13 Things To Know About Singapore's Favourite Ah Lian, Michelle Chong
The Ah Lian we love the most
If you grew up in Singapore, you definitely know who Michelle Chong is. One of the biggest comedic names in Singapore, she staring her showbiz career in the late 1990s and has played many memorable roles. Some examples include Lulu and Barbarella from The Noose to Ah Lian and OL Shirley Goh.
However, labelling Michelle as just a comedian is reductive of the work and accolades she has achieved. She’s also an actress, a director who has achieved multi-million dollar box office dollars, an artiste manager, and even a business partner who opened a restaurant with fellow celebrity friends.
Michelle has also been chosen to front many brands, including Lazada, Traveloka and London Weight Management. Here are 13 things you might not know about Michelle Chong, who turned 45 on 22.
The acting contest was the 1998 Fame Awards. While Michelle Chong didn’t take home the crown (it was won by Pierre Png), the contest kickstarted her career in showbiz. Michelle later shared in a 2016 interview that she wished she had joined the more famous Star Search instead as her acting career might have progressed faster.
With a career spanning over two decades, Michelle has garnered a number of accolades. She clinched the Star Awards Top 10 Most Popular Female Artiste twice in 2005 and 2011 as well as the Best Comedy Actor/Actress at the 2012 Asian Television Awards for her characters in The Noose.
Speaking of The Noose, Michelle is a celebrated comedian known for her versatility in taking on different personas and making them hilarious. The recognisable personas that Michelle has played include Lulu, Barbarella and Leticia Bongnino in The Noose and more recently as Ah Lian, Emily, Venus Seow and OL Shirley Goh.
In 2011, Michelle started Huat Films and went behind the camera as a director. She went on to direct multiple films such as Already Famous (2011), 3 Peas In A Pod (2013) and Lulu The Movie (2016). Already Famous was selected as Singapore’s entry and almost made the cut for the Best Foreign Language Film for the 85th Academy Awards (Oscars) in 2013 while Michelle took home the Best Director accolade awarded by Canada International Film Festival in 2017 for Lulu The Movie.
Besides being recognised for your craft, it is the cherry on the cake if you’re able to make money with your art as well. And Michelle seems to have gotten both down pat. Already Famous grossed over S$1.04 million and Lulu The Movie was an even bigger box-office success, bringing in over S$2 million.
After Michelle left Mediacorp to start Huat Films, she also started Left Profile in 2012. The exclusive boutique artiste management agency, as described on its website, currently manages Michelle as well as hosts Pornsak and Lee Teng. The agency also produces video content and does media relations.
If you love Michelle’s brand of humour, tune into her YouTube channel where you can view more skits and videos that revolve around her various comedic personas. In an interview with The Straits Times, Michelle had remarked that she was late to the social media game, which is a surprise seeing that her YouTube channel has amassed millions of views and over 74k subscribers since its inception in 2013.
At the 23rd annual survey of Singapore’s Most Trusted Brands and Personalities done by Reader’s Digest Singapore in 2021, Michelle Chong was named a trusted entertainment and variety presenter. The survey polled 8,000 people on the personalities and brands they trust.
In a 2016 interview with 8 Days, Michelle alluded that her parents are well, like most parents who are always going to worry and fuss over their child. While we aren’t sure who her favourite parent is, Michelle is especially proud of her dad’s cooking prowess, going so far as creating a whole host of YouTube videos centred around his cooking skills. In fact, her father, Papa Chong as he is known, went on to be a regular fixture and fronted many other videos.
Despite her happy-go-lucky demeanour, Michelle has been combating depression since she was first diagnosed at the age of 17. In an interview with 8 Days, she shared that her success didn’t help lift the cloud of gloom, neither did acting and hosting. Eventually, she found what worked for her: scriptwriting, directing and movie-making as forms of creative outlets.
Throughout her career, Michelle has worked with many celebrities who we are familiar with. She had worked alongside the late Alien Huang for Already Famous and later starred in a commercial for Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black opposite actress Uzo Aduba. Most recently, Michelle was named the local brand ambassador for Lazada where you can catch her plastered alongside Korean heartthrob Lee Min-ho.
We’ve already established that Michelle is a #girlboss but did you know that she formerly opened a restaurant in Esplanade called Mischief that served up American food and booze? It was an endeavour she had undertaken with fellow actress Cynthia Koh and DJ Glenn Ong in 2015. Michelle later shared in the above Instagram post that the business has since been sold in 2017.
In August 2020, Michelle Chong warned her Instagram followers that there were social media accounts impersonating her in hopes of scamming people. She added that there was an uptick of fake celebrity accounts and encouraged people not to divulge their personal particulars to these scammers, “especially not to an Ah Lian who says she will give you $5000 for nothing. Ah Lians generally don’t do that.”
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Text by: Ho Guo Xiong/HerWorld