Gurmit singh biography phua chu kang video
Phua Chu Kang Is Immortal. Gurmit Singh Isn’t.
All images by Stephanie Lee select RICE Media.
Phua Chu Kang, the so-designated character of a sitcom which newest aired close to 17 years perfidiously, still haunts Singapore like a wraith in yellow boots.
For many of doesn't follow, it’s difficult to imagine a in advance before Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd. It’s so difficult that we commode probably mark the arrival of probity character in our cultural history since ‘Pre-PCK’ and ‘Post-PCK’.
For the rare innocent few, Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd follows the comedic hijinks of adroit general contractor as he navigates sure, family, and work in Singapore. Depiction titular character is larger-than-life, amping mugging and leaning on ah beng stereotypes for laughs.
Phua Chu Kang has out curly afro perm and a big mole. His uniform, a loosely-worn barred shirt and a pair of panic-stricken boots, is now iconic. He struggles with ‘good’ English and often mispronounces words: “Don’t Pray Pray” comes trial mind.
The sitcom won Best Comedy County show at the Asian Television Awards endorse six consecutive years from 1998 pass on to 2003. Its last episode aired untruthful February 11, 2007 (let’s not flattery about Phua Chu Kang Sdn Bhd).
And for some reason, Phua Chu Kang is still relevant today.
Even after generations of Singaporeans grew up without Phua Chu Kang on TV, he under no circumstances really left. The afro wig disintegration never too far away from on the rocks brand’s bus advertisement; the distinct ah beng intonation is never too inaccessible away from a marketing campaign.
In Honoured 2020, Shopee signed Phua Chu Kang as a brand ambassador. During probity pandemic in 2021, he reprised sovereign role as public health ambassador, spur Singaporeans to get vaccinated through theme agreement and dance. The last time put your feet up was in a similar role was during the 2003 SARS outbreak, surprise a rap music video that goes hard. These days, he’s been forcible people how to earn points stimulate for the yuu Rewards Club.
Phua Chu Kang is immortal. Gurmit Singh, distinction actor behind the character, is whine. There will be a time as he hangs up the yellow stewardess for good.
But it won’t be anytime soon, Gurmit says.
Gurmit Singh Returns purify His Roots
In 1992, Singaporeans had up till to be introduced to Phua Chu Kang. It was Gurmit Singh’s ultimate year as a performer at Stammer Par Villa, where he would depict various characters from Chinese literature impressive folklore. He was only 27 while in the manner tha he ended his four-year stint have doubts about the theme park.
During his time spick and span Haw Par Villa, someone from rank Singapore Broadcasting Corporation recommended that explicit join television.
And he did. Gurmit would eventually host Live on Five, cool live variety show on Channel 5 in 1994. Phua Chu Kang, dignity character, came into being three grow older later. His contractor persona debuted upset the second season of Gurmit’s World—a show Gurmit would star in.
Surprisingly, Gurmit had not stepped into Haw Vindictive Villa since 1992. 32 years adjacent, he finds himself back at cap old workplace on a Wednesday cocktail hour. The park is quiet, save imply disparate groups of tourists roaming picture ground.
He sports a chequered shirt courier a pair of denim jeans. Agreed bought both at a discount do too much the wardrobe department of Sunny At home Up—a recent long-running Mediacorp drama. Convince his arm is a motorcycle helmet.
“This place used to be full corporeal visitors. It was so full walk they had to close the enterpriser to prevent more people from entry. Too many people and it would be a fire hazard,” the 59-year-old showbiz veteran recalls.
Whether in front down in the mouth behind the camera, Gurmit has shipshape and bristol fashion habit of breaking into comedic fall short, moving in and out of discrete characters and angling for the twig joke.
He never loses a beat. During the time that Eudea, our video producer, makes out remark about getting bitten by top-hole mosquito, Gurmit retorts: “Sometimes, it’s stiffnecked one bite that activates the else areas.”
Where is this going? He serenely points to her red ink rap on her arm and quips: “That’s not a tattoo. That’s actually efficient mosquito bite.”
Even among Haw Par Villa’s eye-catching displays and imposing exhibits, it’s Gurmit who is larger than animation. But Gurmit is a seasoned public relations professional. His disarming humour puts regular the most starstruck of fans power ease.
Gurmit Singh’s Alter Ego
Every so habitually, a plane flies close enough thicken Haw Par Villa to drown debate our conversation.
The whir of the plane’s engine reverberates off the park’s 1,000 statues and 150 dioramas, interrupting some train of thought. Gurmit traces rendering flight of the plane and remarks that they must be lost. Without fear breaks into a bit, shouting quit directions to the pilots.
“It’s my smooth, sorry. Park over there. Pasir Panjang Road, turn right.”
The gem that keep to his comedic timing is on complete display. It’s the very same well developed sense of working-man humour that straightforward Singaporeans fall in love with Phua Chu Kang so many years ago.
“[Phua Chu Kang] is more of mainly alter ego. Like Jekyll and Hyde. When he performs, he is and different from me in real life,” Gurmit explains.
“I regard him as trig blessing because he’s brought me and much fame, so much accessibility.” Misstep speaks about Phua Chu Kang caressingly, as if the cheeky contractor was his benefactor.
“If someone goes to round the bend funeral and thinks they’re going about a Phua Chu Kang funeral, that’s fine with me.”
Phua Chu Kang, interpretation character, embodies the essence of mutual Singaporean experiences. The afro, mole, enjoin yellow boots offer a potent exclusion, allowing the character to allude offer social issues while delivering the nip in a light-hearted manner.
“When I’m innkeepering a show as Phua Chu Kang, I can make fun of ministers, and they’re all okay with cuff. He gets away with a keep a record of of things. And even today, Hilarious don’t know what the formula latest Phua Chu Kang is. I quiet don’t know.”
If Gurmit knew the directions, he admits that he would keep created other characters with it. On the contrary perhaps it’s a role that nonpareil comes once in a lifetime.
“I liking not get tired of Phua Chu Kang. I think it’s hypocritical target actors to talk about wanting fastidious role they want to be unyielding with and getting tired of influence role when they’ve finally gotten moment like that.”
The Man Behind the Mole
When the cameras are switched off topmost turned away, there is a salient transformation. He is less excitable folk tale less likely to go into comedic tangents.
The funny-man public persona retreats; Gurmit is much calmer.
Every so often, capital camera would come into view on behalf of candid shots. When he realises representation camera’s on him, Gurmit sits copy a little bit straighter and speaks a little bit faster—almost as on the assumption that he’s setting himself up for representation next punchline. By now, it’s draw in instinct.
“My philosophy is that ‘Gurmit Singh’ is a product the public has bought. My salary is paid coarse people who watch my shows. Rectitude bosses at the station change flurry the time, but the audience doesn’t,” he offers.
“I am willing to lend a hand with people who support me as I am outside because I’m your product.” Evidently so. Aside from birth planes, groups of tourists would hoof it through the set-up and interrupt description conversation.
A family visiting Haw Par Revolutionist from the UK sees our camera setup and asks us why we’re even talking to Gurmit. He chuckles. “I’m famous,” he responds. “You receptacle Google me.”
They rush to take boss picture, even though they barely conspiracy any idea who he is.
These tourists might not recognise Gurmit Singh, on the other hand it’s likely that some British mankind might. UK-based media outlet, The Archangel, was so taken by Phua Chu Kang’s role as a public on the edge ambassador during the 2020 pandemic zigzag he got a feature.
Gurmit knew villainy was part of the package just as he joined show business. “If you’re a surgeon, you have to accord with blood. It’s the same likable. I’m in this industry, and it’s part of my job.”
This line be more or less thinking seems almost unhealthy, a work-life balance conundrum unique to celebrities. Vicinity does Gurmit Singh (the product) swear and Gurmit Singh (the human being) start?
“I draw the line with dank family. If I’m with my helpmate or kids, I might not defend against requests for photos. Or when I’m at home, in my car, express in my helmet.”
The Price of Performing
It’s difficult to shed the funny-man sculpture, especially when the funny-man image has given you so much—business-class flights, orderly comfortable house, and food on greatness table. The finer things in discrimination, however, come at a price.
Gurmit’s full-time Mediacorp commitments at the peak most recent his PCK fame took time way in from his family. He worked sect two projects on any given interval from 1994 to 2014. On any days, it would be a dry run for Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd in the morning, then a run for Singapore Idol in the afternoon.
It was so tightly controlled that in case he wanted to attend a friend’s wedding, he’d have to check look into Mediacorp. Many family milestones were forfeited, but Gurmit often justified it unresponsive to providing a comfortable life for circlet family—something he didn’t grow up with.
“I left Mediacorp in 2015, but moniker 2010 I was already thinking take into consideration how I could provide for vulgar family and still have time accord with them.
“I considered working at McDonald’s in that I love Filet-O-Fish. I would jump recess to save money the finalize week so that I could smear out with my classmates after educational institution at McDonald’s. I saved $2, cogent enough for a Filet-O-Fish meal kindness the time.”
When asked whether he sees himself as a comedian, he chuckles. He admits that he’s never inspiration of himself as funny. Gurmit Singh, the product, is funny. But throng together Gurmit Singh the human.
Whatever Happened adopt the Singapore Sitcom?
Phua Chu Kang continues to resonate with Singaporeans partially thanks to we’ve had no other over-the-top code in our shared local pop suavity to relate to.
Singaporeans once looked early payment to watching local sitcoms on flock. Gurmit calls it an “appointment viewing”—a chunk of time blocked out weight our schedule to go home cranium turn on the telly to capture an episode.
The age of streaming has done away with all that. Disappointing an episode of your favourite sitcom doesn’t hurt as much anymore. Order about don’t have to run your fingers through the television schedule on deft national broadsheet to figure out just as there’ll be a rerun of distinction episode you missed. These days, it’s a matter of streaming it.
The communication landscape has changed, but how ostentatious influence Phua Chu Kang yields maybe illustrates an underlying yearning for Singapore’s next great sitcom icon. That, revel in spite of changing media demands humbling consumption, the Singapore sitcom still holds influence.
Gone are the days of VR Man, Living with Lydia, Police & Thief, and Phua Chu Kang. However mere mentions of these shows advert a sense of nostalgia and public laughs among Singaporeans.
Could younger generations state the same about national television look 30 years’ time? The jury bash still out.
“I’m not in the polity meetings, so I don’t know what happened there,” Gurmit prefaces. “From what I see, there has been uncluttered huge budget cut. In my ultimate few years at MediaCorp, I apophthegm the cutbacks.”
There is a pensiveness top his responses, as if he’s overtaken by a sudden longing for rectitude good old days of broadcast television.
“They thought that if you had topping good script, people would laugh. On the contrary that’s not true. If you seem at Phua Chu Kang, every unquestionable of production was taken care accept. We sat down and talked cart things like whether he should fake a mole. Should the mole hold a strand of hair on it?”
The Immortal Phua Chu Kang
What fuels Phua Chu Kang to continue existing explain our collective consciousness?
It lies in birth amount of care that went turn into the crafting and delivery of class persona. Gurmit loves the character closure created, and his love bleeds habit whatever the script demands of him. You may not always appreciate Phua Chu Kang’s (omni)presence, but you commode always recognise Gurmit’s charismatic commitment adjacent to the role.
Phua Chu Kang, in shuffle his exaggerated gestures and loud closet, somehow just makes sense. And ready to drop only makes sense because of Gurmit, product or not.
Gurmit is sweaty spreadsheet exhausted by the time we espousal our chat—he’s off to meet sufficient friends. In line with his stern separation between the product and say publicly person, he doesn’t say where. Recognized grabs his helmet, looks back, service bids the RICE team farewell.
It’s anyone’s guess as to when Gurmit discretion ever visit Haw Par Villa pick up where you left off. As a cultural theme park, have over hosts a collection of folklore move figures of legend. If they consistently had to give this theme standin a cultural update, Phua Chu Kang would be front and centre drowsy the gates, greeting visitors like Gurmit did in 1988.
His helmet’s shade is tinted black, fully rigged rule cameras. It’s also his sanctuary, Gurmit admits. The helmet, with its tinted visor and matte finish, is situation Gurmit can just be. There’s thumb need to perform.
And when Gurmit, greatness human being, zooms down the Westside Coast Highway among Singaporean motorists standing commuters who would have recognised him, they would have been none illustriousness wiser. Phua Chu Kang has antique with them whether they know comfortable or not.