (played by Adam Chen) and Xue Ling (played by Constance Song). Tanglin (Toggle Episodes) is a long-running TV series centred around 4 Singaporean families - the Tongs, Lims, Rahmans and Bhaskars. The series documents the characters’ daily lives where they navigate through a multi-racial society and interactions between generations. On 13 March 2017, Eden Ang declared his departure from the show in an Instagram post. Eden Ang’s last appearance in the show was in an episode that aired in May 2018, where Eden’s character had been sent to Brunei as a National Serviceman. Michael Tong has since been played by Royston Ong.

Marco Polo (2014)

Eden Ang had also played a small role in the Netflix original series Marco Polo. He made an appearance in Episode 8 of the show’s first season.

Disclosed 揭秘 (2013)

Eden Ang acted in the local Chinese drama as a supporting character by the name of Huang Shi 黄石. In the show, Huang Shi served as the main character’s assistant. He died in episode 18 of the series. Disclosed 揭秘 (Toggle Episodes) aired on Mediacorp’s Channel 8 from October to November 2013. The 20-episode show follows a plot relating to investigations of cybercrimes.

Love Notes (2013)

 
YouTube thumbnail for an Eden Ang (centre) production - A pa'rody of Tha'i romance movie "Our Times". (YouTube video)

Eden Ang played the main character Meng in ‘Love Notes’ (Toggle movie), a Singaporean made-for-television movie. Meng is portrayed as an idealistic kampung boy in the movie. Set in 1960s Singapore, the story centers around the relationships his character has with friends and family as well as his journey towards chasing his dreams.

Youtube (2010 - 2018)

Eden Ang is well known for the content he creates on his Youtube channel under his production company ‘Eden Ang Productions’ (Youtube Channel). As of February 2019, his most viewed videos include ‘Undercover | Eden Ang’ with 1.7 million views and ‘Cover Up | Eden Ang’ with 1.4 million views. The usual content that he uploads includes skits, vlogs, and short films. His last video was uploaded on 24 January 2018.


Eden Ang has also collaborated with and been featured in other Youtube channels. This includes local Youtube channels such as Wah!Banana, TreePotatoes, Ryan Sylvia (Night Owl Cinematics), Noah Yap and JUO Productions, as well as the overseas Youtube channel Wendie ft Wengie.

Sexual harassment allegations (2018)

First allegations

In January 2018, a user by the name of Kuroe Kun on Facebook claimed that her friend Lilith, had been turned away by the police when she had tried to report a case of sexual harassment. The Singapore Police released a statement on Facebook in response to Kuroe Kun, stating that no such exchange had happened between the alleged victim and the police.[5] In the post, Kuroe Kun also revealed that the supposed perpetrator was Eden Ang.


Subsequently, a local online personality Darryl Koshy (Dee Kosh) spoke up in an Instagram Live session that the victim, Lilith, had contacted him and sent him screenshots of the conversation that she had with Eden Ang. In the conversation, Eden Ang had allegedly sent promiscuous messages telling Lilith to refer to him as ‘Daddy’ and to turn up to work in a g-string.[6] Following this, Lilith herself spoke out about the situation in an Instagram post. She confirmed that Eden Ang had indeed touched her inappropriately despite her repeated rejections. Lilith further clarified that she was going to file a police report.[7]


In response to the situation, Eden Ang had wrote on his Facebook and Instagram that he was confident of his innocence. In addition, he believed that the allegations against him are not substantiated but rather, misunderstandings of what had actually happened.[8] Following his response, notable actors from the local film Ah Boys To Men spoke out in support of Eden Ang. Charlie Goh, Maxi Lim, Joshua Tan and Noah Yap uploaded public posts stating that they believed Eden Ang was falsely accused.[9]

Subsequent allegations

Following this incident, other women came forward with their own stories pertaining to Eden Ang. The day after Lilith had come forward with her response on the situation, former national gymnast Nicolette Lim claimed that Eden Ang had verbally harassed her in 2015 when they were on set together. He had sent Nicolette inappropriate messages commenting on her underwear and private parts. However, she had deleted these messages with the assumption that nobody would believe her and thus, there was no need to be constantly reminded of the negative incident.[10]


In May 2018, it was reported on Rice Media that another alleged victim, Naomi Tindall, was raped by Eden Ang. The incident occurred in New Zealand when Naomi was 13 years old and Eden was 19. At the time, Eden was a university student working at a local ice rink as an entertainer and Naomi had been taking figure skating lessons there as well. They soon got closer and texted each other regularly. In the days prior to the alleged rape incident, Naomi had performed oral sex on Eden on one occasion. Subsequently, Naomi recalled that Eden had invited her to his home where she was pressured to engage in sexual activities with him. Naomi and her family had lodged a police report against Eden but the Christchurch police did not pursue this case further. They cited the lack of a strong case against Eden. In the end, they had issued Eden a formal warning instead.[11]


Another female victim by the name of E. Lin released screenshots of the conversation she allegedly had with Eden Ang on a local blog, Alvinology. In the conversation, Eden Ang had proposed that they should film pornography together.[12] She had spoken out in hopes that she could encourage more women to do so as well.

References / Citations

  1. Ng, Gwendolyn. “Actor Eden Ang told he lacks leading man looks, scores leading man role”. The Straits Times. August 24, 2016. Accessed on 18 January 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/actor-eden-ang-told-he-lacks-leading-man-looks-scores-leading-man-role
  2. Tay, Cheryl. “Singapore #Fitspo of the Week: Eden Ang”. Yahoo News. January 25, 2016. Accessed on 18 January 2019. Retrieved from: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore--fitspo-of-the-week--eden-ang-030710285.html
  3. Ng, Gwendolyn. “Actor Eden Ang told he lacks leading man looks, scores leading man role”. The Straits Times. August 24, 2016. Accessed on 18 January 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/actor-eden-ang-told-he-lacks-leading-man-looks-scores-leading-man-role
  4. “Spring Awakening”. Pangdemonium. Accessed on 30 January 2019. Retrieved from: http://pangdemonium.com/production/spring-awakening/
  5. Ng, Huiwen. “Police find netizen's allegations unfounded”. The Straits Times. January 31, 2018. Accessed on 18 January 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/police-find-netizens-allegations-unfounded
  6. Dee Kosh. “EDEN ANG WHATS UP?!”. Youtube. January 25, 2018. Accessed on 18 January 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRW1XYodIA8
  7. Tan, Jeanette. “Girl allegedly sexually harassed by YouTuber Eden Ang speaks up”. Mothership. January 30, 2018. Accessed on 18 January 2019. Retrieved from:  https://mothership.sg/2018/01/eden-ang-alleged-victim-breaks-silence/
  8. Ibid.
  9. Ng, Hong Siang. “4 Ah Boys To Men Actors Defend Eden Ang In Alleged Sexual Harassment Case”. MustShareNews. January 31, 2018. Accessed on 18 January 2019. Retrieved from: https://mustsharenews.com/eden-ang-defend-actor/
  10. Laeranduil. “Former National Gymnast Nicolette Lim Broke Her Silence About Eden Ang’s Alleged Misconduct”. The Coverage. February 2, 2018. Accessed on 18 January 2019. Retrieved from: https://thecoverage.my/news/former-national-gymnast-nicolette-lim-broke-silence-eden-angs-alleged-misconduct/
  11. Yeoh, Grace. “Another Woman Comes Forward: She Was 13 When Eden Ang Allegedly Sexually Assaulted Her”. Rice Media. May 14, 2018. Accessed on 11 February 2019. Retrieved from: http://ricemedia.co/current-affairs-feature-another-woman-comes-forward-13-eden-ang-allegedly-sexually-assaulted/
  12. “Eden Ang allegedly asked this bisexual girl to star in a porn film filled with blood and violence”. Alvinology. March 7, 2018. Accessed on 18 January 2019. Retrieved from: https://alvinology.com/2018/03/07/eden-ang-allegedly-asked-bisexual-girl-star-porn-film-filled-blood-violence/