"TOGETHER" is touted as SINGAPORE MEDIACORP's YEAR END-CUM-ANNIVERSARY PRODUCTION FOR 2009.
You will be more than pleasantly amazed.
We are treated to a heartwarming tale of male bonding and female camaraderie,
the trials and tribulations of 3 girls falling in love with the same guy, and yet remain as close chums,
plus a 30-year roller coaster ride of memorable events taking you through the economic and political storms of the 60s where SINGAPORE was going through a period of radical changes.
For the better.
If you are a baby boomer, it's a definite stroll down memory lane laces with memories of this thing called national service that was imposed on the guys way back then,
You also learn that SINGAPORE started printing its own currency in the 60s, the horrific oil crisis that hit the doldrums in the 70s, the horror when the stock market crashed in the 70s and more ......
The story centers on 3 young guys and 3 nubile gals and their different families residing in NORTH BRIDGE ROAD which over the years,had lost the "old feel" of the 60s due to modernization .....
so the principal cast and crew all left by coaches across the Singapore-Johor Causeway for location shooting in MALACCA and IPOH to authenticate that "old world charm".
And did this move measure up?
YES, special mention must be accorded to the excellent work put in by the LOCATION MANAGERS, WARDROBE PEOPLE,HAIR and MAKE-UP STYLISTS who were responsible for creating the retro "feel" of the 60s. They did a meticulous job to bring us the old forgotten shop houses and streets, the go-go attire with bell bottoms, the beehive hairdos for the ladies and the Brylcreem slicked hairstyles for the guys.
So there!
It's a job well done.
Notwithstanding the superb cast that lends credence to the entire story.
Here's what I feel, from the other side of the fence as a fellow writer/producer, far away from SINGAPORE:
KUDOS to the CASTING PEOPLE for assembling a personable cast where each and everyone did his or her best to weave heart-wrenching scenes that evoke indelible memories of a long gone era.
Let me pay tribute to some of the cast who had put in painstaking performances:
ELVIN NG, who, in his previous roles had been dubiously criticized for stiff acting has made a 360 degree roundabout turn and delivers a BEST ACTOR performance as a bumbling nitwit with a strong sense of friendship who would do anything for the girl he loves.
And love he did ..... not only buffing himself in the acting department, but the fight sequences as well.
Watch ELVIN NG as he takes us to the boxing ring where he delivers death-defying kicks and blows a la ONG BAK style that would have made TONY JAA sit up and take notice.
I cannot recall any actor in the Singapore MediaCorp stable who can display his prowess as a perilous fighter. Here's one action star in the making.
Well done, ELVIN!
On the female side, there is this lovely young beautiful thing called EELYN KOK, whom we'd love to hate as she is the pivotal focus in the story that shapes the lives of her friends around her.
But hate we cannot as she delivers a flawless performance as a spoilt, simple-minded damsel with her bimbo head in the clouds who "dares" to love and hate the person she adores.
Why wasn't one of the 7 princesses anyway?
She has definitely come a long way, holding her fort now as leading actress status and is a lot better than some of them, go guess who!
JEANETTE AW has always been good and may garner an award, but she's pretty much the same selfless maiden that she was, in THE LITTLE NONYA.
Watch another rising star ZHANG ZHEN HUAN who played JEANETTE's younger brother, a timid mouse who's forever afraid, an introvert who loves quietly and is a sad victim of circumstances.
He provides squealish relief when he cross-dresses as an "ah qua" (transvestite) to help pay off his father's gambling debts.
Veteran actor WANG YUQING puts in a memorable performance as the wimpish father, the street performer who peddles medicine for a living, who whiles his time gambling away his life, who suddenly has this glimmer of pride for his dimwit son to marry into a wealthy family, only to have all hopes dashed when his son and his in-laws shun him. He dies, sadly, admonishing us what filial piety should all be about.
And HONG HUI FANG as the demeaning, bitchy landlady .... Nothing escapes her, and this is what we call real acting.
There's also ZHENG GER PING, who have us in stitches when he adorns an effeminate Elvis Presely persona to play this comely role.
Old wine mellows with age, hah.
One significant flaw though.
Is it funny at all to have EELYN KOK in one stinking scene taking a dump and uses newspaper to wipe her butt?
Or having DAI YANG TIAN and ELVIN NG spicing their dialogue using words splattering with SHIT and FART?
We are not prudish, but there're more savory ways to inject humor.
Too much is an overkill.
Other than those, "TOGETHER" is a drama series that has a rare fascination and power, thanks to the content development writers at the station.
It is designed to startle and entertain.
And that for sure, IT DOES!
Now hear the THEME SONG and watch THE TRAILER of "TOGETHER".
There's a thriving film industry out there and one gigantic TV drama factory that produces prime time soaps.
It's called MEDIACORP Singapore.
Yet some SINGAPORE bloggers nicknamed it MEDIACORPSE.
Sarcasm or Spite?
Considering that the station is one of the very best in ASIA and is constantly churning out some of the most prolific dramas, such as the recent REUNION DINNER and JUST IN SINGAPORE.
REUNION DINNER and JUST IN SINGAPORE made us all sit up to take notice of the simpler virtues in life, of living in the heartland of SINGAPORE.
They were wonderfully scripted and kudos to the writing team who had added beauty and realism to the otherwise mundane lines.
Excellent true-to-life scripts, we all say.
And to the competent acting cast who delivered the goods.
They are "best actors" in their own rights.
We enjoyed the series so much, we laughed and we cried all-the-way with the characters.
And we are especially wowed with the "au naturel" acting prowess of veteran actress CHEN LI PING.
And kudos too, to PAUL CHAN, the Station's Vice-President OF Branding for his first-hand and entertaining blog covering the MEDIACORP scene.
You are doing a great job, PAUL, in "enhancing the brands" and making themso vibrant.
He has a way with his banters and interactions with the artistes (not easy, because we are hopeless at people mayhem).
NOW BACK TO THIS ARTICLE.
It's bound to upset some raw nerves.
But we're sticking to our guns.
SOMETIMES, a great notion?
Maybe. Perhaps.
Our regional production team (comprising a fair mix of SINGAPOREANS, MALAYSIANS, FILIPINOS, HONG KONGERS and THAIS) try to stay positively opinionated, bear with us.
We are insiders in this industry.
We do our homework before we shoot from our mouths (pun intended).
We are not fans.
It's MIND over MATTER, OK?
As a CHINESE adage goes, we are dealing with SUBJECT content and not the PERSON.
JEANETTE AW.
She's really beautiful, isn't she?
She has that kind-of-a-face that can launch a thousand ships.
She's getting better and better.
Pearly white teeth, enchanting smile, sparkling eyes that beckon you seductively - yet with a tinge of playful shyness.
Believably perfect.
She reminds you of a younger VIVIAN CHOW, the Hong Kong squeeky clean girl-next-door artitste.
Nope, we were not taken in by her in the first instance.
In her earlier drama roles, she was often the spoilt lass or shy maiden.
Until LITTLE NONYA came along and changed all that.
As I have mentioned, her image just "grows" on you.
She's going to grace the SINGAPORE google tube for many more long years to come.
This sweet damsel is bound to set male hearts aflutter, not only in SINGAPORE but from far, far away - from all around the region.
Provided that her MANAGEMENT is SINCERE in promoting her seriously and NOT PUSHING her off the limits.
Stop repeating that JEANETTE is 29 (who cares, since she can pass off as 23) and that rookie CHINA babe DYT is only 23.
If the pairing is so uncomfortable, just don't align them together in the first place.
So much for comfort zone.
Age is just a number if a person can maintain his or her looks.
Sensitivity is quite another matter.
Women do not like to be reminded that they are a year older.
First, they were adamant in bestowing JEANETTE the crown, since ZOE TAY and FANN WONG, the Station's reigning queens are happily married and have reached their pinnacles.
JEANNETTE AW gained awesome fame in LITTLE NONYA the recent blockbuster drama series.
She should be the ONLY leading actress there judging by air time, storyline and character focus, as any foreign producer or film maker can see and judge.
THE SINGULAR THEME WEAVES AROUND THE LITTLE NONYA. Even the name.
JEANETTE had fleshed her dual roles as the distraught peranakan mother-and-daughter during pre-and-post Japanese occupation with aplomb.
She deserved the compliments and even her management applauded her.
At first.
Now it's a different story. There's a sudden change of hearts and minds.
It's JOANNE PEH, another pretty damsel, who has a prominent supporting role in LITTLE NONYA who stole the thunder with her portrayal of a brutally maimed woman, raped and left to die.
It's JOANNE PEH who walked away with the coveted BEST ACTRESS 2009 award.
Hers is a staunch supporting role as we read it (say what you want), and not a lead by sight and sound, and we therefore beg to digress.
But her management wants her in, and that was that.
Suddenly JOANNE becomes the flavor of the season.
It's LIFE imitating ART, or vice-versa?
We don't know, but our heart goes out to JEANNETTE.
Everybody has been rooting for her to win and for some inexplicable reasons, she lost out and is left dangling in mid-air.
Heard of the song PUPPET ON A STRING?
There're plenty of cherubic smiles on the stage of the recent SINGAPORE STAR AWARDS 2009.
For the winners, it was "floating on cloud 9" and enlightenment all the way
For the losers?
Brave smiles ("no big deal, la") but teary disappointments within.
It's like this when you've got to pit one talent against another.
Did the best one win?
Your guess is as good as ours.
This is pretty much the situation for JEANNETTE AW, to have what you should have on a platter and have it taken away right before your eyes.
TO HAVE BUT NOT TO HOLD.
Entertainment politics prevail here.
Raw talent, kick ass or kiss ass?
For sure, connections are all that important here.
If Management likes you, then it's SUMMER all the way.
If they don't, then it's time to hunt for alternatives.
Unless you are tolerant of the frost-bites.
AWARDS NIGHT is not necessarily a culmination of achievements, of tributes and of glowing things to come.
It's a pitch of one-great-talent-against-another in a boxing ring.
It's pure entertainment itself to the audience out there, fodder to raise ratings and to incite media advertising.
All the World is a Stage,
And all the men and women are mere players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
It's life imitating art, so to speak.
WHAT PRICE STARDOM?
Lots.
You lose your privacy, you are heavily lauded with praises or negative criticism,
You'll feel ever-so-insecure because you fear that there's always a better one out there somewhere,
And the day'll come when you are forced to step down -
gracefully or otherwise,
THE ENTERTAINMENT ARENA is a brutal ground for challenges,
You've to dance to the right tune,
Plenty of SMILES aflowing.
But for those who have lost, putting on your brightest SMILE is the best way to walk away head up high.
With gracious dignity.
AWESOME, isn't it?
To JOANNE PEH - we have supported you in our past articles, we think you are great - we say sorry for voicing our opinions (and of course, we know you don't care).
To JEANETTE AW - at least we are seeing you in a different light now, and there'll be sunshine after the rain, for sure. Cheers!
Isn't LIFE like this:
YOU WIN SOME, YOU LOSE SOME.
YOU SIMPLY CANNOT ATTAIN GLORY FOREVER.
(The above content reflects the professional sentiments and musings of your SINGAPORE's friendly neigbbours and does not seek to offend or pique controversy, so there!)
