Maxi Lim on potential Ah Boys to Men 5, being ready to start dating after divorce: 'I need all the help I can get'

He's an actor, runs an F&B business, does martial arts in his free time — and now he's revealed he's a funeral service director.

How does Maxi Lim manage to juggle so many things?

In an interview with AsiaOne yesterday (March 7), he simply responded: "Just make time."

"I think, acting-wise, I've not been so busy. I'm just waiting for Ah Boys 5 to happen. And boxing, you know, I do it when I'm free. It's really not that hard," Maxi, who turns 37 next week, added.

He shared that he had "inside news" the fifth movie in Jack Neo's Ah Boys to Men series is going to be made this year. He also has plans to start "several new businesses", which he will only announce later this year.

Though Maxi only recently shared that he is now in the funeral industry, he told AsiaOne that he's actually been working at Nirvana Columbarium for "quite some time". He posted about it on Instagram only after he got a promotion as he was unsure if "anyone would want to know" about his new career.

"I'm not too sure if social media is actually the best way to do sales or to let people know I'm doing this, although periodically, I do post some Instagram Stories," he said, adding that he keeps his social media content to his acting projects and hobbies.

Maxi had previously never considered working in the funeral industry and said he didn't have any "preconceived notions", positive or negative, about the field, until his friend-turned-mentor recruited him to work at Nirvana Columbarium.

He added that his role involves recruitment, sales and pre-planning funerals. Instead of it being a full-time job, Maxi calls it an "any-time job", because being a public personality makes it easier for him to network and bring up the idea of advanced life planning.

"A lot of Singaporeans, especially the Chinese population, think this kind of stuff is taboo," he said. "So they would rather delay planning or not talk about it. But I feel that this is a very important topic to be explored and discussed."

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Maxi added that the Chinese often think talking about death will "invite trouble", but shared the analogy of buying insurance: "Everybody has insurance, but you don't buy insurance and expect something bad is going to happen to you the next day."

He also revealed that his aunt didn't have plans for her funeral when she died "very suddenly" last year, leaving their family to plan the funeral in a short period of time.

"Thankfully, because I'm in this industry, I was able to help expedite the process, from the collection of the body, to the embalming, the cremation, the collection of the ashes and the niche space rather quickly," he said.

On top of his regular duties, Maxi also supports his colleagues by heading down to funerals sometimes, which he finds boosts morale.

"Usually it's a really nice thing to do, because at least for one brief moment in time, they say, 'Oh my god, Maxi is here'," he shared, adding he takes photos and interacts with the family members of the deceased.

"Even for a brief moment, I can offer some comfort and relief, and I'm just really glad to do so. I don't shy away from interacting with the families."

Life after divorce

Maxi Lim announced his divorce from his influencer ex-wife Liz Teo in January. When asked about how he was, he reassured AsiaOne that he was "doing great".

"Actually, the divorce was amicable, I'm still on talking terms with her, so everything is cool," he said.

He added that he and Liz, 27, are co-parenting their three-year-old son Reign and that the boy was doing well too.

"He doesn't understand what happened, but he's okay. He still sees both me and my ex-wife, and we're cool," he said.

Asked if he was ready to start dating again, Maxi laughed and said yes. When we joked that we would help announce that he's available, he quipped: "I need all the help I can get."

Sharing that this was the first time he was talking to the media about the aftermath of the divorce, Maxi concluded that he must be "in a good mood today".

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drimac@asiaone.com

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