Jack Neo

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title: "Jack Neo" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["20th-century-singaporean-male-actors", "21st-century-singaporean-male-actors", "converts-to-christianity-from-buddhism", "living-people", "male-to-female-cross-dressers", "recipients-of-the-cultural-medallion", "singaporean-charismatics", "singaporean-comedians", "singaporean-film-directors", "singaporean-film-producers", "singaporean-male-film-actors", "singaporean-people-of-chinese-descent", "singaporean-people-of-hokkien-descent", "singaporean-screenwriters", "singaporean-television-presenters", "year-of-birth-missing-(living-people)"] description: "Singaporean comedian and director" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Neo" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Singaporean comedian and director ::

::data[format=table title="infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Jack Neo
image	Admas Pee with Jack Neo (cropped).jpg
caption	Neo in 2018
birth_name	Jack Neo Chee Keong
birth_place	State of Singapore
education	Tanjong Katong Secondary School
nationality	Singaporean
occupation
spouse
children	4
module	{{Infobox Chinese
t	梁志強
s	梁志强
p	Liáng Zhìqiáng
poj	Niû Chì-Kiông
::

| name = Jack Neo | image = Admas Pee with Jack Neo (cropped).jpg | caption = Neo in 2018 | birth_name = Jack Neo Chee Keong | birth_date = | birth_place = State of Singapore | education = Tanjong Katong Secondary School | nationality = Singaporean | occupation =
| spouse = | children = 4 | module = {{Infobox Chinese |child= yes|hide= no |headercolor=lightblue | t = 梁志強 | s = 梁志强 | p = Liáng Zhìqiáng | poj = Niû Chì-Kiông

Jack Neo Chee Keong 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.

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.

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.

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

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Actor	Role	Notes	Ref
1997	12 Storeys					Ah Gu
1998	Replacement Killers						Short film
Hitman in the City					Thailand Drug Trafficker/Hong Kong assassin	Direct 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	Cameo
2004	The Best Bet
2005	I Do, I Do					Member of Parliament Neo	Cameo
One 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	Cameo
Money No Enough 2					Yang Baoqiang
2009	Where Got Ghost?
Love Matters
2010	Being Human					Waiter	Cameo
2011	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)	Cameo
2014	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	Cameo
2020	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
2026	Liang Po Po Vs Ah Beng					Liang Po Po
::

Television series

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Liang 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

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Ref
1990-20002003-2004	Comedy Nite (搞笑行动)	Host, co-host with Moses Lim, Liang Po Po, Liang Xi Mei
2016	*Happy Can Already! *	Liang Xi Mei
2017	*Happy Can Already! 2 *
Happy Can Already! 3
2018	Happy Can Already! 4	Liang Po Po
::

Discography

Drama soundtracks

::data[format=table]

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

::data[format=table]

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
1998	Star Awards	Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes
Silver Screen Awards	Best Director	Replacement Killers
1999	Star Awards	Best Comedy Performer	Comedy 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

References

1. "Jack Neo responds to critiques about constant product placement in his films".
2. Walsh, Bryan. (1 April 2002). "''Neo is the One''". [[TIME (magazine).
3. "''Socio-Political Commentary in the films of Jack Neo''".
4. "Jack Neo – Tanjong Katong schoolboy".
5. Lee, Shu Hui. (28 September 1998). "Hitman No Enough for Neo". [[The Straits Times]].
6. "Jack Neo - Infocomm Media Development Authority".
7. (2004). "Recipients of The Public Service Medal".
8. "The rise and fall of Jack Neo". Asiaone.com.
9. (18 March 2013). "Jack Neo starts programme to groom film-making talent". News.asiaone.com.
10. (28 October 2013). "Malaysia's 1st Golden Wau Awards 2013".
11. (26 October 2014). "Readers vote: Which Madame Tussauds Singapore wax figure looks most like the real McCoy?". Singapore Press Holdings.
12. (20 August 2014). "One film for Singapore's 50th year from seven top local directors, including Eric Khoo and Jack Neo". Singapore Press Holdings.
13. (4 January 2016). "Malaysian censors take issue with Singapore films". MediaCorp.
14. (25 March 2016). "Interracial marriage, slapping and dangerous fireworks in 'Long Long Time Ago 2'". Yahoo.
15. (30 December 2025). "Director Jack Neo to receive Lifetime Achievement Award as he marks 50 years in showbiz". MediaCorp.
16. (25 November 2021). "Jack Neo posts retro wedding photos for 31st marriage anniversary".
17. "Model exposes affair with S'pore director Jack Neo".
18. (9 March 2010). "Jack Neo involved with 11 women". AsiaOne.
19. (15 March 2010). "Foyce makes police report". AsiaOne.
20. "French girl spills on Neo".
21. (11 March 2010). "I did not mean to hurt anyone". Asiaone.
22. "Boomz Award: Foyce Le Xuan". Asiaone.
23. (21 July 2023). "8 celebrities who had an affair or were embroiled in cheating scandals". [[Her World]].
24. "Jack Neo loses Mitsubishi Electric endorsement deal".
25. (4 August 2020). "Grasping at Singaporean Malaise, '12 Storeys' Is an Outstanding Family Drama Still Relevant 20 Years On".
26. Han, Wei Chou. (29 May 2015). "Jack Neo unveils cast of new film ''Long Long Time Ago''".
27. (29 September 2021). "Jack Neo's Ah Girls Go Army coming for Chinese New Year 2022".
28. (30 September 2021). "Jack Neo is making Ah Boys To Men spin-off called Ah Girls Go Army".
29. Lui, John. (2026-01-14). "Jack Neo breaks co-star's ribs in wire stunt for new Liang Po Po film". [[The Straits Times]].
30. Yeo, Shu Hui. (2026-01-13). "Jack Neo accidentally fractures Jack Lim’s ribs while filming upcoming Liang Po Po CNY movie".
31. (25 October 1999). "The Star Awards Nominees". [[The Straits Times]].
32. (3 December 1999). "Surprise for a special achiever". [[The New Paper]].

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