The announcement of Aloysius Pang’s death triggered an outpouring of grief from his friends, family, and fans.
The young actor had posted on Facebook earlier this month that he was “off to serve our country” and would be doing his reservist training for three weeks in New Zealand. He added that he may not be able to post as much while he was there and asked his fans to await his return.
Sadly, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) announced on Wednesday (23 Jan) that Corporal First Class (National Serve) Pang succumbed to fatal injuries sustained during a military exercise four days prior.
Posting on his Instagram account, Pang’s family asked for the public’s understanding that they would be unable to comment further at this time.
They said that the past few days have been a difficult time, with every news they received since his last operation was “devastating” with “little sings of hope on his recovery”.
They continued, “We’re going to lose a brother. And my parents are going to lose their precious son whom is only 28.”
Also expressing their grief were national broadcaster Mediacorp as well as the media company that represents Pang, NoonTalk Media. NoonTalk posted photo of the young actor on their Facebook page with the caption, ‘you will be missed’ and changed their Facebook cover photo to black.
Meanwhile, Mediacorp issued a statement to convey their sympathies to Pang’s family. Pang started his career with Mediacorp as a child actor in 1999. He was named one of the 8 Dukes of Caldecott Hill in 2013 and was awarded Best Newcomer at the Star Awards 2015. He also became one of the Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes at the 2016 Star Awards. Most recently, Aloysius was cast as the lead in My One in a Million, a future drama on Channel 8.
The media giant added, “Aloysius was much loved by all who worked with him and extremely popular with fans. He was a highly capable actor who had grown in skill and versatility but remained humble, diligent and ever willing to help others. He will always be remembered for his good-heartedness, his sincere, unaffected earnestness and his professionalism. He showed respect to everyone, especially his elders.”
Mediacorp described Pang’s losst as “devastating”, adding that they “feel deeply for Aloysius’s family, friends, fans, his colleagues at NoonTalk Media and fellow artistes and teams who worked with him.”
They said, “We will do all we can to support them at this very difficult time.”
Pang’s body is still in New Zealand where local authorities are waiting for permission from his family to conduct an autopsy prior to repatriation. MINDEF says that SAF will be making the necessary arrangements to fly his body back.
MINDEF also announced that an independent Committee of Inquiry will be assembled to investigate the circumstances which led to the accident.
