Actor Benjamin Tan thanks fans for his Star Awards Top 10 Most Popular win with a vegetarian dinner

Mediacorp actor Benjamin Tan, 31, earned his first Star Awards Top 10 Most Popular Male Artiste trophy last month after five years in showbusiness. 

When 8days spoke to him backstage after his win, Benjamin candidly revealed that he created 10 accounts to vote for himself. Of course, that was far from enough to guarantee a win. His fan club, Bentective FC, went all out to ensure their idol made it on stage, and Benjamin promised to “repay them for everything”.

And repay them he did.

On May 3, Benjamin treated 11 of his fans to a vegetarian dinner at Desker Road’s Fo You Yuan restaurant. Why a vegetarian meal, you might wonder?

His fans actually went on a vegetarian diet for almost a month before the Star Awards, so he would be blessed by the Gods to get his first win.

Speaking to 8days, Benjamin revealed: “I didn’t know beforehand that they were going to do this for me. I came to know about it when my fans tagged me in their IG stories. Initially, I thought it was a one-off thing. I remember they had a vegetarian meal on March 28 as it was the birthday of The Goddess of Mercy.

“However, I found out they actually went vegetarian for a long period. They also tagged me on numerous occasions, around four times, whenever they visited the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho temple at Waterloo Street on the weekends to pray for me,” continued Benjamin.

“I am really grateful because even for myself, the most I did was pray in my mind at home and hope for the best.”

He believes their unconventional efforts and sincerity played a part in him winning the award.

He told us: “I am a superstitious person. I’m sure the prayers of my fans touched the hearts of those they prayed to. On top of that, I strongly believe that it was also the relentless voting efforts of my fans that got me on stage.”

Benjamin is thankful that he had the opportunity to interact with his supporters during the dinner. The group was chosen by his fan club leader, and one of the members even brought their young daughter to the gathering.

“I took the girl to the ice cream shop opposite the restaurant to get her an ice cream since she was looking at the store through the windows,” he laughed.

“One of my fans is actually vegetarian, so this was the first time she was able to make it for our meal gathering,” added Benjamin, who said he will hold more gatherings at places that cater to vegetarians so that fan can always be included.

Catch Benjamin in Strike Gold on mewatch,

This story was originally published in 8Days.