Growing Up During 90s' TV When James Lye And Gurmit Were Still Under One Roof

Our latest article features a journey back to Singapore TV in the 90's. This article is written by one of our newer Nostalgic Singapore members, David BK Tan. 

Fellow Singaporeans, do you realise the above title contains two of Singapore's more popular drama series - "Growing up" and "Under One Roof"? No? No worries, let me walk you down the TV memory lane.

English drama started its run in 1994. The first series was "Masters of the Sea" but unfortunately the first ship to foray into the English drama sea sank. It was criticised for the inaccurate wardrobe and unimaginative lines such as  “I will crush you, like a cockroach”.  Perhaps one of the reasons could be the unfamiliarity of the local environment as the producers and story writers were Americans (source).   

But one trivia arising out of this flop was the debut of Bryan Wong, who crossed over to Channel 8 thereafter to seek better opportunities. Now he is back to Channel 5 hosting programmes, thus epitomises the saying "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again".

The next home-made series fared better. "Under One Roof" centred around a family's life in an HDB flat, spanned seven seasons from 1995 to 2003 with 125 episodes.  It was truly a multi-racial cast, and some of the names in the series still sound familiar - Tan Ah Teck (Moses Lim). Ronnie (Nicholas Lee) , Rosnah (Norleena Salim) etc.  Some of you might still remember the tagline from Tan Ah Teck -“Long before your time, in the southern province of China…”.

 

1995 also saw the debut of the police drama "Triple Nine".  The first season starred James Lye, Wong Li Lin and Lim Yu Beng.  It was quite a success with a run of 4 seasons from 1995 to 1999.  The success of this series also made it possible to do the cross-over to Channel 8, with the dialogue being dubbed into Mandarin.

"Growing Up" was the first successful family drama in Singapore's TV history. Helmed by the veteran actor Lim Kay Tong and the up-and-coming starlets Andrew Seow, Steven Lim, Irin Gan, and Jamie Yeo; the series depicted the growing-up years of these four under their disciplinarian father (Lim KT).  Lim KT's excellent portrayal of the role of family patriarch led him to be named by the Straits Times as one of the top ten dads on TV in 2013.  The series spent six seasons on local TV screen from 1996 to 2001 with 113 episodes.

The quintessential local drama must be "Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd" in 1997.  Starring the larger-than-life Gurmit Singh and flanked by his able co-stars such as Irene Ang, Pierre Png, Tan Kheng Hua etc; the show used a dose of Singlish and exaggerated characterisation to make it a hit.  It also churned out the best tagline in local TV so far "Best in Singapore, JB, and some say Batam.” which PCK aka Gurmit always reminded the viewers.

In fact, the name of Phua Chu Kang is already a funny name. Chu Kang (厝港) is a familiar area name in Singapore (Lim Chu Kang, Chua Chu Kang) and it means house along the river in Teochew dialect. Phua (破) means broken, so Phua Chu Kang literally means a broken house along the river. As PCK is a building contractor, doesn't it sound funny in a contradicting manner? Thumbs up for the creativity juice of the scriptwriters.

No wonder PCK is MediaCorp’s longest running sitcom, spanning eight seasons from 1997 to 2007 with 167 episodes. 

If anything, sci-fi is clearly not one of the strengths of Singapore television. The superhero drama "VR Man" aired in 1998, could only save itself one season despite having James Lye as the lead actor. Not even the charismatic super powers of James Lye could rescue it. By the way, VR stands for Virtual Reality, not Very Rotten!!

The next series was actually not in my memory bank and I only came across it whilst doing a research on this article. Debuting in 1999, "Spin" was the first English teen drama which revolved around the lives of a group of polytechnic students.  The cast included Madaline Tan, Elaine Cheah, Rodney Oliverio and Melody Chen. It only spun for 17 episodes. 

Finally we have come to the conclusion of my article here. We certainly had a good dose of TV entertainment during the 90s, and with Singapore celebrating its golden jubilee of 50 years of independence in 2015, here's wishing more good TV in the next 50 years to come!

About the writer:

After falling in love with IT for about 12 years, David BK Tan decided to part amicably with her and woo Mr Entrepreneurship and Ms Mandarin thereafter. He is a web entrepreneur, founded a wine cooler website (www.dunavoxasia.com) and concurrently teaching foreigners Mandarin. You can read his posts on China/Mandarin at https://www.facebook.com/MrChinaBoleh.

Rocking the Sub Concert - A Day In Singapore's Music History - A Photo Essay

This blog features a photo essay of a concert that took place at the Substation on 21st December 1997. All photos taken by Reynold Pereira.

Four Sides

It is just another normal weekend in December 1997 albeit the week before Christmas. I decided to head off to the Substation where they had a concert featuring some of our local bands.

The article that appeared in BigO magazine in Feb 1998

It was a period when photography especially of the non-colour nature played a big part in my life. 

Livonia

So there I was with my Contax 167MT fed with Agfa and Kodak film hoping to capture the melodies and emotions of many young bands made up of guys who may have had aspirations and dreams of hitting the big time with their music. 

Daniel Sassoon, guitarist of Livonia

I wouldn't be far off by saying that many of them were still of the pre-National Service age (Correct me if I'm wrong there!!).

Suburban Dammit

The afternoon went by with five or six bands spreading their gospel with both covers and originals. Some were of the speed metal nature while others were attempting to resurrect the ghosts of Bob Marley. Others were replicating the flow of English Indie Music. 

Justin Ho, guitarist of Suburban Dammit

The bands were of varying standards and I still remember thinking that some of them should adopt the first and most crucial principle of music: learn to tune your instruments . Inexperience surfaced in many of these bands but I must give credit to their 'tak mahu kalah' (don't say die) attitude. 

Aaron Kao, drummer of Suburban Dammit

But to be honest, the 18 years that have lapsed since that concert has fogged the memory a little and has withered whatever recollection of the music that I heard that day.

Pasture with Foo Say Keong (extreme left) on guitar and vocals. This was their one and only gig!

Some of these photos were featured in one of the issues of the now defunct BigO (Before I Get Old) magazine while the others were relegated to my storeroom where the negatives were befriending the fungus that was slowing populating the booking binders that were stacked on top of each other in a room laced with humidity. 

Joseph Roberts, guitarist of Pasture

My recent acquisition of a negative-to-digital converter plus some minor 'photoshopping' has restored some of these photos to their former glory.

Bushmen (with Syed from Stompin Ground on guitar and Hassan Mohd on bass)

For many of the youth in these photos, these concerts were one of their only means of 'letting loose'; to be able to express themselves freely in 'nanny' Singapore! A convocation of youth, who may see themselves as being in the peripherals of society. 

Hassan Mohd

 
As I now look at these photos, I can't help but wonder what has happened to many of the musicians and the crowd that were present at this concert almost 18 years ago. 

Flow (with Alwi from ESP helping out on bass)

Have they realised their dreams to be what they were hoping to be? Have they changed in their ways and thinking? Have they succumbed to the harsh realities of life?

Fendi (from Big red Moment) playing with Pasture

 
Well, if any of you are in these photos, let me know!!

Bastardized

Jinyao, vocalist/guitarist of Bastardized

Mahmud Ayaz, bassist of Bastardized

Kurt Wee, drummer of Bastardized

Bodysurfing

Going with the flow with Bastardized

Who says bodysurfing is only for men!!

Crowd getting into the groove!

Giving a helping hand

Rizal Sanduan - Individualism at its best!!

Band supporters (I wonder which band!!)

Singapore Punk!

Setting the trend years before tattoos became a fad! Nick and Jeffrey Huang, poor Arts students at that time (According to Jeffrey)

Azmi (from Nunsex) extreme left

Chillin' out!

Health is Wealth!!

About the writer:
Reynold Pereira is a Singaporean who now lives in Barcelona, Spain. He works for a Singapore law firm as a business development director. He is passionate about photography especially black and white photography and used to spend hours in the darkroom during the days before digital photography. He also sings in a band and has recorded several albums including Déjà Vu, an album consisting of only original songs. You can read more about the album at his CD Baby site.

Sunday Kopi with a Patrician from the class of 1957

This blog features a wonderful conversation between my St. Stephen's and St. Patrick's School buddy, Danesh Daryanani and Clarence, a Patrician from the class of '57. The conversation took place in a hawker centre in Telok Blangah.

You can read more of Danesh's interesting blogs at www.daneshd.com. He also has a fascinating photo blog called Scenes From Singapore.

Last Sunday, 15th February 2015, the mood for a kopi-o gao came upon me. So I traipsed to one of my favourite uncle baristas in Telok Blangah.

Got my S$0.70 (US$0.56 as of 16/2/15) brew and sat at a vacant table. Shortly, the man in this picture came up from behind me and asked, “May I sit here?”

Clarence from the St. Patrick's School Class of  1957 (Photo by Danesh Daryanani)

I was surprised. This elderly Chinese gentleman with tattoos on both his upper arms spoke in perfectly enunciated English.

Judge me not but I thought he looked “Hokkien Gangsterish” if you know what I mean.

I said, “Go ahead”, and motioned for him to sit down.

My curiosity was piqued. We were sitting at a table right opposite a fruit juice stall and next to it, a prata stall.

After a few moments, I asked him, “Are you waiting for juice?”

He said, “Prata”.

Eager to engage him further, I continued, “It’s crowded today.”

Understanding that I was open to engagement, he turned towards me.

His English was clipped. I noticed his crucifix and Mother Mary pendants.

I attended St. Patrick’s School as a teenager. I’m a proud Patrician. And I know Patricians. There is a certain je ne sais quoi about Patricians. You see, Patricians possess a counter-intuitive blend of gangster and gentleman, streetwise and refined, rough and smooth. Ask any Patrician and they’ll understand what I mean. This gentleman had it. I asked him if he was from a mission school. He said yes. I asked which. He said St. Patrick’s. I was vindicated.

A connection had been made.

Clarence (Photo by Danesh Daryanani)

OK, let me nutshell what I learned of Clarence during our chance encounter.

He was born in 1937.

He completed both primary and secondary school in St. Patrick’s (they had primary school until 1957 when the primary section of the school was separated and became Saint Stephen’s School, which I attended).

He graduated in 1957 (I enrolled in 1977).

Being a bit of a rascal (which is the norm for Patricians), he was publicly caned (rather proudly, I must add) a number of times. One time he was caned for “waylaying” Katong Convent (KC) girls (he remembers the names of the three girls but I’m not publishing it). He said this rather proudly although he admitted that at that time he had no idea what “waylay” meant. I totally get it that he was proud (as will most Patricians).

Clarence got caned another time for stealing a papaya at a nearby hotel (now demolished). Although the property was protected with barbed wires, he threw a gunnysack over the wires, climbed over and stole the papaya. He was caught when he made his way back to school. He claimed that the papaya had fallen on the public side of the fence. It was a lie. And the disciplinarian didn’t buy it.

Updated on 20 February 2015 with the information of the name of the hotel – Ocean Park Hotel (thanks Larry Henson). 
 

Clarence described the experience of one of his public canings. The caning teacher presented a row canes the day before the public caning and ask him to choose one. He chose the seemingly most insipid one. On the following day of public caning, he wore two shorts and stuffed it with newspapers. Although the caner knew what was going on by the sound as the cane struck Clarence’s derrière, he let it go. Compassion.

I’m guessing that today, public caning is a no-no. When I was in St. Patrick’s from 1977 to 1980, public caning was still in force. I think it was and is a good thing for an all-boys school.

Although I enrolled in St. Pat’s in 1977, twenty years after Clarence graduated, I asked him about some of the older teachers during my time. One of my vice-principals was Mr Eu Wing Kee. Clarence remembered him to be a trainee teacher during his time. He remembered Brother Justinian (an avid tennis player well into his advanced years) and Brother Joseph McNally (principal during my era). The principal during his time was Brother Alban.

The St. Patrick School’s latin motto is Potest Qui Vult, which means “he can, who wills”. When I was at St. Pat’s (1977 – 1980) we would refer to our motto instead as “protest and revolt”. Apparently, it was the same during Clarence’s era. Perhaps even before.

He was brought up in Lorong K, Telok Kurau with his Grandmother. I didn’t ask him about his mom and dad. He earned money for his grandma by helping a Malay lady sell epok-epok, kueh-mueh and other delicacies. He would be paid ten cents a day for doing this, which was apparently a lot of money then. He would put this money into a “piggy-bank” his grandmother made from a coconut shell.
 

Clarence (Photo by Danesh Daryanani)

He worked at the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) but when he joined it was called Singapore Harbour Board (SHB).

He canvassed for Lee Kuan Yew in Tanjong Pagar in the 1957 Singapore City Council Elections. Incidentally, he is not pro-ruling party. In fact, he’s not a fan, by any stretch of the imagination, of the current overcrowding he feels in Singapore. After hearing his story, I can definitely sympathise. I recognise that Clarence and his peers are the ones who built the Singapore that we now enjoy. A simpler, quieter, and slower Singapore.

He’s got tattoos on both his upper arms in Chinese characters. I asked him about them. On the right side are the names of his mom and dad, and on the left the names of his wife and son.

He is a Catholic and attends the Carmelite Monastery in Singapore.

I left after half and hour as I had bought some raw produce from the wet market and needed to get home to refrigerate it.

I didn’t get Clarence’s number but I told him I’m going to look out for him to hear his stories.

He looked pleased.

I’m definitely going to look out for him to collect more stories. What a great Sunday tête-à-tête.

About Danesh
I go by the moniker DD. Interesting word that – moniker. The etymology is quite obscure. Etymology: probably from Shelta (language of Irish itinerants) munnik, modification of Irish ainm.

My blog covers a variety of topics but some of the more prevalent ones will be on social commentary – especially things that bring light to the world. It will also contain some of my reflections, my  faith, and just everyday observations.

I used to be a die-hard corporate animal working in and sitting on management teams of companies such as Coca-Cola, Nokia, Shell and Samsung. Then at the age of early 40-something decided to go back to my first love, which is writing. I am not a trained writer but I love communicating things that matter to me. I’ve learned the ropes through breaks I’ve been blessed with.

Since I made the switch, I’ve been commissioned and published four times. I’ve written or provided content for mobile apps, videos, animations, scripts, digital books and even plays. I’m loving it.

The company I run is called The Write Studio.

Shalom and God Bless.