 |
| “A Place To Sit And Miss Him”: Alan Yu Menglong Fans Create Emotional Marina Bay Singapore Tribute. (Credits: Rednote/Milktea) |
More than six months after Alan Yu Menglong passed away, fans are still finding ways to keep his memory alive — and honestly, they went bigger than most people expected.
Instead of trending hashtags or another online tribute video with sad piano music in the background, more than 40 supporters pooled together around S$3,000 to adopt a commemorative bench at Singapore’s Esplanade Theatres on the Bay.
Quiet, simple, emotional… and somehow more powerful than half the celebrity memorial projects the internet usually throws around.
The tribute quickly caught attention after photos of the bench surfaced on Xiaohongshu, where a fan shared their emotional visit to the spot overlooking Marina Bay.
The bench now carries a plaque dedicated to the late Chinese actor, whose death in September 2025 at the age of 37 left fans across Asia stunned.
 |
| Yu Menglong Remembered In Singapore As Fans Dedicate Esplanade Bench To Late Star |
Even now, conversations surrounding his passing still refuse to fully disappear online, with speculation and endless theories continuing to circulate months later. The internet, as always, simply does not know how to let go quietly.
Still, this particular tribute felt different. Less dramatic conspiracy-thread energy, more “we just miss him and needed somewhere to sit about it”.
According to fans involved in the project, the idea was never about publicity or fan wars.
They described the bench as “a place where fans can sit down and miss him”, which, frankly, might be one of the most heartbreakingly sincere fan statements seen in a long while.
 |
| Map. More Than 40 Fans Honour Yu Menglong With Permanent Memorial Spot In Singapore |
The bench was adopted through Esplanade’s “Mark a Bench” programme, where visitors can dedicate benches with personalised plaques to loved ones or meaningful memories.
Donations made through the programme support community arts initiatives and free public performances run by the non-profit organisation The Esplanade Co Ltd. So yes, somehow this emotional fan project also accidentally became culturally productive.
A rare internet achievement.
The plaque itself reads: “In loving memory of Alan Yu Menglong. With boundless kindness and tender light; An artist whose brilliance illuminates the world forever. Bench adopted by His Global Admirers.”
Subtle? Not exactly. Emotional? Absolutely. The wording has since spread widely online, with many fans admitting they cried just reading it.
One fan who visited the site wrote that discovering the bench in person felt surreal.
They shared that looking at it gave the impression that Yu Menglong was still quietly accompanying everyone, adding that anyone visiting Singapore should stop by and “help keep his light shining”. It sounds poetic enough to belong in a drama finale monologue, yet somehow people completely understood the feeling.
Photos of the location also circulated online, including the exact Marina Bay spot where the bench faces the waterfront skyline.
And naturally, the internet reacted exactly how the internet reacts to collective grief: half the comments were deeply emotional, while the other half involved strangers unexpectedly crying over someone they had never even met.
One netizen admitted they were not even a fan of the actor but still felt genuine heartbreak after hearing news of his passing.
 |
They wrote that listening to his songs still makes it feel like he is somehow around, adding that they “cried the whole time” while reading about the memorial bench.
Another commenter said the tribute was one of the rare fan projects that felt truly meaningful instead of performative. A few others noted that similar memorial spaces dedicated to Yu Menglong have quietly appeared in other countries too. At the same time, the tribute reopened conversations about how sudden and shocking his death felt to many supporters.
For some, the bench became less about celebrity culture and more about collective mourning — proof that audiences can form deeply personal emotional connections with artists, even from afar. And while online spaces are usually filled with arguments, fan edits, and people typing in all caps at 2am, this time many simply paused to remember him.
Perhaps that is why the bench has resonated so strongly online. It is not flashy. It is not trying to trend. It is just there, sitting quietly by Marina Bay while fans continue showing up with memories, flowers, tears, and probably dramatic playlists in their headphones.
And honestly, in an internet era where attention spans disappear faster than unfinished streaming subscriptions, the fact that people are still gathering months later to remember Yu Menglong says more than any viral tribute ever could.
What do you think about the memorial bench project? Would you visit it if you were in Singapore?