Ronnie Chieng and Gin Lee get thumbs up from Johor Sultan

JOHOR BARU: Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar (pic) has expressed his pleasure in seeing two outstanding Johoreans striking success on the international entertainment scene, namely singer-songwriter Gin Lee and comedian cum actor Ronny Chieng.

His Majesty congratulated the two for their remarkable achievements on the global stage.

“I’d like to thank them for bringing glory to Johor in their own way and wish them continued success.

“I believe Johor has many talents who have yet to be found and nurtured. Let them be an example and inspiration of what Johor can achieve, and also spur our own local arts and entertainment scene to greater heights,” His Majesty said in a statement posted on Sultan Ibrahim’s official Facebook page here on Saturday (Sept 18).

Gin Lee emerged champion at Malaysia's Universal Music songwriting competition at just 18-years-old and released her debut Mandarin album titled ‘One & Only’ on Dec 29, 2009.

Two years later, Gin Lee moved to Hong Kong and debuted as a Cantopop singer after self-learning Cantonese and released several chart-topping songs, including an album ‘beGin’ which won Best Female Singer at the 2020 AIM Chinese Music Awards presented by the Malaysian Recording Industry Association.

The 34-year old recently took the stage with one of Hong Kong’s Four Heavenly Kings, Jacky Cheung at the Miss Hong Kong 2021 pageant, singing their duet ‘Let the Street Lights Rest When the Sun Rises’.

Meanwhile Ronny Chieng, 35 were cast in ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ with fellow Malaysian star, Henry Golding and Marvel’s ‘Shang Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings’ set to release on Oct 7 in Malaysia this year.

Chieng started out as a standup comedian since his university days, where he performed with Trevor Noah in 2013, and later proceeded to become a senior correspondent on The Daily Show hosted by the latter.

In 2016, Chieng co-wrote and starred in the sitcom ‘Ronny Chieng: International Student’, based on his own experience as a Malaysian student at the University of Melbourne and he was named one of ‘10 Comics to Watch’ by Variety in that same year.

Netflix has also started streaming his stand-up special, “Asian Comedian Destroys America!” in 2019.

He has clearly not forgotten his roots as seen in a Malaysia Day promo video for ‘Shang Chi’, where he flaunted his Malaysian passport and spoke fluent Malay by saying “Johor Bahru kampung saya. Saya anak Malaysia”.

Chieng showcased his use of ‘lah’ and ‘meh’ in his daily conversations and his ability to still order at a ‘kopitiam’ like a pro.