Jackie Chan Brings Star Power to Toa Payoh, Inspires Singapore's Next Wave of Wushu Talent

By FLUX Media

Action cinema icon Jackie Chan traded film sets for a primary school assembly hall on Tuesday, surprising nearly a thousand students in Toa Payoh with a burst of energy, nostalgia, and encouragement for Singapore's rising wushu athletes.

The visit to Pei Chun Public School was organised by the Lim Family Foundation and drew high-profile company, including Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat, Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng, and Members of Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, Saktiandi Supaat and Cai Yinzhou.

A Morning Built Around Discipline and Dreams

Around 900 Primary 4 to 6 students packed the hall alongside 21 past and present scholarship holders under the Singapore Olympic Foundation-Peter Lim Scholarship (SOFPLS) programme. The event opened with a lively showcase of wushu, dragon dance, and lion dance performances led by head coach Wilson Yap Weisheng, setting the stage for Chan to take part in a traditional dragon eye-dotting ceremony.

From there, the Hollywood legend settled in for a more personal exchange — sharing stories from his own decades-long career and fielding questions from students on resilience, discipline, and cultural pride. The morning wrapped with a mass group photo, everyone crowding around Chan for a keepsake moment.

For many of the young athletes in the room, it was a full-circle experience. Sixteen-year-old Lucas Teo, a two-time SOFPLS high performance scholarship recipient, said he grew up replaying Chan's films and mimicking his stunts at home — and credited the star as the reason he took up wushu in the first place. Standing in front of him and demonstrating his own form, Teo said, felt like watching a dream play out in real time.

"A Beacon" for Young Athletes

Kiat Lim of the Lim Family Foundation framed the visit as more than a celebrity appearance. He pointed to Chan's decades of global success as proof of what sustained discipline can build over a lifetime, calling it exactly the kind of example the foundation wants its young athletes exposed to — and describing the chance for SOFPLS scholars to meet him in person as a rare privilege the foundation was proud to help create.

The visit fits a pattern for the foundation, which has previously brought global figures such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lewis Hamilton, and JJ Lin into its charity and community programmes for local youth.

Momentum From a Bigger Season

Tuesday's event followed closely on the heels of the annual SOFPLS awards ceremony on 30 June at ITE College Central, where more than 400 young athletes across multiple sports were recognised.

Since launching in 2010, the Lim Family Foundation has poured more than S$20 million into SOFPLS, supporting 5,629 athletes across various sports. Wushu has been a notable beneficiary, with 163 scholars backed over the programme's 16-year history — several of whom have gone on to compete for Singapore at regional and world level.

Among them: Chua Xin Yun, who in 2024 became the only Singaporean to earn the International Wushu Federation's Wushu Taolu Rising Star of the Year title after taking gold and silver at the 9th World Junior Wushu Championships in Brunei; and Cholene Aw Rui En, a three-time gold medallist at this year's 5th World Taijiquan Championships in Burgas, Bulgaria. Both athletes were present at the Pei Chun event.

About the Lim Family Foundation

Founded by Singaporean businessman and philanthropist Peter Lim, alongside his son Kiat Lim, the foundation has committed more than S$60 million since 2009 to causes spanning education, youth sport, environmental sustainability, and community support. Its work has helped thousands of young people — many from less privileged backgrounds — access scholarships and pursue their ambitions, often with an added boost from the family's network of business and celebrity connections.

For more information, visit limfamilyfoundation.com or follow @limfamilyfoundation on Instagram and TikTok.