Local TV dramas started in the 1960s, and was first adapted from theatre drama.《黃金萬兩》was the first local TV series to be produced.
In 1968, the local TV station opened up vaccancies for screenwriters and actors. They then started producing children TV plays such as 《家在大巴窯》and 《六小無猜》.
- 1980 --> The TV station imported talents such as 梁立人and 林能寬, from Hong Kong and Taiwan respectively
- 1982 --> The first Mandarin TV series department was established.
- 1990s --> Singapore's TV serials gained recognition in Mandarin speaking regions.
Since then, the production of Mandarin TV dramas sped up and developed into what we are watching nowadays.
Current Status
Local Mandarin TV dramas are part of our daily lives and their content usually include happenings in Singapore, which Singaporeans can easily relate to.
However, it is still a form of mass media and thus faces the strict control and censorship of the government. Dialects have been banned from TV shows in 1980 following the launch of the Speak Mandarin Campaign. Singlish, a mix of languages uniquely to Singapore, however, can still be seen being used in TV shows.
Significance to the Singapore Identity
The content of local Mandarin TV dramas usually include happenings in Singapore. This allows Singaporean viewers to easily relate to their daily lives and feel a sense of connection towards it. They also often discuss about family issues, like in Portrait of Home and Kinship, which are heartland topics that we are familiar to.
Other than the content of the dramas, we can also notice that some times, Singlish is being used. Singlish is a mix of languages uniquely to Singapore, in which many of us use to converse in day to day interactions. It is a part of our lives and it makes us feel comfortable and be ourselves. It is considered a sense of identity to some of us. Take for example when we are abroad and we hear someone speaking Singlish, we could more or less identify the person as a Singaporean. It gives us a sense of belonging to the country and holds the citizens closer together as one. This unique feature make what the local Mandarin TV dramas significant to our Singaporean identity.
Feel proud of our own local dramas :) They are, after all, uniquely Singapore!
