Source : Channel News AsiaSingapore: It was the largest media turn-out director Jack Neo has probably had, but it was not a gathering that the 50-year-old, his family and friends could ever have dreamt of.
Reporters and cameramen swooped down on the Scorpio East building on Thursday morning on word of a news conference that opened with a flurry of camera flashes as Neo arrived hand in hand with his wife Madam Irene Kng, on an auditorium stage.
The revelation over the weekend of Neo's affair with a 22-year-old model Wendy Chong who stars in his latest movie, had clearly taken its toll.
Looking dishevelled and sleep-deprived, he ushered his wife of 27 years into the chair next to him before facing the veritable wall of cameras set up just metres away.
Behind the media were a handful of few fellow actors including A-Nan, Shen Wei Jun, Tay Yin Yin and Wang Lei who had arrived earlier to lend Neo their support.
"It's all my fault and it has nothing to do with anybody else," said the beleaguered director in Mandarin.
"Today, I feel that I am very lucky because my wife forgives me," said Neo periodically wiping tears from his eyes.
"My wife has endured what many women cannot, and even forgave me.
"She tells me she does not know how to handle the media, so I hope this is the last time we are speaking to the media, everyone please give us a chance," said Neo before he tenderly reached for his wife's hand and prompted her to speak.
A visibly upset Mdm Kng managed to offer a tentative smile before giving her statement.
"I am not an artiste and I don't know how to handle such an event," she said as Neo buried his face in his hand.
"I have only one thing to say. Because I love Jack Neo, because I love this marriage. I love my family. I am already very hurt, please let me off," she pleaded as she choked back tears before breaking down to openly weep.
"The most important thing to me now is everyone's support," said the mother of four.
Breaking into English, she said "I really need your blessing."
With emotions taking over, Neo closed the news conference as a distraught Mdm Kng was helped out of her chair.
As Neo and his close friend Mark Lee who had been backstage led Mdm Kng off, she collapsed onto the floor and was beset by a horde of cameramen.
"Go Away!" shouted Neo desperately as he struggled to help his wife to her feet and through the crowd.
Amidst the ensuing chaos J Team Productions actor A-Nan rushed on stage, shoving aside cameramen and screaming "Go Away!" as he held off the relentless mob while Neo and his wife made their exit.
"Will they only be satisfied when we have to call an ambulance?" I heard one journalist mutter as the crowd dispersed only to gather outside in the hope for more news.
Ignoring the heat of the morning, some reporters contemplated their stories as they flipped through their notes while others held miniature pow-wows to discuss the next move.
Scuttling plans was Neo's manager Tang Wing Fai, who appeared on the scene to announce "everyone has left".
When Channel NewsAsia approached Tang, he declined to comment on the press conference and added he will not comment on the matter in the future.
"I won't have any comment because this press conference was to [conclude] the matter," he said.
- CNA/ha
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