The Little Nyonya: Difference between revisions
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In another episode, Juxiang sought an old man's help in writing her daughter's time of birth. The man wrote "甲子年八月十五出生”. 甲子年 referred to 1924, whereby the next scene 8 years later would be 1932. During that time, the second World War had not started yet as Singapore experienced the Japanese Occupation in 1942. It was also illogical since the old Yueniang was said to be 70 years old, but if she was born in 1924, she would be 84 years old. The producer insisted the year written on the paper was “丙子年” instead of “甲子年”。“丙子年" referred to 1936. |
In another episode, Juxiang sought an old man's help in writing her daughter's time of birth. The man wrote "甲子年八月十五出生”. 甲子年 referred to 1924, whereby the next scene 8 years later would be 1932. During that time, the second World War had not started yet as Singapore experienced the Japanese Occupation in 1942. It was also illogical since the old Yueniang was said to be 70 years old, but if she was born in 1924, she would be 84 years old. The producer insisted the year written on the paper was “丙子年” instead of “甲子年”。“丙子年" referred to 1936. |
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In episode 21 where Juxiang was running away from Chen Xi's house, she somehow managed to run all the way from Singapore back home to Malacca. While Chen Xi brought her to Singapore, the issue of transportation for Juxiang to travel back to Malacca was not addressed, especially when she was only a maid and have no money or bag with her to buy a train ticket back. |
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==Criticisms== |
==Criticisms== |
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Revision as of 15:12, 16 December 2008
| The Little Nyonya | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Peranakan-themed Drama |
| Written by | 洪荣狄 |
| Starring | Jeanette Aw Qi Yuwu Pierre Png Joanne Peh Xiang Yun Yao Wenlong |
| Opening theme | 如燕 by Olivia Ong |
| Ending theme | 保温 by 邱意淋 需要 by JS |
| Country of origin |  Singapore |
| Original languages | Mandarin Chinese, some dialogues in English, Bahasa Melayu, and Japanese |
| No. of episodes | 34 |
| Production | |
| Producer | 谢敏洋 |
| Running time | approx. 45 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | MediaCorp TV Channel 8 |
| Release | 25 November 2008 – 5 January 2009 |
The Little Nyonya (Chinese: 小娘惹) is a 34-episode mega-blockbuster drama serial which debuted on 25 November 2008 in Singapore's free-to-air channel, MediaCorp TV Channel 8. The storyline is set in the 1930s and spans 70 years. The movie is sponsored by the Media Development Authority of Singapore.
This drama was produced by MediaCorp in celebration of the company's 45 years of TV shows (45载光芒·8方贺台庆) - which includes dramas, varieties and current affairs. This drama required 2 years of scripting and more than 150 staff (backstage crew, cast etc) were involved in the production of this drama. The cast also went to Penang and Malacca to film part of the series.
A press conference was held on 20 November 2008 at The Pan Pacific Hotel. This serial would be telecast on MediaCorp TV Channel 8, from 25 November 2008 till 5 January 2009, weekdays at 9pm.
As the series was extended from the initial 30 episodes to 34 episodes due to over-runs in filming, from 15 December 2008 onwards, the series would be aired for 2 hours, from 8pm to 10pm on every Monday.
Cast
Main Cast
- Huang Juxiang (黄菊香, portrayed by Jeanette Aw (欧萱))- Although born into a wealthy Peranakan family, she is treated with scorn and insult because of her mother's humble origins. She is deaf and mute from nine years old when she fall sick, as a result, she cannot stand up for herself in many cases.
- Yamamoto Yueniang (山本月娘, also portrayed by Jeanette Aw (欧萱), elder version portrayed by Xiang Yun (向云))- The daughter of Juxiang.
- Chen Xi (陈锡, portrayed by Qi Yuwu (戚玉武))
- Huang Yuzhu (黄玉珠, portrayed by Joanne Peh (白薇秀))
- Chen Sheng (陈盛, portrayed by Pierre Png (方展发))
- Liu Yidao (刘一刀, portrayed by San Yow (姚玟隆))
- Tian Lan (天兰, portrayed by Xiang Yun (向云))
Other major cast
- Yamamoto Yousuke[1] (山本洋介, portrayed by Dai Yangtian (戴阳天))- An ethnic Japanese, he was very interested in Peranakan culture. In order to protect Juxiang from the philandering Charlie Zhang, he married her. Yousuke was murdered by invading Japanese when Singapore fell to Japanese forces. It is implied that Charlie Zhang had a role in his murder.
- Huang Zhenzhu (黄珍珠, portrayed by Eelyn Kok (郭蕙雯))
- Huang Meiyu (黄美玉, portrayed by Apple Hong (洪乙心))
- Gui Hua (桂花, portrayed by Lin Meijiao (林梅娇))
- Madame Chen (陈老太, portrayed by Li Yinzhu (李茵珠))
- Huang Jincheng 黄金成, portrayed by Darren Lim (林明伦))
- Huang Tianbao (黄天宝, portrayed by Andie Chen (陈邦鋆))
- Ah Tao (阿桃, portrayed by Ng Hui (黄慧), elder version portrayed by Zhu Xiufeng (朱秀凤))- An amah for the Huang family. She is loyal to the family.
- Xiu Juan (秀娟, portrayed by Cynthia Koh (许美珍))
- Xiu Feng (秀凤, portrayed by Pan Lingling (潘玲玲))
- Charlie Zhang (查里张, portrayed by Desmond Sim (沈金兴))- A baba who returned from the United Kingdom, he is generally scornful of the Peranakan culture, earning him scorn from older generation of high Peranakan society. He also loves to have affairs with many women.
- Robert Zhang (罗伯张, portrayed by Zzen Zhang (章缜翔))
- Angela (安淇, portrayed by Felicia Chin (陈靓萱))
- Jonathan Li (李修文, portrayed by Nat Ho (鹤天赐))- A native of Hong Kong who grew up in Canada, he fell in love with Angela, and followed her from Canada to Malacca.
Synopsis
The story begins from the 1930s, spanning over 70 years till modern day.
Juxiang is born into a big Peranakan family where her mum is a mistress. She is gentle, beautiful and a fantastic cook. Due to a serious illness when she was 9 years old, she became a deaf-mute. Because of her handicap, she is ostracized by people. Right before the Japanese Occupation in Singapore, she is forced to marry a rich Peranakan as a mistress. Juxiang resists the marriage and runs away from home. She then meets a young Japanese photographerand after many obstacles, they finally get married and Juxiang gives birth to a daughter Yue Niang. During the World War, Juxiang is tortured and both her husband and her dies leaving behind their 8-year-old daughter.
Yue Niang is passed around families and eventually ends up at her grandfather's house. Under the supervision of her grandmother, Yue Niang learns to cook Peranakan dishes and sewing. She grows up looking exactly like her mother and is exceptionally beautiful. After the war, her maternal relatives who ran away to England to seek refuge during wartime return home. Yue Niang then leads the life of her mother – always discriminated, beaten up and tortured. She puts up with all these in order to protect her grandmother.
Yue Niang's pretty looks incurs jealousy from her cousin and attracted many rich Peranakans to chase after her. However, she only has eyes for penniless driver Chen Xi.
Chen Xi actually comes from an educated and wealthy family. He hides his identity to be with Yue Niang. Yue Niang's kindness, pureness and persistence move Chen Xi and he loves her deeply too. Unfortunately, their relationship is filled with many obstacles and difficulties. Under pressure from his family, Chen Xi is forced to marry Yue Niang's cousin instead. Yue Niang is then sold to a butcher, Liu Yi Dao.
Yue Niang is unwilling to accept the fact that her life is always manipulated by others and decides to end her own life. Yue Niang's strong personality impresses Liu Yi Dao and they become sworn siblings instead. Yue Niang decides to choose her own path in life. She begins learning how to run a business and in the process, she is framed and ousted from her business. Although she is badly hit, she manages to overcome the odds and save her declining family business. Sadly, her love life has yet to begin a new chapter with no news about her lover, Chen Xi.
Trivia
- This drama series is seen as an extremely strong contender for all the major awards (such as Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Drama Serial) in the upcoming 2008 Star Awards which would be held on 15 March 2009.
- The drama series is also the first 9pm series ever to have a 2 hour time slot allocated for telecast on a single day. However, there were other 7pm series that were screened from 7pm to 9pm on Mondays previously such as Bukit Ho Swee and Springs of Life.
- This is the most expensive series MediaCorp TV has ever produced. Even a pair of shoes the cast wore costs S$700.
- Even Zoe Tay wanted to be part of the drama.
Roles
- Since late 2007, MediaCorp has been sourcing for the actress to take on the challenging role of 黄菊香 and 山本月娘. By April 2008, the TV station shortlisted 3 actresses who were considered suitable for the role, namely Fiona Xie, Jeanette Aw and Jesseca Liu. In June 2008, Paul Chan, VP for MediaCorp's Branding and Promotions, announced this challenging lead role would be given to Jeanette Aw. (Reference: Who gets the coveted lead role?)
- This is Qi Yuwu's come back drama after almost 2 years of disappearance from TV as he had been filming mainly movies recently since the drama The Peak aired in early 2007.
- Xiang Yun's role in this drama was initially meant for Huang Biren. However, the latter decided not to renew her contract with the TV station; thus the role was offered to Xiang Yun.
Errors
In earlier episodes, Juxiang was supposed to be a deaf and mute role who knew how to lip-read. However, she seemed to be able to understand and respond to the people around her although she was not facing them.
In episode 8, when the Huang family was escaping to England by ship, Gui Hua commented that the ship have British Royal escort that the Queen of United Kingdom enjoys only. But if they were escaping the war in 1941, there could not be any Queen as King George VI of the United Kingdom was still in the throne until 1952. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom ascended the throne only in 1952, while Queen Victoria was only in the throne from 1837 to 1901.
Possible error. In episode 8/9, young Yueniang arrives at her Grandmother's house in Malacca, Malaya from Singapore. Tao commented she went hungry for two days to reach here. But, from Singapore to Malacca, the distance is about 260 kilometers. She could not arrive here by train as train services were closed during the war. Also, how could she possibly navigate through 260km by herself just by two days without any form of motorised transport? She does not seem severely exhausted even though she starved for 2 days and travelled 260km.
Viewers also wrote in to the local media regarding to the loopholes and they were addressed as below
In the 4 December episode where Yue Niang arrived in Malacca, the maid Ah Tao was still spotted to be wearing a blood-stained bandage over her injury which was caused by Gui Hua 8 years ago. The producer insisted the red stains were due to medicine. The maid had to work all day and had no time to recuperate completely so her injury never healed.
In another episode, Juxiang sought an old man's help in writing her daughter's time of birth. The man wrote "甲子年八月十五出生”. 甲子年 referred to 1924, whereby the next scene 8 years later would be 1932. During that time, the second World War had not started yet as Singapore experienced the Japanese Occupation in 1942. It was also illogical since the old Yueniang was said to be 70 years old, but if she was born in 1924, she would be 84 years old. The producer insisted the year written on the paper was “丙子年” instead of “甲子年”。“丙子年" referred to 1936.
In episode 21 where Juxiang was running away from Chen Xi's house, she somehow managed to run all the way from Singapore back home to Malacca. While Chen Xi brought her to Singapore, the issue of transportation for Juxiang to travel back to Malacca was not addressed, especially when she was only a maid and have no money or bag with her to buy a train ticket back.
Criticisms
Some audience have found Pan Lingling and Cynthia Koh to be too old to portray their respective characters. [2]
It was said Juxiang's role was designated to be mute on purpose to conceal Jeanette Aw's flawed and unnatural articulation. [3]
The mass publicity for Little Nonya two months before the show premiered also received criticism from the public. The cast of the show turned on stage to introduce themselves at the grand event of the year, the 45th anniversary. Viewers commented they were trying too hard to hard sell the show (《小娘惹》全体演员出来打戏，非常hard sell。 ). Mark Lee, who was one of the stars onstage then, also made such a remark about the abrupt appearance of the cast that night.
Notes and References
- ^ Shown in subtitles on the first episode as "Eguchi Yosuke", which changes the name to "江口洋介".
- ^ "潘玲玲《小娘惹》演少女 观众嫌老 (Translation: Audience found Pan Lingling to be too old to play a teenager in The Little Nyonya)" (in Simplified Chinese). Lianhe Wanbao (carried on omy.sg). Retrieved 2008-11-29.
- ^ "安排欧萱演哑巴 《小娘惹》剧组刻意'藏拙' (Translation: Deliberate move in arranging a mute role for Jeanette Aw in The Little Nyonya)" (in Simplified Chinese). Lianhe Wanbao (carried on omy.sg). Retrieved 2008-11-28.