Did I imagine it, was it an 80s thing, or was the old On The Fringe more electric and romantic?
Definitely, the 1988 Channel 8 classic was more focused on its subject of Singaporean juvenile delinquents than the new On The Fringe, which toggles between teenage drama and gangland thriller.
Much has changed in more than two decades, admittedly: hairdos, fashions, habits.
The Centrepoint Kids have made way for the Facebook generation.
But teen crime hasn’t gone away (Google “Downtown East death”, if you have forgotten), and the reboot of On The Fringe is rather timely.
There is a new clique in the new drama, a group of good bad kids who cut classes, hack into other kids’ blogs and filch snacks, and sometimes, adult diapers for someone’s ailing grandpa.
Like I said, they’re good bad kids – as self-absorbed yet well-meaning as regular teens, though less well-behaved – and the drama has flashes of authenticity and fun whenever it is close to them, capturing the camarade-rie and and confidence of young actors such as Edwin Goh and Phua Yida.
Then there is a living, breathing flashback to the old On The Fringe. Li Nanxing, who was a bad boy in the old drama, is now the long-lost, ex-con dad of Goh’s character – and it is kind of fun, too, even when the joke is at the expense of Li’s character (he has never heard of Facebook).
The trouble with the drama is glamorous corporate gangsters (Fann Wong and Zhang Yaodong) who turn up from nowhere, really, to wage a triad turf war and drag in Li’s character.
It’s likely that they have flown in from a Hong Kong crime film, although Fann and Zhang’s accents – floating between Singapore, China and Taiwan – are so disorientating that it’s difficult to be sure.
Whatever their origins, gangsters in suits, to my untutored eye, just don’t seem native to Singapore, or to the sort of naturalistic teenage drama the new On The Fringe could have been.
Groups of men glowering at one another at funerals, fights at steamboat restaurants: Why does the drama dish up warmed-over bits of foreign crime films, when it can tell a Singapore story?
Source: The Straits Times
Categorised in EN, On The Fringe 边缘父子, The Straits Times.
The In-Laws
Channel 8, 9pm
When Baozhu vents her anger on Jiazhen, Jiazhen plays her recorded conversation with Zhijun to prove her innocence. Stars Rui En and Pierre Png (right)
Source: The Straits Times
Categorised in EN, The In-Laws 麻婆斗妇, The Straits Times.
All the acting honours at this year’s Star Awards went to first-time winners.
China-born star Qi Yuwu won Best Actor for playing a roguish lawyer in legal drama The Family Court and local girl Rui En took home the Best Actress trophy for her role of a grieving widow in With You.
While Best Actress Rui En, 30, appeared composed, her frequent small smiles clearly revealed how happy she was. She said: ” I’ve never taken anything for granted and I only want to act even though there were times where i would hear things like the media telling me that I’m not suited for this industry.”
She was referring to the fact that she has a reputation for not playing the public relations game and for being forthright and unconventional.
Her win crowned a triumphant 2010: She starred in three of last year’s top five dramas on Channel 8 – With You, Happy Family and Unriddle.
Her feminine side was on show with a Hermes black dress, a deviation from the usual menswear-inspired outfits she had worn in past years to the Star Awards.
“I feel most comfortable in men’s clothes but I was in a mood for a dress and I’m sure everyone is tired of me looking the same. Besides, I’ve had a lot of breakthroughs in the previous years, so I thought, why not?” She explained.
Source: The Straits Times
Categorised in EN, Happy Family 过好年, Star Awards 2011, The Straits Times, Unriddle 最火搭档, With You 我在你左右.
What is it like having a famous daughter?
Regene: I love meeting with the actors, and getting to know them well. I would play iPhone games with Jeanette Aw and Fann Wong. I am friends with Tay Ping Hui, too, and he would teach me lessons on life manners. My sister loves Rui En, and I introduced them when she visited the set.
Source: The Sunday Times
Categorised in EN, The Straits Times.
Referring to the LifeStyle article Top Of The Hill (Feb 20), I thought it was appropriate for Elvin Ng and Rui En (both above) to be crowned king and queen of the new generation of stars at Caldecott Hill.
Both of them have come a long way. Rui En, especially, has a consistently stellar track record. She captured my attention in 2007′s Metamorphosis. I have always appreciated her subtle acting, which is not like the typical overblown portrayals we see on Channel 8.
It is surprising to note that a lesser-promoted name such as Rui En was able to garner such high viewership figures in her drama serials last year. I suppose this translates to the fact that, in the eyes of today’s viewers, heavily promoted names such as Jeanette Aw and Joanne Peh do not necessarily guarantee viewership.
Xabryna Kek
I agree that Elvin Ng’s acting has improved by leaps and bounds in the last few dramas he appeared in, such as Together and Breakout. He fully deserves the nomination for Best Actor in the Star Awards. In Breakout, he was totally immersed in the autistic character. Ng himself was obliterated. That is the ultimate success of a skilled performance.
The same cannot be said of Rui En. I think she has a long way to go. Her acting is exaggerated and unnatural.
Patricia Lim
Source: The Straits Times
Categorised in EN, The Straits Times.
Source: The Straits Times
Categorised in A Tale of 2 Cities 乐在双城, EN, The Straits Times.
1. Sunday Times (by The Straits Times) Lifestyle Cover
Breakout Stars
Elvin Ng starred in two of the top 10 Channel 8 dramas lst year while Rui En acted in three. Are they the new King and Queen of Caldecott Hill?
2. hot Pages 6 & 7
Top of the Hill
The recently released llist of Top 10 Channel 8 dramas shows there is a new crop of talent ready to take over Caldecott Hill.
By Rachael Boon
And the Top 10 Channel 8 dramas for 2010 are ….
Have a look at the list featured on these pages and many will wonder: Where are the names of Singapore TV’s enduring dynamic duo, Fann Wong and Zoe Tay?
The Queens of Caldecott Hill are nowhere to be seen in the line-up of those starring in the Top 10 list.
The new queen of the Hill is the versatile Rui En, 30, who acted in three dramas which are among the top five Channel 8 shows. She starred in With You, Happy Family and Unriddle.
As for Fann and Tay, they did not even act in any MediaCorp dramas last year to put them in contention. Fann has been busy filming overseas and Tay was pregnant.
The last blockbuster which both of them starred in, along with the two Ah Ge Li Nanxing and Tay Ping Hui, was 2009′s The Ultimatum, which received a lukewarm response. It was criticised for being too melodramatic.
Indeed, the top 10 list runs the gamut of content, from police dramas to stories about families and light-hearted comedy.
The top 10 shows are all MediaCorp’s productions except Taiwanese drama Love.
Modest productions such as With You a supernatural-themed tearjerker, New Beginnings, which dealt with the wedding and funeral industries, and the heart-warming Happy Family, trumped the blockbuster drama Breakout.
Indeed, with Channel 8′s top 10 dramas featuring a greater variety of actors and a wide range of drama genres, it is a sign that big names and blockbusters are not needed to lure viewers.
Things are certainly different from 10 years ago, says actress Cynthia Koh, who has been in the industry since 1992. She says viewers are constantly changing and looking for something more.
The Ah Ge and Ah Jie labels also no longer matter these days because teamwork is more important in producing good dramas, she says.
Rui En is clearly on a trajectory, with a Best Actress nomination for Star Awards 2011 in her bag for her role as a widow in With You, and having acted in three top-rated drama serials in a year.
She was one of MediaCorp’s Seven Princesses – the rest of whom were Jeanette Aw, Joanne Peh, Jesseca Liu, Felicia Chin, Fiona Xie and Dawn Yeoh.
The Seven Princesses was a term coined by the Chinese press in 2006, where the seven were said to be next in line to succeed Zoe and Fann.
Until last year, Rui En had never been a crowd favourite, but with other contenders such as Xie, Chin, Yeoh and Liu leaving MediaCorp, her name has come.
Life!’s Asian TV reviewer Foong Woei Wan says Rui En is finally getting the attention she deserves.
She says: “She doesn’t do the usual Channel 8 acting. In With You, she shows that you don’t have to shout, you can whisper and still hold viewers’ attention.”
Along with the new queen comes her royal partner, Elvin Ng, with two Best Actor nominates in a row.
Actor Alan Term, who has a decade of experience and appeared in various top shows last year, says he does see Ng and Rui En as the new generation of leads.
He says, “They are already leads now so I see them as the next pillars of MediaCorp as they are doing pretty well.”
What do you think of the new generation of stars at Caldecott Hill? Write to suntimes@sph.com.sg
3. hot Page 7
Ice queen turns nice queen
It has been a long climb to the summit, but Rui En, 30, is finally enjoying the view.
The actress, who has been in show business for more than a decade, looks set to be crowned the new queen of Caldecott Hill.
Recognition has finally come, thanks to her roles in three top-rated Channel 8 dramas – With You, Happy Family and Unriddle – and a Best Actress nomination for her role as a grieving widow in With You.
The fortunate series of events did not happen overnight for her. She is known as one of MediaCorp’s seven “princesses”, yet she says her has seen her career “progress in a backward manner”.
By this she explains that she is hardly on top of the popularity pack like the other “princesses” such as Jeanette Aw and Joanne Peh.
In an interview with LifeStyle, she says: “About what I achieved last year, in terms of ratings or anything else, I feel a lot of irony and a little bit of vindication.”
Explaining why, she says: “When this whole “seven princesses” thing was started by the Chinse press in 2006, the media would get people to compare the seven of us and there would be rankings and lists. The funny thing was that then, I was always No. 5 or No. 6.
“Just a few years ago, that was how the media and the public saw me. It was said that I was a bit too distant, the audience wouldn’t accept me, I was too aloof.”
But now, three of her shows have made it to the list of the top five Channel 8 dramas.
The supposed ice queen has since further melted viewers’ hearts with her role as the simle-minded and optimistic Xiaodong in Happy Family, which aired in January last year, She feels that it was that role which made viewers see that she could be more than an ice queen and credits this to the executive producer of Happy Family, Mr Paul Yuen, who cast her.
“For reasons that I don’t know, he decided to cast me as a girl who was simple minded to the point of being silly,” she says.
“The fact that he gave me the chance really changed viewers’ perception of me and I’m very grateful. It turned out to be one of the most comfortable roles I’ve ever played because Xiaodong was very happy and positive.”
Rui En’s hard work over the past decade has paid off. Loyal fans who have stuck with her are really being affected by her moving portrayals in tragic roles such as a widow in With You.
She says: “One auntie came up to me and said, ‘Watching your show makes me cry’. She paused and continued, ‘Actually thinking about it now, I’m going to cry already’. So I was like, ‘oh no, please don’t cry’.”
She adds: “I’m very grateful that viewers have matured to the point where they recognise you for what you are and what you stand for. The recognition I’ve got has proven that.”
Top 10 Channel 8 Drama Series in 2010
Source: The Sunday Times by The Straits Times
Categorised in EN, Happy Family 过好年, Ratings 节目收视率, Ruivin, Star Awards 2011, The Straits Times, Unriddle 最火搭档, With You 我在你左右, 七公主 7 Princesses.
A TALE OF TWO CITIES (DEBUT)
Channel 8, 9pm
Rui En plays a rich girl who is cheated of her wealth when she entrusts her parents’ business to her assistant and boyfriend.
Source: The Straits Times
Categorised in A Tale of 2 Cities 乐在双城, EN, The Straits Times.
I would like to congratulate Rui En for her Best Actress Nomination at the Star Awards this year.
Her performance in With You touched my heart and moved me to tears on several occasions.
She has been in the business for 10 years yet this is the first time that she has been nominated. At least her performance did not go unnoticed this time.
Peh Xinyi
Categorised in EN, Star Awards 2011, The Straits Times, With You 我在你左右.
