Gurmit Singh

Gurmit Singh (born 24 March 1965; Punjabi: ਗੁਰਮੀਤ ਓਤ੍ਤਵਨ ਸਿੰਘ; Chinese: 葛米星; pinyin: Gémǐ Xīng) is a Singaporean actor, comedian and television personality. He was prominently a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 1994 to 2014. In November 2014, Gurmit announced that he would leave Mediacorp at the end of his full-time television career at Mediacorp - after exactly 20 years. Gurmit shared that he planned to spend more time with his family. A former artiste of Mediacorp, he is best known for his role in Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd, for which he won the Asian Television Awards prize for Best Performance by an Actor (Comedy) five times, from 1998 to 2001 and in 2003.^[2] From 2004 to 2005, he won the Highly Commended prize.^[3]

Life[]

Born to a Malaysian Indian father, Chainchal Singh, and an East Asian (Chinese–Japanese) mother,^[4] Gurmit was brought up as a Sikh, but converted to Christianity in 1985.^[5] Gurmit Singh studied in Outram Secondary School during his secondary school years.^[6]

Gurmit is married to Melissa, a Cantonese Chinese. He has three children, Gabrielle (born 1998), Elliot (born 2002) and Mikaela (born 2013).^[7] Gurmit is an alumnus of National Police Cadet Corps, Singapore, and held the rank of Cadet Inspector.^[8]

Career[]

Making his debut in the variety show Live on 5 in 1994, he then became the host and lead actor of sitcom Gurmit's World. The second season of Gurmit's World, in which Gurmit portrayed his 'relatives' in a series of skits (unlike the first season where he played a wide assortment of mostly non-recurring characters), featured the first appearance of a character named Phua Chu Kang. The Singlish-based spin-off sitcom Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd in 1997 made Gurmit a popular icon in the recent years, not only in Singapore, but also in neighbouring countries (especially culturally similar Malaysia). This factor led him to be the host of Singapore Idol. In 2003, Gurmit also won the Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes at the Star Awards.^[9]

In 2013, Gurmit was nominated for the Best Actor prize at the 1st Golden Wau Awards, aimed at promoting Chinese-language Malaysian films, for his role in Phua Chu Kang The Movie (2010).^[10]

In October 2014, the Madame Tussauds Singapore museum unveiled a wax figure of Gurmit as Phua Chu Kang.^[11]

In November 2014, Gurmit announced that he would leave the entertainment industry at the end of his full-time television career at Mediacorp - after exactly 20 years. Gurmit shared that he planned to spend more time with his family and would take on artiste engagements on a more selective basis.^[12]

In August 2020, Phua Chu Kang, a classic role that played by Gurmit was announced and signed as Shopee's first Singaporean brand ambassador.^[13]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Television[]

Variety[]

Others[]

Accolades[]

Discography[]

Albums[]

• Sing Singapore 2002 : One (We Are One) (2002) duet with Tay Ping Hui
• One Leg Kicking Original Soundtrack: 'Calling': "Into The House" (2001)
• "Moments" Gurmit's debut album (2015)
• Gurmit Goes Local (1995) comedy album

Compilations[]

• A Happy Journey Starts Like That! (2009)
• The PCK Sar-vivor Rap (2003)
• Love, No Boundaries: "Into the House" (2001) [album single]

References[]

External links[]

• Gurmit Singh at IMDb