Crossing Borders: A New Chapter in Singapore Chinese Television Dramas (1980s–2000s)

Locally produced Chinese television dramas like Return of the Condor Heroes (1998) were hits not only in Singapore, but also amongst Chinese audiences overseas. Singaporean artistes like Hugo Ng, Kit Chan, Michelle Saram, and Eileen Yeow once co-starred alongside celebrities like Tony Leung and Louis Koo in Hong Kong’s TVB television dramas. Singaporean viewers were also seeing the presence of Hong Kong and Taiwanese artistes like Lydia Sum in the English language sitcom Living with Lydia (2001) and Steve Ma in the Chinese mythological drama, Legends of the Eight Immortals (1998).

This lecture will explore these cross-border exchanges and how they marked a new chapter in Singapore’s Chinese-language television from the 1980s to the 2000s. Through these examples, this lecture will make a case of how Singapore’s Chinese-language television industry grew beyond its local beginnings and onto the world stage.

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