Everybody's business + Best Of Friends

SINGAPORE- She cannot seem to stay out of the limelight since her hidden pregnancy came to light after giving birth two months ago.

At media events that Liu Ling Ling attends, reporters flock to her like bees to honey.

What made the press conference for her new local movie Everybody's Business more Liu-centred was that it also happened to be her birthday.

The local getai singer-actress, who turned 51 on Tuesday, was late as she had thought the location was at VivoCity, but all was forgiven when she arrived at the Hotel Intercontinental Singapore.

Her co-stars Mark Lee, Gurmit Singh, Kumar and Wang Lei beamed as they stood up, sang a birthday song and presented the single mum a cake.

PROFESSIONAL

Liu, ever the professional, diverted the attention by announcing that her birthday wish was for success at the box office for Everybody's Business, which is directed by Malaysian Lee Thean-jeen and opens here on Dec 5.

Said Liu, when asked yet again about the son whom she had through artificial insemination: "Yes, he's doing well, he's really cute... He's hungry all the time as well."

Film-maker Jack Neo, 57, who is the executive producer for Everybody's Business, half-jokinging piped in: "Can you all stop asking about the baby already? Let's focus on the movie."

In Everybody's Business, which centres on the importance of keeping public toilets clean in Singapore, Liu and Wang play the owners of a coffee shop which houses a filthy toilet that leads to massive food poisoning.

BEST OF FRIENDS

Kumar, Gurmit and Lee play workers at the Ministry Of Toilets who find themselves swamped with challenges when they try to tackle the problem of dirty public toilets.

The trio said that they are the best of friends in real life, thus explaining their on-screen chemistry.

Said Kumar, 45, who plays a fictional female minister: "We don't see each other often but when we do we don't have to warm up, we just pick up from where we left off."

The gay comedian also kept everyone in stitches when he refused to be politically correct.

He also picked on a serious-looking reporter who was so intent on taking notes that she didn't look up even when he asked her whether she was actually attending a funeral.

Kumar brazenly walked towards her to "check".

Said Gurmit, 48: "The three of us just connect and when we are together, we just feed off each other and the jokes keep coming."

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