Alright, this post has the potential of pissing off people like me (Singaporeans), and maybe MediaCorp. But at the time I saw the Channel 8 (Singapore) advertisement of Heart of Greed, I was both happy and annoyed at the same time. Heart of Greed is a 40-episode TVB (Hong Kong) drama serial hit. Since its debut in 2007, I’ve been following it. I watched the whole drama serial twice, same for its indirect sequel – Moonlight Resonance. I have to agree that the plot for Heart of Greed is better than Moonlight Resonance, but the acting skills in the latter is not bad either. What shocked me, was that Channel 8 was going to broadcast Heart of Greed in a few week’s time.
For the past few years, Singapore’s local television company, MediaCorp, has been only broadcasting lousy TVB drama serials on its own Mandarin Channels (Channel 8 and Channel U). Maybe it’s because they didn’t want Singapore’s drama serials to look so pathetic. But it’s true. I think serials like The Little Nyonya and The Ultimatum were highly overrated. Frankly, after forcing myself to view the few episodes, I’d rather spend my time studying than watching these local works.
I’m happy for the fact that our fellow Singaporeans will be quite impressed by Hong Kong drama serials and finally realise how lousy our works can be. I’m serious, you have to follow Heart of Greed. I’m annoyed by the fact that MediaCorp has to broadcast these series to keep viewership ratings high, which means, our local products are not as good. Correction, very far apart.
Also, if I were to watch Heart of Greed for the third time, it would be dubbed in Mandarin. I’m personally very annoyed by this – they should give us viewers to switch between Mandarin and the original language, or dialect – Cantonese. Not because of some government campaign again! Also, some names like “Sheung Joi Sam” will become “Chang Zai Xin”, which sounds kind of funny.
For a number of years, whenever I hear praises of local drama serials – I would always want to express my honest views over how un-interesting, un-original (please do not sue me for defamation), and un-convincing. You really have the impetus to smack a character if you see him in real life, after watching some other drama serials by TVB.
Yes, and for some National Education – this year will be the first year Singapore is having a band to perform our NDP song. Embedded below is the video for it. It’s okay if you don’t wish to view it, but you must view the second video – the parody of the previous video. I personally think it’s better.
i thought little nonya was overrated too.