Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd
| Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd | |
|---|---|
| File:Pck.jpg Phua Chu Kang, one of the main characters in the sitcom Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd. | |
| Created by | Jennifer Tan |
| Developed by | ? |
| Starring | Gurmit Singh, Irene Ang, Pierre Pg, Tan Kheng Hua, Marcus Ng, Neo Swee Lin, Kay Siu Lim, Charlie Tan, and Ray Kuan. |
| Narrated by | ? |
| Opening theme | ? |
| Ending theme | ? |
| Country of origin | Singapore |
| No. of episodes | ? |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | ? |
| Camera setup | ? |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | MediaCorp TV Channel 5 |
| Release | 1996 – 2006 |
Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd is a Singaporean sitcom on MediaCorp TV Channel 5.
Plot Summary and Cast
Phua Chu Kang
The series revolves around the Phua family, most notably Phua Chu Kang (Gurmit Singh), a contractor who boasts that he is the "Best in Singapore, JB, and some say Batam" - this is despite the fact that he only has two men working for him and they are both inept and lazy. He is also noted for his famous cliché or catchphrase: "Don't play play" (pronounce as "pray pray" according to his articulation). His personal clothing trademarks are his yellow pair of boots, curly hair, a giant mole, and two long nails on each pinky finger. Phua Chu Kang is portrayed as an Ah Beng, Singlish slang for a stereotypical Chinese gangster, complete with habits such as hoisting one leg up on the seat of a chair when he sits down and growing one long fingernail to scratch his ears. Phua Chu Kang is growing increasingly popular and some now say he is one of the symbols of Singapore.
His family and others
Phua Chu Kang lives with his wife, Rosie (Irene Ang) who loves playing mahjong and wearing loud, colourful clothing. At the end of Season 6, she gave birth to twins, Romeo Ferrari and Crystal Jade. Chu Kang's brother is Anthony Phua Chu Beng (Pierre Png) who works for PCK Pte Ltd as an architect (his speciality is designing toilets). While Chu Kang is often regarded as strong but stupid, Chu Beng is the sissy but smart son. The one person who drives Chu Beng crazy is his obsessive compulsive vegetarian wife, Margaret Phua (Tan Kheng Hua) who consistently makes fun of her brother and sister in law. Together, they have a son, Aloysious Phua (Marcus Ng) who worships his uncle more than his dad. Another family member is Ah Ma (Neo Swee Lin), Chu Kang and Chu Beng's mother. She left at the end of Season 4 to be with her new love. Chu Kang's two lazy workers are fat and lazy King Kong (Charlie Tan) who loves tau huey (a Chinese bean curd drink) and slow-witted eyecandy Ah Goon (Ray Kuan) who dresses in revealing denim cut-offs all the time.
Recurring and Minor Characters plus Guest Appearances
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- Betsy Foo played by Patricia Mok (in season 6).
- Bobo played by Afdlin Shauki (in season 6 and season 7).
- Candy Chew played by Sharon Au (in season 7).
- Dickson Foo played by Teoh Kah Yeong (in season 6).
- Frankie Foo (younger) played by Kay Siu Lim (somewhere before season 5).
- Frankie Foo (older) played by Patrick Teoh (occur in some certain seasons).
- Lee Kok Peng played by Mark Lee (in season 5 until season 7).
- Lim Pek Kong played by Kee Thuan Chye (in season 5).
- Lynette Khoo played by Caroline Cheong (in season 5 until season 7).
- Mrs. Lopez played by Jamie Yeo (in season 6).
- Posh Voter played by Gillian Tan (in season 5).
- Ricky Martin played by himself (in season 6).
- Ting Ting played by Zoe Tay (in season 5).
Production history
The Phua Chu Kang character made his first appearance in the second season of "Gurmit's World", a comedy in which Gurmit Singh portrayed his 'relatives' in a series of skits.
In addition, PCK handed out clues at one of the detours of The Amazing Race 3. Participants in the race were required to locate a HDB apartment in Choa Chu Kang, Singapore where they would be given the clues by PCK. Apparently, the original idea was to have PCK at the pit stop alongside Phil Keoghan (at the end of every stage of The Amazing Race, there would be a local person dressed in traditional clothing welcoming the contestants to the country), but Singaporeans protested that this would give foreigners the wrong impression of the local people in general.
In the year 2003, during the SARS outbreak, PCK had also appeared in a music video called "PCK Sar-vivor Rap". Sar-vivor Rap (Video) This 4-minute long music video & audio is to teach the local on how to prevent SARS in their country. Sar-vivor Rap (Video)Sar-vivor Rap (Audio Remix) In addition, his music video also comes with a limited edition compliation album which the album name is "The Sar-vivor Rap" which was announced for its album launched on July 1, 2003 and it is available in all Singapore local music store. [1] This album also includes 14 tracks from artises such as Mandy Moore, Destiny's Child, Jessica Simpson and so forth.
Recently, the character had also made a guest appearance on the seventh episode in a local sitcom called ABC DJ. [2]
There will be another latest season of this show, that is, Season 8. It will be aired on October 31, 2006 in Singapore. Moreover, this season will be its final season and its last Phua Chu Kang's story, that is, after Season 8 of the show, it will cease to exist anymore. [3]
Singlish criticism
- Main article: Singlish
This popular comedy is notable for its Singlish language conversation and dialogue amongst, by, or between the characters in this comedy show most of the time. Thus the other word or term for Singlish was coined by some local people: "Phua Chu Kanglish".
Much like another Singaporean sitcom, Under One Roof, the show was put under pressure by the government to use proper English instead of Singlish. Critics of the show have labelled Phua Chu Kang as an inaccurate or disgraceful representation of Singapore. However, it has to be acknowledged that Phua Chu Kang is immensely popular in Singapore and Malaysia.
Episodes
Season 1 (?)
Season 2 (?)
Season 3 (?)
Season 4 (?)
Season 5 (Tuesday, 8 pm)
- 1. (5 November 2002): The Zen of Chapteh
- 2. (12 November 2002): Not the 7 o'clock news
- 3. (19 November 2002): The Parent Trap
- 4. (26 November 2002): Toto Day
- 5. (3 December 2002): The Return of Frankie Foo
- 6. (10 December 2002): Chilly Crabs
- 7. (17 December 2002): Christmas Story
- 8. (7 January 2003): Study No Enough
- 9. (14 January 2003): Lord of the Bengs
- 10. (21 January 2003): Cinema Phua-radiso
- 11. (28 January 2003): Lucky Luohan
- 12. (4 February 2003): Year of the Goat
- 13. (11 February 2003): The Girl Next Door
- 14. (18 February 2003): I Want My HDB (Part 1)
- 15. (25 February 2003): When King Kong Met Wei Wei
- 16. (4 March 2003): Sabo You, Sabo Me
- 17. (11 March 2003): At WITS End
- 18. (18 March 2003): The Adventures of Captain Contractor and Plumber Boy
- 19. (25 March 2003): Centrefold
- 20. (1 April 2003): An Offer You Can’t Refuse
- 21. (8 April 2003): PCK Goes To Malaysia - Part 1
- 22. (15 April 2003): PCK Goes To Malaysia - Part 2
Season 6 (Tuesday, 8 pm)
- 1. (21 October 2003): Phua Phua Baby
- 2. (28 October 2003): Boy Oh Boy
- 3. (4 November 2003): The Deal
- 4. (11 November 2003): What About Me?
- 5. (18 November 2003): Father Knows Best
- 6. (25 November 2003): Nature vs. Nurture
- 7. (2 December 2003): Worst Case Scenario
- 8. (9 December 2003): He Ain't Heavy He's My Baby
- 9. (16 December 2003): All The President's Men
- 10. (23 December 2003): Livin' La Vida Rosie (guest starring Ricky Martin)
- 11. (30 December 2003):
- 12. (6 January 2004): Toilet of the Year
- 13. (13 January 2004): Pissing Contest
- 14. (20 January 2004): Citizen Phua
- 15. (27 January 2004): The New Phua
Season 7 (Tuesday, 8 pm)
- 1. (16 November 2004)
- 2. (23 November 2004)
- 3. (30 November 2004)
- 4. (7 December 2004)
- 5. (14 December 2004)
- 6. (21 December 2004)
- 7. (28 December 2004)
- 8. (4 January 2005)
- 9. (11 January 2005)
- 10. (18 January 2005)
- 11. (25 January 2005)
- 12. (1 February 2005)
- 13. (8 February 2005)
- 14. (15 February 2005)
- 15. (22 February 2005)
- 16. (1 March 2005)
Season 8 (Tuesday, 8 pm)
- This season will be aired in Singapore on October 31, 2006. It will be the last Phua Chu Kang's story and will be its final season.
Trivia
- Gurmit Singh, who played the lead role of PCK, is also one the Singapore Idol hosts, along with Daniel Ong.
- Ah Goon (played by Ray Kuan) is the goondu (stupid) of the show. In reality, Ray is actually the one with the most impressive academic qualifications of the entire cast. He graduated with honors in Building and Real Estate from the National University of Singapore.
- Ah Goon is the worker replacing Ah Boon and Ah Soon who also played as Chu Kang's employers in the earlier episodes. They are related as cousins in the series. They also appeared together in an episode featuring them as an upcoming boy band.
- Gurmit would also make two appearances on Living with Lydia. In his first appearance we learn his PCK character once had a somewhat romantic encounter with the series' main character Lydia Lum (Lydia Sum) when she first arrived in Singapore in 1979 to be a "Singapore Girl." His second appearance was in a cameo as himself with the judges from Singapore Idol.
- PCK's mole is actually made of papier-mâché. It is molded into a ball, painted black, and attached to his face with cosmetic glue.
- Gurmit once ate his prosthetic mole, after it fell into a bowl of bubur-chacha which he later had to eat for a scene.