1980s actor Hugo Ng returns... to catfights

SINGAPORE — Mediacorp Channel 8’s mid-year blockbuster drama The Dream Job may boast a stellar ensemble cast that includes Shaun Chen, Jeanette Aw, Rebecca Lim and Romeo Tan. But it’s the veteran actors that may be stealing the scenes — specifically, Hugo Ng, Aileen Tan and Pan Ling Ling, who are involved in a catfight-level love triangle.

Ng, who was a familiar face on local television in the 1980s and made his mark in dramas including the period piece Pursuit, returned from his life and career in Hong Kong to take up the role of a wealthy man in his years of decline, hoping to reunite his scattered illegitimate offspring.

“I have been away from Singapore for 30 years and now, coming back to do a Singapore drama — each scene is unforgettable,” the 57-year-old said today in a press conference to promote the show. “It has been very comfortable. Here in Singapore, everyone in front of and behind the camera is very professional, so it was easy for me to get into my role.”

Actress Pan Ling Ling, who plays his wife, acknowledged Ng’s status as a local television legend by quipping: “I grew up watching his shows, and now, I’m playing his wife! What is this?”

“I play his mistress,” said Aileen Tan, “so the first thing I asked the executive producer was, ‘How’s his heart?’”

On being cast in a role older than her age, she went on to joke: “I’ve told my husband that I want to save up for plastic surgery. And I’ll get my entire body done, too. Otherwise, in a few years, I’ll be playing Jeanette Aw’s grandmother. Don’t worry, Ling Ling — I’ll take you with me. After our surgeries, Rui En and Jeanette Aw will play our mothers.”

Pan shared that playing Tan’s rival in love resulted in “the most difficult scene I’ve ever had to do in my career” — that is, she had to physically assault Tan. In one scene, the two women come to blows and Tan accidentally hit her head against a wall. “Everything I’ve said today is due to my having sustained a head wound,” she joked.

Catch The Dream Job starting June 28, on weekdays at 9pm on Mediacorp TV Channel 8.