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Mother knows best: Actress Wee Soon Hui hopes to pick up tips from her character

SINGAPORE — Family drama abounds in new MediaCorp TV Channel 5 drama Tanglin, which tells the story of four different families living and working in the Tanglin area. With 199 episodes in the works, Tanglin is Singapore’s first long-form English drama.

It's all about family: The cast of the new Channel 5 TV drama, Tanglin. Photo: Jason Ho

It's all about family: The cast of the new Channel 5 TV drama, Tanglin. Photo: Jason Ho

SINGAPORE — Family drama abounds in new MediaCorp TV Channel 5 drama Tanglin, which tells the story of four different families living and working in the Tanglin area. With 199 episodes in the works, Tanglin is Singapore’s first long-form English drama.

The series stars a host of actors including Nat Ho, Masturah Ahmad, Elfaeza Ul Haq, James Kumar, Fauzie Laily, Constance Song, Syirah Jusni, Richard Low, Eswari Gunasagar, Darryl Yong and Adam Chen, but one will probably stand out in the minds of those who watched TV two decades ago: Actress Wee Soon Hui, best known for her role as the mother of the Tay family in the 1990s Channel 5 drama, Growing Up, which ran for six seasons. In Tanglin, she plays Tong Li Yan, a widow and the matriarch of the Tong family, who run a cafe as a family business.

If you ask Wee though, she’ll say all mothers are the same, and in fact, playing the mother in Growing Up inspired her in her own child-rearing journey.

“When my kids were young, I would scream at them and say, ‘Don’t do this.’ After Growing Up, I realised Mrs Tay was such a fantastic mother — she was very calm, very cool — and I thought, ‘Hey, I’m playing a fantastic mother on screen. How can I, in my own life, to my own children, not play a good mother?’” she said.

“And so, I borrowed the qualities of Mrs Tay to be a better mother. When I was asked to play Tong Li Yan, I was so happy because it’s like a refresher course for me. I’m hoping to sort of get some lessons, some tips, from Tong Li Yan, so I will be able to continue to be a good mother to my children.” MAY SEAH

Catch Tanglin starting June 30 at 8pm on MediaCorp TV Channel 5.

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