SINGAPORE — In 2011, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) collaborated with MediaCorp TV Channel 8 to produce C.L.I.F., a hyper-realistic police procedural drama that also explored the private lives of law enforcement officers.

It was so successful that it spawned two more seasons. Discussions for a fourth season are under way. The success of C.L.I.F. (that’s Courage, Loyalty, Integrity, Fairness — the four core values of the police force) not only resulted in solid ratings for the channel, it might also have inspired many to go blue like Elvin Ng’s character.

“There was a 50 per cent increase in the number of applicants (to the SPF) in July 2011 from July 2010,” said SPF Director of Public Affairs Department, Assistant Commissioner of Police Melvin Yong. “While we are unable to attribute this increase solely to C.L.I.F., several applicants whom I spoke to said they were inspired by C.L.I.F. when considering a career.

“The C.L.I.F. series has consistently achieved high viewership ratings and social media is also abuzz with positive feedback,” observed Yong, who said the original aim of the drama was to “humanise” the police force by showcasing their day-to-day work in a realistic manner and for viewers to “gain some crime prevention awareness”.

“I think we have been fairly successful on these fronts, in particular, raising public interest in what we do.”

Could TV be the new campaign platform? The coming drama Life Is Beautiful, which will debut on March 2 next year and stars Rui En and Pierre Png, is supported by the National Kidney Foundation (NKF). It aims to raise awareness of the importance of kidney health through the events that befall some of the characters. “Many people say, ‘I see it from the outside, but I don’t understand what a patient goes through’,” said NKF CEO Edmund Kwok. “We think having a platform like this, together with the wonderful script, will help people feel the pain of being a patient and hopefully tell themselves to stay (healthy). A drama series has 20 episodes, so there’s constant messaging. Also, MediaCorp channels have very good viewership, so it is strong, consistent, repeated messaging.”

Another coming drama will take a look at healthcare from the opposite point of view. You Can Be An Angel Too, starring Zoe Tay, Rebecca Lim and Elvin Ng, will air from Jan 5 next year and revolves around professional nurses. It is produced with the support of Care To Go Beyond, a national campaign for Nursing and Allied Health Professions.

Portraying the profession as realistically as possible requires the involvement of real-life professionals, said spokesperson Dr Pauline Tan, Chief Nursing Officer at the Office of the Director of Medical Services, Ministry of Health. “We are very much involved in the production, from the start of the scriptwriting to the very end. During filming, we will also be directly involved in advising on technical aspects.

“A nursing drama is something we’ve been wanting to do for a very long time. Nursing is such a noble profession and, through this drama, we hope viewers will be able to have a chance to see the role of nurses, see them in action as they care for the patients on the frontline and, more importantly, realise how special they are.”

Tan also hopes that the drama will educate the public about the nursing profession and encourage more school-leavers to join the healthcare sector as a profession. One of the best ways to achieve both aims, she said, is to have audiences “go inside the … lives of nurses” to see what it would be like to be in their shoes. “The public needs that visual effect,” said Tan. “Emotion and connection are very powerful.”