He is synonymous with the television character Phua Chu Kang (PCK), the eccentric contractor with distinctive yellow boots, head full of curls, a prominent mole on his right cheek and a Singlish-speaking tongue.
Lesser known is that nearly a decade ago, Gurmit Singh, 60, had introduced an Indian character into his comedic repertoire.
Hero Singh - the Sikh security guard with a larger-than-life personality, thick Indian accent, protruding belly, red turban, chest full of curls, comical moustache and a black baton - made his debut in 2016 during a comedy show titled Laugh Die You in Kuala Lumpur.
Taking on the role of both host and game master, Hero Singh engaged with the audience and improvised jokes, a role previously performed by the more-renowned PCK.
Hero Singh became an instant hit, with audiences in Kuala Lumpur embracing the character's over-the-top antics and impromptu dance moves.
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Gurmit played the character again at Resorts World Sentosa in 2016. It marked the first and only time he performed as Hero Singh on home soil, though he has since portrayed the character many times in Malaysia.
This will happen again in Kuala Lumpur in May, with the show re-titled Laugh Die You: Hero Singh - Guilty As Charged.
A snippet of the opening act recently posted on Instagram reveals Hero Singh making a grand entrance, descending from the ceiling on a platform amid fireworks and dancers grooving to Bollywood hits.
Gurmit based the character on his late father, Chainchal Singh, who worked as a bank security guard by day and as an overnight jaga or watchman by night.
Jaga - Malay for guard - is associated with Singapore's Sikh community, many of whom took on security roles in the 1960s due to their reliability and strong and imposing presence.
The fake chest hair plays on the stereotype of hairy Indian men, the twirled moustache adds a false sense of authority and the protruding belly is a tribute to Gurmit's father.
"When Hero says things like 'Bastard you!' it's what my father would say when he was drunk. And there's no fear when you hear that. It's just a throwaway, more of a greeting," Gurmit explained.
The distinction between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation lies in intent. Gurmit's intention is not just to make people laugh but also to honour the generations of men who came before him through good-natured parody rather than mockery.
"My grandpa was a watchman, my father was a watchman. I thought I was going to become a watchman too," Gurmit said.
And for a while, he did. With his father juggling two security jobs, family time was scarce. So as a teenager, Gurmit spent weekends filling in for his father as an overnight watchman at Bank Negara Indonesia on Malacca Street, near Raffles Place.
On Saturdays, after his extra-curricular activities at school, he would arrive in the afternoon and take over his father's post when the bank was about to close. "My dad would pass me the whole bunch of keys and go home," Gurmit recalled.
With only a few employees from the computer department still around, they would find a young Gurmit sitting on the hammock-style bed - standard for jagas who stayed overnight at their posts - explaining that his father had gone for a tea break.
Once the bank emptied out, his job was to lock up and head upstairs to shut off the main generator for the building's air conditioning.
"It was on the fourth floor and that floor scared me because it was just an alleyway, dark with a dingy light. I didn't know this at first but the building would contract in the cold and start expanding once the aircon was off. Then you would hear crackling sounds and the hair on my arms would stand."
After that terrifying ordeal, the teenager would spend the rest of the day watching television in the lobby until around 7pm, when his family - father, mother and two younger sisters - would join him at the bank for dinner before settling in for the night.
"My mum and dad would sleep on the bed, while my sisters and I had three thin mattresses or blankets. We could sleep anywhere, so we'd sleep on the carpeted area in the admin office," Gurmit recalled.
"Once, I even slept in the computer room because one of the computer guys had a tape player in his drawer, so I could listen to a tape before falling asleep. There was a time the three of us slept right in front of the vault, in front of this giant steel door. Once in a while, I'd pray for it to open - just open, please."
The next morning, the family would have breakfast before leaving, while Gurmit remained behind. He would spend the day watching television until lunchtime, then head out to buy nasi lemak, vadai or murukku before quickly returning. By 7pm on Sunday, his father would return to resume his post.
"That was my childhood. Growing up, the weekends in my teenage years were spent in the bank."
His childhood experiences instilled in him a deep desire to provide a comfortable life for his family. And he did, but he mistakenly believed that earning a high salary and financially supporting his family was the same as being present for them.
Gurmit eventually found himself disconnected from his family due to his busy schedule and realised he was repeating the same cycle his father had done with him.
He then decided to leave his full-time role at Mediacorp in 2014 to focus on his family - his wife Melissa Wong, a polytechnic lecturer, and their son and two daughters.
He still performs live comedy and makes occasional appearances in entertainment projects.
Through Hero Singh, Gurmit pays homage to his father and the countless Sikh men who took on the demanding yet understated role of jaga.
By embodying the character with warmth, humour and a touch of absurdity, he transforms a once-familiar figure into an entertaining, nostalgic and relatable persona for audiences.
He is the watchman who became Singapore's beloved funnyman. In doing so, Gurmit has successfully broken the generational cycle while honouring the men who came before him.
