Jack Neo Chee Keong (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 (搞笑行动).
Since his debut as a feature film director, Neo has been one of the most commercially successful local directors 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.
He is known for his many collaborations with fellow actors Mark Lee and Henry Thia, who were both "discovered" by Neo during Comedy Nite.
Career Neo wrote and acted in a comedy skit for Tanjong Katong Secondary School at the age of 14.
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 Singapore International Film Festival's Silver Screen Awards in 1998 for his short film, Replacement Killers, 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 Mediacorp's 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. He also received the Cultural Medallion on 21 October 2005 together with musician Dick Lee.
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. 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.
In October 2014, the Madame Tussauds Singapore museum unveiled a wax figure of Neo.
2015 saw the release of Neo's short film as part of the omnibus 7 Letters to commemorate Singapore's 50th year of independence. 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.
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.
In 2026, Neo received the Singapore Film Society's Lifetime Achievement Award. He also announced the creation of Ah Boys To Firemen, set for release in 2027 during Chinese New Year.
Personal life Neo married Irene Kng in 1990 and have three sons and a daughter.
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.
On 9 March 2010, additional reports were released about Neo having or attempting extramarital affairs with up to 11 women. He tried to ask actress-host Foyce Le Xuan and French student Maelle Meurzec for sexual favours when they were working with him. 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. 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.
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.
Filmography Film Year Title Director Writer Producer Actor RoleNotesRef1997 12 Storeys Ah Gu 1998Replacement Killers Short filmHitman in the City Thailand Drug Trafficker/Hong Kong assassinDirect to video, Narrator, Cameo Money No Enough Chew Wah Keong 1999 Liang Po Po: The Movie Liang Po Po/Liang Xi Mei The Mirror James That One No Enough Hong Haoren 2002 I Not Stupid Mr. Liu 2003 Homerun Mr. Tan, Beng Soon's father Cameo2004 The Best Bet 2005 I Do, I Do Member of Parliament Neo CameoOne More Chance Reporter Ou Yang Feng Cameo 2006 I Not Stupid Too Mr Yeo 2007 Just Follow Law Medical Doctor Narrator, Cameo 2008 Ah Long Pte Ltd Music Composer CameoMoney No Enough 2 Yang Baoqiang 2009 Where Got Ghost? Love Matters 2010 Being Human Waiter Cameo2011 The Ghosts Must Be Crazy Homecoming Karen Neo 2012 We Not Naughty Ah Boys to Men 2013 Ah Boys to Men 2 Cameo Everybody's Business Man in toilet / Toilet announcement in Chinese (voice) Cameo2014 The Lion Men The Lion Men: Ultimate Showdown 2015 Ah Boys to Men 3: Frogmen Cameo My Papa Rich Pokok Lim 7 Letters - Segment "That Girl" 2016 Long Long Time Ago Cameo Long Long Time Ago 2 2017 Take 2 The Fortune Handbook Lucky Boy Cameo Ah Boys to Men 4 2018 Wonderful! Liang Xi Mei Liang Xi Mei / Liang Po Po 2019 Make It Big Big Himself Cameo Killer Not Stupid When Ghost Meets Zombie "Mr Perfect" audition judge Cameo2020 The Diam Diam Era 2021 The Diam Diam Era Two 2022 Ah Girls Go Army Mr. See Cameo Ah Girls Go Army Again Deleted Wu Haisen 2023 The King of Musang King Wang Mao Shan 2024 Money No Enough 3 Liang Da Qiang I Not Stupid 3 Mr. Liu Cameo 2025 I Want To Be Boss Ah Keong 2026Liang Po Po VS Ah Beng Liang Po Po 2027Ah Boys To Firemen
Television series Year Title RoleNotes2000Liang Ximei S1 & S2 (再见梁细妹 S1 & S2)Liang Xi Mei 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 Xi Mei 2016 Hero Liang Po Po Cameo appearance
Variety shows Year Title RoleRef1990-20002003-2004Comedy Nite (搞笑行动)Host, co-host with Moses Lim, Liang Po Po, Liang Xi Mei 2016 Happy Can Already! Liang Xi Mei 2017Happy Can Already! 2 Happy Can Already! 3 2018 Happy Can Already! 4 Liang Po Po
Discography
Drama soundtracks YearDrama titleSong titleNotes 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 1998 Star Awards Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes Silver Screen AwardsBest DirectorReplacement Killers 1999Star AwardsBest Comedy PerformerComedy Night Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes Special Achievement Award 2000 Star Awards Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes 2001 Star Awards Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes 2002 Star Awards Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes 2003 Star Awards Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes 2013 Golden Wau Awards Best actor Homecoming 2016 Star Awards Best Theme Song 118 2018 Star Awards Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes
References
External links
J Team Productions Jack Neo's blog