Standing by the corner throughout Jack Neo’s press conference this morning was local actor-comedian and good friend to the embattled film-maker, Mark Lee. Despite being furious with Jack as reported in earlier news, Mark was there to lend his moral support to his mentor.

At the start, Mark was seen standing by the corner as he watched Jack and his wife, Irene spoke to the media but when Irene collapsed towards the end the session, Mark was one of the first to rush forward to support her.

Our reporter caught up with the actor-comedian this afternoon to check in on Irene’s present state. According to Mark, he is not clear about the current situation as the couple left immediately in their pastor’s car after the press conference but he added that “[Irene] should be fine after a rest.”

When asked about the apparent look of haggardness on Jack,…

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Annie Yi wants to patch things up with her ex-husband Harlem Yu. The 41-year-old reportedly sent her ex-husband a text message recently to ask for his forgiveness, and a chance to get back together.

In her text message, Annie explained that she no longer revels in the night life, travels only with female friends, and does not have any male friends at all. She also acknowledged her mistake for missing out on “someone who loves me so much”.

In late 2008, Annie was spotted holding hands with another actor, Victor Huang. When news of her infidelity broke out, her career took a sudden nosedive and culminated in the end of her marriage to Harlem, 48.

The former couple ended their marriage of nine years with a publicized divorce in June last year, and has not been in contact with each other since.

She regularly expresses her feelings in…

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One of Korea’s most beloved young actors, Jang Keun Suk will be throwing an exclusive fan-meeting session in Singapore on April 24 as part of his Asia Tour.

Jang showed his quirky and adorable personality when he took on movie roles in Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do and Baby and Me. He portrayed acting versatility in his last movie as a psychopathic suspect in Itaewon Murder Case. The actor-singer then charmed his way into the hearts of fans and viewers with his charismatic portrayal as the cool but germaphobic, Hwang Tae Kyung, in his most recent hit K-drama series, You’re Beautiful.

Held at the Rock Auditorium in Suntec, this will be an exclusive opportunity to cozy in with your favourite idol. Apart from singing and dancing, the baby-face actor will also be entertaining fans in an interactive game session.

Tickets to Jang’s fan-meeting session in…

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The Chinese have a saying: “Old cow eats young grass” (a colloquial way of saying an older man hooking up with a younger female), and it couldn’t be more strikingly true, right here at home, in the recent weeks.

It’s already a common sight in Hollywood, where aging testosterone such as Bruce Willis, Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner and the newly-engaged Simon Cowell still have what it takes to attract younger ladies.

And in Asia, 21-year-old Hong Kong singer Isabella Leong popped a baby boy for billionaire Richard Li, 43, last year.

Our own backyard hasn’t been idle, either. After making the headlines in June 2009 for leaving and subsequently divorcing his wife to be with his 24-year-old girlfriend, Marcus Chin, 57 is about to be a father now that she is pregnant.

Most recently, disgraced movie director Jack Neo, 50, was exposed to be linked to a string…

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We’re guessing Takeshi Kaneshiro isn’t a big fan of blogs these days.

Widely speculated for hiding his marriage - la a certain Andy Lau - after a blog claimed that the Asian superstar secretly got hitched, another blogger has quoted reliable sources saying Takeshi, who is currently based in Japan, is trying for a baby.

A celebrity blogger exposed the actor for marrying a Japanese woman last December, a piece of news which was denied by his management. On Tuesday, another blogger alleged that the Japanese-Taiwanese actor and his wife are currently located in Japan as part of their plans to have kids.

The blogger, who is staying anonymous, quoted an insider as his news source. He added that the source is a big-time movie producer and there is “no need to be suspicious” of his words.

The blog entry read, “A Taiwanese friend visited and we had…

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“I’m not an artiste so I don’t know how to face the media. [Because] I love Jack, I love my marriage, I love my family, I’ve been hurt deeply so please leave me alone.”

“I really need [all] your blessings,” a weeping Mdm Irene Kng pleaded before she stood up to leave and suddenly fell in a faint on her way to the exit.

The sudden collapse of Mdm Kng triggered the cohort of media to rush forward for pictures of the scene. The commotion turned into dramatic mayhem when Jack let out a loud yell for the media to make way for her exit. Almost like a scene out of Jack’s movie, Ah Nan (John Cheng), an artiste from the “Liang Jian Ban” (J-Team) dashed forward and shouted to the media to “go away”.

This morning at a packed auditorium at Scorpio East Building, Jack Neo, Singapore’s…

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Adding to the controversy surrounding his alleged affairs with other women which are said to be a dozen, there are now speculations that disgraced local filmmaker Jack Neo’s marriage to Mdm Irene Kng is actually his second.

An industry insider revealed that Jack had been married to another woman, who was not from showbiz, in April1981. His then-wife subsequently contracted cancer and was hospitalised to receive treatment.

The source said that shortly after she was admitted into hospital, Jack had divorced her. He could not withstand the mental stress and decided to leave her.

Jack, 50, met his current wife, Irene, at a departmental store and the pair tied the knot in October 1998.

The director and 2005 Cultural Medallion recipient became embroiled in a media scandal after news of his two-year affair with freelance actress-model Wendy Chong, 22, was released last Saturday. Wendy had gone to his…

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Even with 30 years of acting experience behind him, Kenny Ho is jittery like a new schoolboy about bathing local actress Zoe Tay in their new movie.

The Hong Kong veteran actor plays the husband of Zoe in Love Cuts, a homegrown production between Clover Films and the Health Promotion Board, which aims to raise awareness about regular breast screenings.

The shower scenes are not so much sensual as they are necessary, since the female lead suffers breast cancer and undergoes chemotherapy.

Kenny has acted in several movies and TV serials in his career that Zoe, 42, herself admitted that she “watched his shows since young.” She commented that her co-star is “very easy to get along with.”

He said that he would “turn red-faced” for the scenes where he has to bathe his reel wife.

“But it’s just acting,” he added. “Once I’m in character, when the…

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Hong Kong celebrities Leon Lai and Gaile Lok got hitched on the sly in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 9, 2008. Their wedding was exposed by the Hong Kong paparazzi in July last year after they uncovered Andy Lau’s hush-hush marriage to his Malaysian ex-beauty queen girlfriend-now-wife, Carol Choo.

At the 34th Hong Kong International Film Festival held a few days ago in Tsim Tsa Shui, Hong Kong, two movies, Fire of Conscience, and Love In A Puff, were officially released.

Hong Kong Heavenly King Leon Lai was reminded of his 2nd wedding anniversary celebrations by members of the press when they asked of celebration plans of the momentous occasion. Leon, 43, then briefly glanced at his watch and said, “Oh, that’s right!”

When reporters asked Leon if he remembers the date, he smilingly said, “That’s because there is work to do today. There are promotional activities at…

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Hollywood hunks like Johnny Depp, Hugh Jackman, and Robert Pattison have found fans in Korean girl group The Wonder Girls. But men not blessed in the genetics department needn’t fret. These girls are equally open to just about anybody and everybody as Park Ye-eun (better known as Yenny) says, “We don’t really care about races or colours.”

But so far, their love lives have been anything but colourful, “We haven’t really met boys in the states. We are quite busy touring all the states (in America),” she continued to explain.

Currently busy with the promotional activities for their latest English single, Nobody, the girls (Park Ye-eun, Min Sun Ye, Ahn Sohee, Kim Yubin, Yu Hae Lim) have their hands full preparing for the May/June worldwide release of their upcoming music album. It doesn’t help that it will be recorded with songs in three different languages (Korean, English, and…

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In the midst of Jack Neo’s infidelity scandal, his longtime apprentice Mark Lee has dropped another bombshell - the famed Liang Jia Ban (or literally ‘Neo Clan’, referring to Jack’s band of artistes) will split and he will start his own company when his contract ends.

Mark and other artistes like Henry Thia, Michelle Tay, John Cheng (Ah Nan), Apple Hong, Brandon Wong, Nick Shen, Tay Ying Ying and Jeremy Chan are contracted to J Team, an artiste management and production house founded by Jack. The former four can be said to have been groomed by the film director himself.

But since Jack’s straying ways were exposed last Saturday by the local Chinese media and with more women coming out fast and furious, close friend Mark only had strong reactions and words on this matter.

Regarding questions of whether Liang Jia Ban would survive this storm, he said…

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Just a few days before shooting the beach wedding scene at Paris Ris beach, the temperature registered a sweltering 36degrees. It hardly felt cooler on that day of filming, but we suspect the heat had already gotten to Tay Ping Hui’s head, because the bachelor actor was going on candidly about what he calls “a new yearning for marriage”.

Of course, we’re not discounting that this revelation also has something to do with his new role as a wedding coordinator in New Beginnings and the fact that he’s hitting the big 4-O this year.

He blanched at the idea of his own beach wedding but otherwise, the 39-year-old is all aglow about nuptials, describing weddings as “beautiful. It is a new beginning, and one of the many stages in a relationship.”

While he is one the Singapore’s biggest TV stars, his name is scarcely mentioned in off-screen dating…

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In the name of filmmaking, the two female stars of new local movie Love Cuts will be challenging themselves with bold scenes that are set to ensure a fair amount of attention on the movie when it opens in the last quarter of this year.

The Queen of Caldecott Hill, Zoe Tay, will star in the leading role opposite veteran Hong Kong actor Kenny Ho as a 40-year-old mother battling terminal breast cancer, while buxomy Malaysian model Christy Yow plays a top lingerie model who has to remove her breasts after being afflicted with the illness.

Jointly produced by Clover Films and the Health Promotion Board, the movie hopes to encourage women to go for regular breast screenings.

Zoe, acting in a feature film nine years after her last outing in The Tree, will appear in a few scenes where co-star Kenny will bathe her sickly character. She…

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The wife of disgraced filmmaker Jack Neo, 50, Mdm Irene Kng has been a sea of calm and forgiveness since news his two-year extramarital affair with a woman less than half his age surfaced over the weekend.

The 46-year-old, who’s been married to Neo for 27 years, has four children aged six to 19 with him. Her composed reaction shocked freelance model-actress Wendy Chong, 22, when she went to the couple’s Paris Ris semi-detached home last Friday.

Mdm Kng, who knew of the affair a year ago, has expressed that she had already forgiven her straying husband and will continue to support him during the scandal. She added that their family would not be affected by it.

She said that she “did not care who Jack was involved with, as long as she loves him.” She became aware of their affair when a family friend spotted the two…

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The star told the media last Sunday that he and his girlfriend, singer-actress Charlene Choi from pop group Twins, want to make more money before settling down. The two have been dating for six years after hooking up in the 2004 movie Hidden Heroes. They previously denied seeing each other and only recently admitted their status.

Ronald confessed that there were times when he had the urge to propose, but as the coming few years would be busy for both his music and acting careers, any marriage plans have to be shelved.

He added that Charlene concurs.

The singer-actress, who is 10 years younger, declared recently she would only think about marriage after she turns 35.

Known for being tight-lipped about…

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“I was absolutely fine, until I turned the mike on and said my first word (laughs nervously),” she said, recollecting her very first day at work on March 1.

“I suddenly thought, ‘Um, what I am doing?! What am I doing?!’ I’d forgotten everything and spoke incredibly fast because the nerves kicked in and as soon as the microphone was off, I was exhausted (laughs).”

She sounds like she’s blushing crimson about her fumbles, but it’s is no small feat considering the 29-year-old Eurasian beauty (Dad’s Chinese, Mom’s English) previously had zilch radio experience.

She admits, point blank, “I’m naturally very shy”, which was why when she got the stint as the…

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In a bid to win Apple Hong’s heart, a Caucasian male presented the Malaysian actress with a pot of orchids and a Chinese ‘Ru Yi’ ornament on Valentine’s Day last month.

At the press conference of the upcoming Tong Chai Charity show, Apple said that she “does not feel lonely” despite her “single status”, thanks to the company of her loved ones.

However, she soon flushed, flashed a toothy grin and then revealed that “There is someone pursuing me now, and I am enjoying the process of being wooed.”

On Valentine’s Day, which coincided with the start of the Chinese New Year, he gave her a pot of orchids. It was delivered to her apartment’s security house and the 32-year-old had to seek the help of the security guard to move it to her living quarters.

“When I saw that potted plant, I was shocked! When I saw…

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Her impish looks don’t betray her inner tomboyishness, but it does leave pixie-face Taiwanese singer Genie Chuo with zero luck with the opposite sex.

The singer was in town last week to promote her latest album 1 + 1 Play n Fun, which also features six new tracks. She performed at the Dragonfly club of St James Power Station on Saturday, including a duet with Sylvester Sim, the runner-up from the first season of Singapore Idol.

Unlike her cute image in the media, the 24-year-old says that she doesn’t like wearing skirts and usually covers herself up fully in her own time. Her personality is more like a guy than a girl, she added, with a preference for computer games, automobiles and tech gadgets over perfume and manicures. She also goes dumb in the presence of a crush, she said.

That’s probably why male acquaintances tend to see…

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They will attend promotional events, meet-the-fan sessions, and at the movie’s gala premiere in GV VivoCity.

Monga has the biggest box office opening in Taiwan, raking in NT$18 million (S$900,000) during its first day in the theatres, surpassing the previous record set by Cape No. 7, and the world’s biggest movie of all time, James Cameron’s Avatar.

The film grossed a total of S$3million one week after the movie’s opening and smashed the record in its home country for being one of the fastest movies to hit the million-dollar mark in 10 years.

Directed by Doze Niu, the newly-released Taiwanese action movie, Monga, is set in…

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Former Hong Kong TVB actress Gigi Lai is said to be expecting twins. She left the industry after marrying Hong Kong business tycoon, Patrick Ma Ting-kung, 52, in January last year.

In order to increase her chances of getting pregnant, the 39-year-old consulted a feng shui master and changed her Chinese name from ‘Li Zi’ to ‘Li Jia Er’.

Things seem to be sailing smoothly for former actress who reportedly spent S$60,000 on in vitro fertilisation treatment. According to a Hong Kong publication, Gigi is currently five months pregnant and is expecting a pair of twins.

“The doctor planted two embryos to increase her chances of success. It resulted in two successful implantations and her husband is very happy,” an insider revealed.

Gigi’s father also confirmed the rumours and said, “It’s a pair of twins! She is estimated to go into delivery during June or July!”

Gigi originally…

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Despite her efforts, Jessie Chiang still found herself at the centre of media attention when she made her first appearance in three months last Thursday at an event for a chewing gum product.

The singer, 22, who’s rumoured to be one of Jay Chou’s ex-girlfriends, has not been seen in public since a guest performance at Wilber Pan’s concert on 6 Dec last year.

Tongues started wagging when she was not at any of the promotional events for Pandamen, the TV drama which Jay directed and also starred in, when talk of a romance between her ex and supermodel Lin Chi-ling was rife.

Now with the recent claim by Devin Wu that she lost her virginity at 16 to Jay, then 18, the same scrutiny was on Jessie, who first knew Jay before she turned 20.

Her manager interjected, “This question is too cruel. The little girl doesn’t…

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It’s a pattern that can probably be filed under Life’s Tragic Ironies’: how winners of talent competitions witness their potential careers sputter and stall, while those of their fellow contestants are burgeoning with no apparent end in sight.

Andie Chen, 24, winner of Star Search 2007, isn’t ignorant of the situation.

After winning the local talent competition, he played mostly supporting characters in Channel 8 dramas including The Little Nyonya (2008). Yet his biggest role to date has been Fighting Spiders, an English period drama on Channel 5, which returns this July for a second season.

“In this industry, there isn’t a specific plan on how things work. A lot depends on luck. It’s normal that we (Star Search 2007 finalists) have seen different things so far.”

That difference is not something to be underestimated. Other Star Search winners like Zoe Tay, the inaugural champion (1988), Chew Chor…

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In reel life she falls in love with a younger man, and in real life the same seems to have happened.

Taiwanese actress Cheryl Yang, 32, is reportedly dating her co-star from the hit idol drama My Queen, Harry Chang of hip-hop group Da Mouth. The vocalist is five years younger than her.

According to Cheryl’s stepfather, the two have been seeing each other for half a year and both sets of parents have met them. He said, “Harry came by during Chinese New Year, and me and her mum both think the kid’s not bad. We’re fine [with the age gap] as long as Cheryl’s happy.”

The actress’ mum is herself four years older than her stepdad, and the similarities do not end there. Both the stepdad and Harry have lived in the U.S. for a period of time, which is why the parents are more receptive…

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Not one, not two, but five of the biggest Asian female stars will come together in one epic movie coming to a screen near you soon.

The dream ensemble of Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun and Tang Wei will take on roles in director Ronny Yu’s new film about heroines of the Yang clan, whose husbands were killed after being betrayed, forcing them to take to the battlefield.

This will be the Hong Kong director’s first Chinese film after 2006’s Fearless and a rare homecoming since venturing into Hollywood in 1997 and helming movies like Bride of Chucky and Freddy vs. Jason.

This version of the Yang women, a historical tale retold many times in novels and TV serials, will offer a new perspective on the key characters, focusing more on their lives than the usual themes of loyalty.

Four of the actresses, with the…

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If only all girlfriends and wives were as forgiving as Tiffany Hsu. No throwing of golf clubs at a fleeing Tiger ala Elin Woods. Not a single scream thrown at the unfaithful partner.

Instead the model expressed her absolute faith in boyfriend Ethan Ruan. The Taiwanese star, whose popularity has been growing by leaps and bounds after his latest outstanding turn in movie Monga, was caught checking into Taipei’s Windsor Hotel with an unknown woman on Sunday. He has since explained that the woman is the girlfriend of a friend who joined them later in the hotel suite. Although the two spent the night together, they slept separately, he emphasized.

Tiffany was surrounded by reporters after filming on Wednesday, and has chosen to stand by her man. The 25-year-old said, “I have full trust in my relationships and will believe all that my partner says.”

On what she…

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