You probably know Wang Weiliang as Lobang from the hit Ah Boys To Men franchise, but before he shot to stardom in Jack Neo movies, the 33-year-old was a getai singer.

The actor talked about his pre-Ah Boys days in this week’s episode of Quan Yifeng’s hit talk show Hear U Out, which, by the way, is back for a second season. And for the first time in the show’s history, there were two guests: Weiliang and his ABTM sergeant Tosh Zhang.

But back to Weiliang’s story.

When Yifeng asked Weiliang why he started working so early in life, the latter said sheepishly: “I didn’t want to study, but my mother told me that she’d only give me [pocket money] if I did. So I said, ‘Forget it, I’ll earn my own money’.”

At 13, he got his first job as a car washer and was paid $30 for eight hours of work.

He soon moved on to more lucrative jobs. I did outdoor sales where I went from table to table [in coffeeshops] with a huge bag filled with stuff like alarm clocks and handphone accessories, said Weiliang.

I’d go to areas that I was familiar with and some stall owners would ask me to sell them two of whatever I was selling even before they knew what it was. I think I became more approachable when I did this job. I’d earn between $100 to $200 a day, and that was when I was 15 or 16.

According to Weiliang, that translated to $4,000 to $5,000 a month , which was a huge sum for a teenager. But instead of saving up for a rainy day, Weiliang admitted that he squandered all of it away.

He later became a car salesman and was doing pretty well , but as fate would have it, he was pulled into the world of showbiz during a night out.

A stage manager named Ah Ho saw me at a KTV one day and said, ‘You’re not bad at singing. Do you want to give [getai] a try?’ I agreed and asked him to give me a call if he had any gigs. He called me three days later and I went on stage the moment I was given the mic.

He brought his mum along for his first gig, and what happened next changed him.

I remember my first getai performance [because] my mum [was in the audience] and it was the first time I saw her looking at me with such pride, Weiliang said. I realised that I could finally do something that my mother could be proud of me for.

He then decided to devote all his time to getai and promptly resigned from his day job.

However, he only earned $800 to $1000 a month from getai performances and so he decided to branch out to hosting. I couldn't earn a living from doing nothing but singing, he said.

Weiliang says his heart still belongs to the getai stage and continues taking on getai gigs even after finding success on screen.

Performing has a charm of its own. There’s no way you can let go of the microphone after performing in front of so many people who applaud for you and enjoy your singing, he said.

Watch Part 1 & 2 of Tosh & Weiliang's interview on Hear U Out.

Photos: Wang Weiliang's Instagram, Mediacorp