By Timothy Goh, Tay Hong Yi
You either love it or hate it. National Day Parade (NDP) theme songs often draw strong reactions – and robust debate in some cases.
Here’s a look back at NDP songs through the years.
2005: REACH OUT FOR THE SKIES
The catchy song was performed by Taufik Batisah, winner of the first season of Singapore Idol, and actress Rui En.
Source: The Straits Times
Categorised in EN, NDP 2005, The Straits Times.
By Yip Wai Yee
SINGAPORE – Two popular Asian actresses made their highly anticipated television drama comebacks recently, but their fates could not be more different.
In Singapore, Rui En can be seen in Channel 8 fantasy comedy Hello From The Other Side, her first TV appearance in over 11/2 years since the drama Have A Little Faith (2017).
While Chia will likely secure an acting nomination at the next Golden Bell Awards for her powerful comeback performance, Rui En’s show will probably be forgotten altogether.
The Singaporean actress is not the one to blame here – she had simply chosen the wrong script to stage a comeback.
To Rui En’s favour, she is charming in the role. This is one of her rare comedic parts and she is a natural. It is just too bad that the rest of the show cannot quite keep up with her.
RBKD: The full article is available for ST Premium users only and can be accessed via the link below.
Source: Straits Times
Categorised in EN, Hello From The Other Side 阴错阳差, The Straits Times.
CNA/cy
Mediacorp publications 8 DAYS and i-Weekly will move to become digital-only, and will have their last print editions at the end of September this year.
Source: Channelnewsasia.com, Straits Times
Categorised in 8 DAYS, channelnewsasia.com, ELLE, Elle Magazine, EN, I-Weekly, The Straits Times.
By Foong Woei Wan
WORST
The fake Singapore on local TV
This chronic problem has become more glaring this year. Owing to linguistic restrictions, many Channel 8 dramas take place in an HDB theme park that has been scrubbed of Singlish, incorrect Mandarin and Chinese dialects.
And although the dialect drama Eat Already? 2 has been held up as an exception to the rule, it actually makes as little sense as the Land Of Proper Mandarin. The Singapore it depicts – a country where white-collar parents speak Hokkien, not English, to their only child and young strangers burst into Cantonese, as if the Speak Mandarin Campaign was never imposed on their generation – is just as implausible as the Singapore where no one speaks Singlish.
Source: Straits Times
Categorised in EN, The Straits Times.
By Nicholas Yong
More than two decades after it was launched, and just months after it comprehensively revamped its website, news and lifestyle aggregator AsiaOne is expected to shut down as early as next month.
AsiaOne is the primary content aggregator for SPH’s publications, featuring stories from the likes of The Straits Times and The New Paper, while also syndicating content from SPH magazines, such as Her World.
The news comes on the back of Wednesday’s announcement that SPH will be cutting 230 jobs by the end of the year, as part of a previously announced 10 per cent reduction in its work force.
Source: Yahoo!
Categorised in asiaone.com, EN, Her World, The Straits Times, Yahoo.sg.
Singapore Press Holdings plans to divest its 20 per cent stake in Mediacorp TV (which owns Channels 5, 8 and U and Mediacorp Studios) and 40 per cent stake in Mediacorp Press, the publisher of the Today newspaper, for $18 million, the firm said on Friday (Aug 25).
SPH expects to record a writedown of about $31 million in its books. The deal is likely to be completed at the end of September.
The deal comes 12 years after SPH purchased the stakes as part of a media industry asset consolidation in 2005. During the consolidation, SPH transferred a TV channel to Mediacorp and took a 20 per cent stake in Mediacorp TV.
SPH also merged its free newspaper Streats with Today, and invested in a 40 per cent stake in Mediacorp Press.
As part of the deal announced on Friday, Mediacorp will also stop publishing any soft copy or computer-readable format of Today that has the look and feel of a hardcopy version of the newspaper, for a period of five years.
Source: Straits Times, Channelnewsias
Categorised in channelnewsasia.com, EN, MediaCorp, SPH, The Straits Times.
