Zen Chong (born Chong Cheng Xiong; 15 August 1978), formerly known as Zzen Chong, is a

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

n actor and property agent who is based in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Early life

A native of the "

New Village New villages (; ), also known as Chinese new villages (, ), were Internment, internment camps created during the waning days of British Empire, British British Malaya, rule in Malaysia. They were originally created as part of the Briggs Plan, fi ...

s" 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 ...

, Chong studied graphic design and worked at an advertising agency prior to joining

Star Search ''Star Search'' (later known as ''Ed McMahon's Star Search'') is an American television show that was produced by T.P.E./ Rysher Entertainment from 1983 to 1995, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Al Masini. A relaunch was produced by 29 ...

Malaysia.

Career

Chong joined

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. ...

in 2001 after finishing third in that year's Malaysian edition of Star Search Singapore. One of his first major roles was in the 2003 sitcom ''

Lobang King Lobang King (我是Lobang King) is a Singaporean sitcom which aired on Channel 8 in 2003. It is a spin-off of the popular long-running series ''Don't Worry, Be Happy'' (敢敢做个开心人), which had just ended its sixth and final season. Ch ...

'' where he was cast alongside veteran artistes

Chew Chor Meng Chew Chor Meng (born 20 November 1968) is a Singaporean actor, television host and businessman. He is one of the first batch of actors to receive the Star Awards for All-Time Favourite Artiste in 2004. Career Chew started his career in show ...

Huang Wenyong Huang Wenyong (25 July 1952 – 20 April 2013) was a Malaysia-born Singaporean actor, host and teacher. Huang died at the Singapore General Hospital at around 5 pm (GMT+8) on 20 April 2013, at the age of 60 due to lymphoma. Early lif ...

and

Irene Ang Irene Ang (born 1 September 1968) is a Singaporean actress, comedian, host and entrepreneur, best known for portraying Rosie Phua on the Singaporean sitcom '' Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd'', as well as on the Malaysian sequel sitcom '' Phua Chu Kang ...

as the smooth-talking employee of Huang's character. Chong is known for portraying juvenile " ah beng" characters,

antihero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero or two words anti hero) or anti-heroine is a character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism and morality. Al ...

es and

villain A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

s. He shot to fame for his role as the main antagonist in the hit

period drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

'' The Little Nyonya''. Although initially a replacement for Andrew Seow, he was praised for his convincing portrayal of antagonist Robert Zhang and won a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 2009 Star Awards, his first ever awards nomination. He was given his first lead role in the 2008 co-production '' The Thin Line''.

Personal life

He married his long-time girlfriend Geline See in January 2011. Chong and his wife have a daughter and a son. In 2012, it was revealed during the release of ''The Quarters'' that Chong changed a character in his Chinese name after consulting with a fortune teller. His English name was changed as well, from Zzen Chong to Zen Chong. He has also converted to part-time acting and since become a full-time property agent.

Filmography

Television series

Variety shows

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Profile
on xin.msn.com
Profile
on MediaCorp TV {{DEFAULTSORT:Chong, Zen Living people 1978 births Singaporean male television actors Malaysian people of Chinese descent Malaysian people of Cantonese descent Male actors from Kuala Lumpur Malaysian male television actors 21st-century Malaysian male actors 21st-century Singaporean male actors Malaysian expatriates in Singapore Malaysian television presenters Singaporean television presenters