Paige Chua

A new Singaporean model and actress - Paige Chua (蔡琪慧) has come into the scene lately. I first saw her in the show 一房半厅一水缸 . Somehow she gives me the Chung Kar Yan feel and I kinda like her. Acting still has room for improvement but she has some kind of attractiveness. Someone to look out for in coming Mediacorp shows.

Talking about Singapore dramas which I was introduced to some 6 years back when I arrived in JB - they have really came a long way since they first started off. They have some really good actors and actresses which somehow are little-known outside of their tiny island state. I particularly like those shows that depict olden day Singapore and give a very Nanyang feel. Their God of Gambling type of show or attempted action-packed shows are still craps. No way to compare to TVB's. But their shows on everyday Singapore life is really great. Maybe because there are so much in common between Malaysia and Singapore, there is some connectedness when watching such series.

Another interesting Singapore trademark in their series is the strong element of government propaganda. I remembered when there were lotsa hoo-haa over falling birth rates (who to blame but LKY?) their shows immediately promoted the virtues of giving birth and gave everyone a briefing on all kinds of government incentives for having more kids. One show even went to the extent of educating the public on methods to conceive - something about guinness stout and a warm pillow! Then of course, some shows (in hardly subtle ways) promote their CCCs. And of course the latest drama serials 不凡的爱 is about awareness on HIV/AIDS patients. It is definitely no secret of how even entertainment serials are being used by their PAP government to extend all government propaganda. But then again, there is hardly anything bad to say about the Singaporean government and their propaganda in the end probably is for the better.