Gurmit Singh

Gurmit Ottawan Singh (born 24 March 1965;(Punjabi: ਗੁਰਮੀਤ ਓਤ੍ਤਵਨ ਸਿੰਘ; Chinese: 葛米星; pinyin: Gémǐ Xīng), better known as Gurmit Singh, is a Singaporean actor, host and comedy performer. He is best known for his role in Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd, and was an artiste in MediaCorp.

Life

Born to a Punjabi Indian father, Chainchal Singh and a Chinese–Japanese mother, Gurmit was brought up as a Sikh, but converted to Christianity in 1985. Gurmit Singh studied in Outram Secondary School during his secondary school years.

Gurmit is married to Melissa, a Cantonese Chinese. He has three children, Gabrielle (Gabbi Wenyi Ayane Virk, born 1997), Elliot (born 2000) and Mikaela (born 2013). Gurmit is an alumnus of National Police Cadet Corps, Singapore and held the rank of Cadet Inspector. He drives a Grigio Telesto Lamborghini Gallardo.

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 1996 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 the past few years, Gurmit has also won the Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes at the Star Awards.