Gurmit Ottawan Singh (born 24 March 1965; ਗੁਰਮੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ; ) is a Singaporean actor, comedian, presenter, and television personality.
1985
Born to a Sikh Indian father, Chainchal Singh, and an East Asian (Chinese–Japanese) mother, Gurmit was brought up as a Sikh, but converted to Christianity in 1985.
Gurmit studied in Outram Secondary School during his secondary school years.
Gurmit is married to Melissa, a Cantonese Chinese.
1994
He was prominently a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 1994 to 2014.
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, also debuted in 1994.
1995
The second season of Gurmit's World, continued in 1995, 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.
1997
They have three children, Gabrielle (born 1997), Elliot (born 2002) and Mikaela (born 2013).
Gurmit is an alumnus of National Police Cadet Corps, Singapore, and held the rank of Cadet Inspector.
The Singlish-based spin-off sitcom Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd in 1997 made Gurmit a popular icon, not only in Singapore, but also in neighbouring countries (especially Malaysia).
1998
He is best known for his role as the titular character Phua Chu Kang in Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd, Phua Chu Kang Sdn Bhd and Phua Chu Kang The Movie, 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 for the former.
2004
From 2004 to 2005, he won the Highly Commended prize.
2009
This factor leads to having a spin-off sitcom sequel based in Malaysia, Phua Chu Kang Sdn Bhd (2009-2010).
2013
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).
2014
In October 2014, the Madame Tussauds Singapore museum unveiled a wax figure of Phua Chu Kang.
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 engagements on a more selective basis.
2020
In August 2020, Phua Chu Kang was announced and signed as Shopee's first Singaporean brand ambassador.
