Jack Neo airs Singapore getai veteran’s spat with ‘Lion Men’ star
In an unexpected move during an otherwise uneventful press conference for Jack Neo’s closer to his two-part “Lion Men” film franchise, the Singapore director pulled up to the surface some dirty laundry. He made “Lion Men” and “Ah Boys To Men” star Wang Wei Liang and veteran getai entertainer Wang Lei make up on stage.
The duo, previously close and shared a “master-disciple” relationship, had a fallout early this year that was heavily publicised in local Chinese media.
In an awkward exchange on stage, Neo asked the elder Wang to explain what he was upset at Wei Liang about, and the latter was given a chance to respond to it.
‘He let fame get to his head'
Speaking to Yahoo Singapore afterward, the elder Wang said he was taken aback by Neo’s move, but respected his wishes and said he would always do what Neo told him to.
“I suppose the opportunity he gave me to unload my feelings about this was good for me, and I do feel a bit better,” said Wang in Mandarin, admitting he had kept mum about his feelings for the past six months. “Yet I don’t really care what anyone else thinks; I’m upset with Wei Liang because he has allowed fame to get to his head. He’s forgotten about the people who have supported him [getai entertainers and audience] and helped him when he wasn’t so well-off.”
Wang, 52, who took Wei Liang under his wing three years ago as one of twelve “disciples” in his getai team, was the one who drove Wei Liang to his first film audition, for “Ah Boys To Men”.
'Like my own children'
Tears came to his eyes and he spoke between pauses as he said, “Honestly, I treated them (my disciples) like my own children. I never asked to benefit in any way from any of it… I worked with Wei Liang to train him up almost every day (and) I never made a single cent off his success. I really never thought he would become like this [arrogant].”
“He rose too quickly,” he continued. “For most of us, we worked step by step up the ladder over many years. Rising too quickly is always a dangerous thing — if you rise quickly, you fall quickly too.”
‘I am still the same Wei Liang'
Speaking with Yahoo Singapore later on, the younger Wang stressed that he has not changed. He also does not feel any unhappiness or malice toward the elder Wang, whom still regards as his shifu (master).
Responding to the elder Wang, who said the actor had not been appearing at getai performances for more than a year, the younger Wang said his last getai show was in April, and said he continues to perform at getai shows whenever people ask him to, adding that he will always attend gatherings, meetings or dinners if he can make it for them.
“I want to be able to strike a balance between filmmaking and getai. Filming does take up a lot of my time now but whatever time I have left, I will absolutely spend at getai,” he said. “I really want to see my getai audience. I long to hear their applause and laughs. I live for the getai stage and I love it.”
Wang said getai has seen his ups and downs, and it was also with getai that he first made his mother proud. “I will still take to the getai stage up till now for that precise reason — I never want to let my mother down,” he said.
He now hopes to call the elder Wang out to talk things out, despite not having met or talked over the past four months.
“I hope we’ll be able to sort things out — it could be that it’s been too long since we last communicated,” he said. “I trust that if we do, our relationship will bounce back ever stronger. Shifu, you are still my shifu.”
