Apple Hong (born 31 October 1978) is a Malaysian-born Singaporean actress, host, businesswoman and singer. She was a full-time

Mediacorp Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is the state media, state-owned media conglomerate of Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the investment arm of the Government of Singapore—it owns and operates television channels, radio, and digital media properties. ...

artiste from 1999 to 2011 but continues to film on an ad-hoc basis.

Early life

Hong was born in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, Malaysia. She received her education in

Johor Bahru Johor Bahru, abbreviated as JB, is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Johor. It is the core city of Johor Bahru District, Malaysia's second-largest district by population and the second-largest district economy. Covering an area of ...

Career

Hong was first runner-up in the Malaysian edition of Star Search 1999 and moved to Singapore after being offered a contract by TCS (now

MediaCorp Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is the state media, state-owned media conglomerate of Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the investment arm of the Government of Singapore—it owns and operates television channels, radio, and digital media properties. ...

). She was then known as the 'Malaysian Shu Qi' due to her slight resemblance to the Hong Kong actress. Several years later she moved to SPH MediaWorks but was transferred back to MediaCorp when both companies merged in 2005. She made her cinema debut in

Jack Neo Jack Neo Chee Keong (born 24 January 1960) is a Singaporean filmmaker, comedian and actor who was a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 1983 to 2003. He established a unique presence with his genuine and relatable stories that highlight societa ...

's 2005 film '' One More Chance'', starring as Mark Lee's on-screen wife. Besides acting, Hong was also a prominent face on magazine covers, print ads and television commercials in both Singapore and Malaysia. Hong released her debut

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

in Singapore and Malaysia which consisted of 8-tracks with various musical genres including acoustic easy-listening, piano-pop tunes and also fusion of Chinese and Irish-styled songs. Hong left the entertainment industry in October 2011 as she opted not to renew her full-time contract. While she continued filming with MediaCorp on a per-project basis, she stated she had wanted to spend time managing the

branch of Xiao Bar Wang (owned by former fellow MediaCorp actor Jeff Wang) and planned to further her showbiz career in China.

Personal life

Hong married a Singaporean businessman on 10 October 2017. Having been a Singapore permanent resident for several years, Hong took up Singapore citizenship on 18 December 2022. In August 2023, Hong revealed that her father died of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

, at the age of 76, on 11 August.

Filmography

Television series

Film

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hong, Apple Living people Singaporean television personalities Singaporean television actresses Malaysian people of Chinese descent Singaporean people of Teochew descent Actresses from Kuala Lumpur Musicians from Kuala Lumpur 20th-century Singaporean actresses 21st-century Singaporean actresses 1977 births Malaysian people of Teochew descent 21st-century Malaysian businesspeople 21st-century Singaporean businesspeople 21st-century Singaporean businesswomen Singaporean film actresses Malaysian film actresses Malaysian television presenters Malaysian emigrants to Singapore Naturalised citizens of Singapore