Jack Neo

In this Chinese name, the family name is Neo.

Jack Neo Chee Keong PBM (born 24 January 1960) is a Singaporean filmmaker, comedian and actor who was a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 1983 to 2003. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was best known for his cross-dressing roles, as "Liang Po Po" (literally: "Granny Liang") and "Liang Xi Mei" (a woman homemaker in her 40s) in the long-running television comedy show Comedy Nite.

Jack Neo
Neo in July 2016
Born	Jack Neo Chee Keong (1960-01-24) 24 January 1960 (age 64) State of Singapore
Nationality	Singaporean
Education	Tanjong Katong Secondary School
Occupations	Film director film producer screenwriter host comedian actor
Spouse	Irene Kng ​ (m. 1990)​
Children	4
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	梁志強
Simplified Chinese	梁志强
Hanyu Pinyin	Liáng Zhìqiáng
Hokkien POJ	Niû Chì-Kiông

Since his debut as a feature film director, Neo has been one of the most commercially successful local directors^[1] who has also met with some success in Malaysia and Taiwan. He has shown a penchant for franchise series films. His most critically acclaimed film is I Not Stupid, which satirizes Singapore's streaming educational system in 2002. Critics have commented that his films had too much product placement which he justified by stating the expensive cost of making movies in Singapore.^[1]

Career

Neo wrote and acted in a comedy skit for Tanjong Katong Secondary School at the age of 14.^[2][3][4]

Neo started his career on television in 1980 and became one of the most successful and recognisable celebrities in SBC for his comedic roles on both film and television. His two most notable cross-dressing roles on film and television are Liang Po Po and Liang Xi Mei, both skits in the long-running comedy variety show Comedy Nite. Neo made his directorial debut in That One No Enough (1999) and he set up his own artiste management company, J Team Productions, whose members include comedians Mark Lee and Henry Thia, where the trio worked together in Comedy Nite and also in movies such as Money No Enough, That One No Enough, Money No Enough 2, Where Got Ghost?, The King of Musang King and Money No Enough 3.

Neo's films satirise several aspects about Singapore in comical ways, including societal issues such as negligent parenting and school corporal punishment, and foreign issues such as the water disputes between Singapore and Malaysia. Apart from his film and TV career, Neo has also recorded and produced a number of albums.

Neo received the Best Director Award at the Silver Screen Awards in 1998 for his short film, Replacement Killers,^[5] which led to him filming Hitman in the City in the same year as an extension of the original short film. Since then, he became a filmmaker and created his first film, Money No Enough, directed by Tay Teck Lock and released into cinemas on 7 May 1998. The following year Neo was awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his contributions to Singapore's media industry. In 2004, Neo became the first filmmaker in Singapore to be honoured with the Public Service Medal.^[6] He also received the Cultural Medallion on 21 October 2005 together with musician Dick Lee.^[7]

In 2008, Neo and Mark Lee bought the Singapore master franchise rights for Old Town White Coffee, a coffee retail concept from Ipoh, Malaysia. Their first store at Big Splash opened on 30 March in that year.

In 2013, Neo announced the creation of J Team Academy, an educational institute which aimed to bring together industry experts to groom new film-making talent. The academy opened on 6 April 2013.^[8] In September, Neo won the Best Actor award for his role in Homecoming (2011) at the 1st Golden Wau Awards, aimed at promoting Chinese-language Malaysian films.^[9]

In October 2014, the Madame Tussauds Singapore museum unveiled a wax figure of Neo.^[10]

2015 saw the release of Neo's short film as part of the omnibus 7 Letters to commemorate Singapore's 50th year of independence.^[11] Malaysian censors took offence with Neo's segment when it was submitted to them for a screening at Kuala Lumpur's Titian Budaya Festival. They initially requested a cut to the vulgar phrase in Cantonese, “curse your whole family”, but a successful appeal was made by organisers, CultureLink.^[12]

Neo released the first two parts of his planned four-part film on the transition from village life to government housing in the first quarter of 2016, Long Long Time Ago and Long Long Time Ago 2.^[13]

Personal life

Neo married Irene Kng in 1990 and have three sons and a daughter.^[14]

In March 2010, a two-year-long extramarital affair between Neo and freelance model Wendy Chong was publicised and Neo admitted to the affair. Chong, who played a minor role in Neo's 2008 film Money No Enough 2, claimed that Neo initiated the affair. Neo later attempted to end the affair but Chong threatened to hurt herself and the exposé caused much debate and discussion within Singapore.^[15]

On 9 March 2010, additional reports were released about Neo having or attempting extramarital affairs with up to 11 women.^[16] He tried to ask actress-host Foyce Le Xuan and French student Maelle Meurzec for sexual favours when they were working with him.^[17][18] Foyce, who went to the same church as Neo, claimed that she was advised by her City Harvest Church pastor to cease talking to the media, as Neo's pastor was trying to counsel him and his wife after his affair became public.^[19][20] On 11 March, Neo and Kng held a five-minute press conference, in which Neo admitted his mistake and asked the media to let him off.^[21]

Subsequently, his endorsement deal with Mitsubishi Electric Asia was dropped and TV advertisements featuring the director were taken off air. Other advertisers, such as Bee Cheng Hiang and Goh Joo Hin, initially adopted a "wait-and-see" attitude, but otherwise similarly dropped all endorsement deals.^[22]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
1997	12 Storeys	Ah Gu	Actor	[23]
1998	Replacement Killers		Short film, Director	[24]
	Hitman in the City		Direct to video, Director, Narrator, Cameo	[24]
	Money No Enough	Chew Wah Keong	Writer, Actor
1999	Liang Po Po: The Movie	Liang Po Po/Liang Xi Mei	Writer, Actor
	The Mirror	James	Actor
	That One No Enough	Hong Haoren	Writer, Director, Actor
2002	I Not Stupid	Mr. Liu	Writer, Director, Actor
2003	Homerun	Mr. Tan, Beng Soon's father	Writer, Director, Cameo
2004	The Best Bet		Writer, Director
2005	I Do, I Do	Member of Parliament Neo	Writer, Director, Cameo
	One More Chance	Reporter Ou Yang Feng	Writer, Director, Cameo
2006	I Not Stupid Too	Steven Yeo	Writer, Director, Actor
2007	Just Follow Law	Medical Doctor	Writer, Director, Narrator, Cameo
2008	Ah Long Pte Ltd	Music Composer	Writer, Director, Cameo
	Money No Enough 2	Yang Baoqiang	Writer, Director, Actor
2009	Where Got Ghost?
	Love Matters		Writer, Director
2010	Being Human	Waiter	Writer, Director, Cameo
2011	The Ghosts Must Be Crazy		Executive Producer, Writer
	Homecoming	Karen Neo	Actor
2012	We Not Naughty		Writer, Director
	Ah Boys to Men		Writer, Director
2013	Ah Boys to Men 2		Writer, Director, Cameo
	Everybody's Business	Man in toilet / Toilet announcement in Chinese (voice)	Executive Producer, Cameo
2014	The Lion Men		Writer, Director
	The Lion Men: Ultimate Showdown		Writer, Director
2015	Ah Boys to Men 3: Frogmen		Writer, Director, Cameo
	My Papa Rich	Pokok Lim	Actor
	7 Letters - Segment "That Girl"		Writer, Director
2016	Long Long Time Ago		Writer, Director, Cameo	[25]
	Long Long Time Ago 2		Writer, Director
2017	Take 2		Executive Producer
	The Fortune Handbook		Executive Producer
	Lucky Boy		Executive Producer, Cameo
	Ah Boys to Men 4		Writer, Director
2018	Wonderful! Liang Xi Mei	Liang Xi Mei / Liang Po Po	Writer, Director, Actor
2019	Make It Big Big	Himself	Cameo
	Killer Not Stupid		Writer, Director
	When Ghost Meets Zombie	"Mr Perfect" audition judge	Cameo
2020	The Diam Diam Era		Writer, Director
2021	The Diam Diam Era Two		Writer, Director
2022	Ah Girls Go Army	Mr. See	Writer, Director, Cameo	[26][27]
	Ah Girls Go Army Again		Writer, Director
	Deleted	Wu Haisen	Actor
2023	The King of Musang King	Wang Mao Shan	Writer, Director, Actor
2024	Money No Enough 3	Liang Da Qiang	Writer, Director, Actor
	I Not Stupid 3	Mr. Liu	Writer, Director, Cameo

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Liang Ximei S1 & S2 (再见梁细妹 S1 & S2)	Liang Ximei
2001	The Return Of Liang Popo (梁婆婆重出江湖)	Liang Po Po
2002	The Return Of Liang Ximei (笑傲江湖梁细妹)	Liang Ximei
2016	Hero	Liang Po Po	Cameo

Variety shows

Year	Title	Role	Ref
1990-2000 2003-2004 2006	Comedy Nite (搞笑行动)	Host, co-host with Moses Lim, Liang Popo , Liang Ximei
2016	Happy Can Already!	Liang Ximei
2017	Happy Can Already! 2	Liang Ximei
	Happy Can Already! 3	Liang Ximei
2018	Happy Can Already! 4	Liang Popo

Discography

Drama soundtracks

Year	Drama title	Song title	Notes
2014	118	夠力夠力	Opening theme song
2018	Say Cheese	喜剧收场	Opening theme song

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
1997	Star Awards	Special Achievement Award	—	Won
1998	Star Awards	Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes	—	Won
	Silver Screen Awards	Best Director	Replacement Killers	Won	[5]
1999	Star Awards	Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes	—	Won
2000	Star Awards	Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes	—	Won
2001	Star Awards	Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes	—	Won
2002	Star Awards	Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes	—	Won
2003	Star Awards	Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes	—	Won
2013	Golden Wau Awards	Best actor	Homecoming	Won	[9]
2016	Star Awards	Best Theme Song	118	Nominated
2018	Star Awards	Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes	—	Nominated

References

1. "Jack Neo responds to critiques about constant product placement in his films". CNA Lifestyle. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
2. Walsh, Bryan (1 April 2002). "Neo is the One". TIME Asia magazine. Archived from the original on 20 December 2005. Retrieved 25 November 2006.
3. "Socio-Political Commentary in the films of Jack Neo". Archived from the original on 17 May 2007. Retrieved 11 April 2007.
4. "Jack Neo – Tanjong Katong schoolboy". Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 8 March 2009.
5. Lee, Shu Hui (28 September 1998). "Hitman No Enough for Neo". The Straits Times. pp. L3.
6. "Recipients of The Public Service Medal". Prime Minister's Office Singapore. 2004. Archived from the original on 25 May 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
7. "The rise and fall of Jack Neo". Asiaone.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
8. "Jack Neo starts programme to groom film-making talent". News.asiaone.com. 18 March 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
9. Loy, Vincent (28 October 2013). "Malaysia's 1st Golden Wau Awards 2013". Archived from the original on 25 October 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
10. Singh, Bryna (26 October 2014). "Readers vote: Which Madame Tussauds Singapore wax figure looks most like the real McCoy?". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
11. Chan, Boon (20 August 2014). "One film for Singapore's 50th year from seven top local directors, including Eric Khoo and Jack Neo". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 23 August 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
12. Chua, Genevieve (4 January 2016). "Malaysian censors take issue with Singapore films". MediaCorp. TODAY. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
13. Goh, Marcus (25 March 2016). "Interracial marriage, slapping and dangerous fireworks in 'Long Long Time Ago 2'". Yahoo. Yahoo Singapore. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
14. "Jack Neo posts retro wedding photos for 31st marriage anniversary". AsiaOne. 25 November 2021. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
15. "Model exposes affair with S'pore director Jack Neo". Archived from the original on 8 March 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
16. "Jack Neo involved with 11 women". AsiaOne. 9 March 2010. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
17. "Foyce makes police report". AsiaOne. 15 March 2010. Archived from the original on 22 March 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
18. "French girl spills on Neo". Archived from the original on 13 March 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
19. "I did not mean to hurt anyone". Asiaone. 11 March 2010. Archived from the original on 14 March 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
20. "Boomz Award: Foyce Le Xuan". Asiaone. Archived from the original on 8 February 2011.
21. "8 celebrities who had an affair or were embroiled in cheating scandals". Her World. 21 July 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
22. "Jack Neo loses Mitsubishi Electric endorsement deal". Archived from the original on 26 March 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
23. "Grasping at Singaporean Malaise, '12 Storeys' Is an Outstanding Family Drama Still Relevant 20 Years On". Sinema.SG. 4 August 2020. Archived from the original on 9 January 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
24. Lee, Shu Hui (28 September 1998). "Hitman No Enough for Neo". The Straits Times. pp. L3.
25. Han, Wei Chou (29 May 2015). "Jack Neo unveils cast of new film Long Long Time Ago". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 3 August 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
26. Lee, Jan (29 September 2021). "Jack Neo's Ah Girls Go Army coming for Chinese New Year 2022". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
27. "Jack Neo is making Ah Boys To Men spin-off called Ah Girls Go Army". CNA. 30 September 2021. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.

External links

• Singapore portal
• Biography portal
• Film portal

• Jack Neo at IMDb
• J Team Productions
• Jack Neo's blog