“I am always ME,” enthuses Ng HUI 黃慧 Singapore Actress. Sometimes, being UNDERSTATED has its MERITS.

NG HUI Singapore Actress

SHE played AH TAO, the self-sacrificing maid in the SINGAPORE MEDIA CORP’s 45th anniversary offering “THELITTLE NONYA”, which to date, is still the Station’s highest rated drama of all time, in the Republic.

It was the role that bagged her the BEST SUPPORTINGACTRESS accolade (2009) and made her a household name in countries that aired THE LITTLE NONYA.

She definitely stole “the thunder” from the leads, in practically every scene that she appeared in as the chirpy, loyal and caring peranakan maid from a long gone era.

How could we ever forget her as she fleshed out that singular role that “fitted her like a glove”?

She does not need to be the lead actress to be adored.

This is to tell us, that, there’s this uncultured pearl, and if your employer sees your potential and is willing to give you a “good shine”, you can always sparkle!

You just have to fight the favoritism and the politics.

For a fact, NG HUI‘s features resemble the popular Hong Kong TVB actress KENIX KWOK.

Yet we hope that she would not be taken for granted and that her fate would not be like KARA HUI who started so young, and after more than 2 decades, stormed the industry again in 2010 with her best actress role in the recent “AT THE END OF DAYBREAK”.

We are profoundly bored with reading the same old shit about the 7 princesses that the Station is trying in vain to promote and retain, as some of these are leaving the nest for greener pasture without even a ‘gracias’ murmur.

Such a shame!

So what is the weekly 8 Days tabloid and her Chinese counterpart doing? Boring everyone with the same alluring faces + same mundane news, decked in different clothes weekly?

Come on, give us a break! (yawn)

But of course, it’s much safer to tread on familiar grounds because the notion is “the choice of beautiful top liners on the covers can sell the magazines better”.

Hey, content is what everything is about …..

which is why most of the 2010 dramas for want of “freshness” are so predictably stale and induce sleep.

Switch to another channel, please!

Where happened to the writing team who gave us THE GOLDEN PATH, REUNION DINNER, THE LITTLE NONYA and TOGETHER?

We feel that NG HUI is pretty much “understated”…..

that she has an unspoken charm, one that is not garish, loud, obvious, or even ubiquitous.

It’s a charm that is subtly-chic, and doesn’t cry for attention.

“I love my job as an actress,” she gushes, “it’s been something that I’ve always to do this life.”

We hear that the Station’s magnificent talent scouts are furiously roping in male and female “stars” from Taiwan, China and Malaysia?

The latest sign-ups from MALAYSIA is a far cry from what we were expecting. Try harder!

What will happen to the home bred Singapore regulars lying on home ground?

Leave them to rot?

The neighbor grass is greener?

Isn’t there a wise Chinese proverb that says “prosperous waters do not flow into others’ meadows”?

So much for casting the safety net.

When others chose to quit the nest, NG HUI remains fiercely loyal to her employers.

ACTING is her dream career, no less, in her own words.

Our team hunts her down and here’s NG HUI‘s candid revelations on her life and work:

1. What is your ethnicity and astrological sign?

Chinese. Born & bred in Singapore.

Cancer.

2. Was LITTLE NONYA your BEST drama to date?

It depends on your definition of best. My role as Ah Tao in the Little Nyonya allowed me to showcase my acting skills to a great potential and I put in my very best in all the roles given to me and aim to fully portray the roles as real as possible.

3. Did you audition for the role? Gossip mill has it that MAY PHUA was originally slated for the part, but opted out because she was expecting?

No.

Gossips are meant to be taken with a pinch of salt.

4. Would you consider playing AH TAU the peranakan maid a difficult role? How did you prepare yourself for this role?

All the roles I have played so far have a certain degree of difficulty in them.

I always make sure I read and understand the script and the character’s emotional journey fully followed by an in-depth character analysis of the role. I will then embark on my own journey of discovering that character within myself and try my very best to be in the role.

5. Was there an affable working chemistry between you and the merry cast of XIANG YU, JEANETTE AW and JOANNE PEH during the filming of LITTLE NONYA?

Yes, not just with them but the whole cast as well.

It is always about teamwork and a good team produces good results.

6. What advice would you give to someone what wants to get into the acting industry?

Be sure to know what you are coming into the acting industry for.

If it is for the fame or fortune, think twice, think hard and think deep.

7. What is your personality like?

Ever-changing.

8. What was your proudest moment?

None that I can really remember.

I have always been reminded to stay humble.

9. Name any incident that made you sad or upset?

The premature departure of the people I know.

10. What are your interests or hobbies?

Travelling. Photography. Culture and the Arts.

11. What is that you wanted to do in life, but never gotten around to do it?

Nothing that I really remembered.

12. Where have you traveled that impressed you a lot?

Japan.

That was many many years back though. It could have changed by now but I will be going there very soon to find out.

13. What are your types of food?

Fresh and nutritional ones

14. What would be your ideal guy for boy friend …a corporate business minded man or a gorgeous hunk?

Both can do

There is never an ideal. It is all in the mind.

I believe in fate yet still has the right to choose.

Make the best of what you have but never make do.

15. Have you decided that acting would be what you would really like to do for the rest of your life?

Yes.

16. Who in the entertainment industry do you look up to and who is closest to you in your family?

Lydia Sum. For her professionalism and her kindness towards the people around her.

My parents.

17. What is your personal motto?

To learn. To love. To live.

18. What is love in your point of view?

Generosity.

19. Do you have a special someone presently?

Lots. My family and my close friends all have a very special place in my heart.

20. Is there life after LITTLE NONYA for you in terms of role playing?

Definitely. Everyone is role playing all the time. We all play roles in our everyday lives and we should put down our masks sometimes and have the courage to face the world as who we truly are and learn to be better human beings.

21. Describe yourself in 3 words.

Realistic. Artistic. Simplistic.

21. Is there anything else you want to leave to your readers out there?

Do visit www.nghui.com and join my fan page on Facebook.

Hopefully it will make a good difference in your life

CHIRPING Birds. BLUE Skies. But WHY are you NOT SMILING?

AIN’T THE WORLD ALL SUNSHINE WHEN YOU ARE SMILING?

---

If at times you feel you want to cry,

And life seems such a trial ….

Above the clouds there’s a bright blue sky

So make your tears a smile.

As you travel on life’s way

With its many ups and downs,

Remember it’s quite true to say

One smile is worth a dozen frowns.

Among the worlds expensive things,

A smile is very cheap

And when you give a smile away,

You get one back to keep.

Happiness comes at times to all -

But sadness comes unbidden,

And sometimes a few tears must fall,

Among the laughter hidden.

So when friends have sadness on their faces

And troubles round them piled,

The world will seem a better place,

And all because you smiled.

---

KEEP ON SMILING, BABE!

---

Today I smiled,

and all at once things didn’t look so bad.

Today I shared with someone else,

a bit of hope I had.

Today I sang a little song,

and felt my heart grow light,

And walked a happy little mile,

with not a cloud in sight.

Today I worked with what I had

and longed for nothing more,

And what had seemed like only weeds,

were flowers at my door.

Today I loved a little more

and complained a little less,

And in the giving of myself,

I forgot my weariness.

SEX AND THE CITY 2 MOVIE REVIEW. Much Ado about Overindulgence..

PRESS PREVIEW

In truth, SEX AND THE CITY 2 should be observed as a work of pure escapism.

You’d have to suspend disbelief that, at an economic downtime like now, we've a sinful film that’s overspilling with indulgence and extravagance.

The wardrobe budget alone hits an unbelievable 10 million bucks – splurging on brands such as Pucci, Chanel and Alexander McQueen.

I mean, you have these four middle-aged women, SARAH JESSICA PARKER (Carrie), KIM CATTRALL (Samantha), CYNTHIA NIXON (Miranda) and KRISTIN DAVIS (Charlotte) all draped in haute coutre outfits riding camels in the desert and sashaying in the sweltering heat.

Who are they trying to impress by parading in the oasis without any stylist around?

It’s as ridiculous as you can get.

Yet it can be simple and generous, with dosages of the silliness that make us laugh at life’s incongruities and improbabilities.

You’d have thought the four middle-aged tarts are at it again!

Well yes, SEX AND THE CITY 2 isn’t just spiced with puss glamour

and no, the tarts do have a heart.

For sure it’s still sizzling sex, warts and all …..

plus a journey to exotic Abu Dhabi.

The fun, fashion and friendship a la Arabian Nights are here again to astound us.

The treatment of latent fear – that of loneliness, jealousies and marriage woes are explored with more depth.

CARRIE’s married life is far from being blissful. SAMANTHA is desperately popping pills to retain her youth and figure. MIRANDA is being victimized by her sexist boss. And CHARLOTTE worries about her bra-less, busty nanny.

These tarts may be spoiled, insecure women of privilege, out on a limb.

But like everyone of us, they are fallible and very much alive.

You may rank today, as one of the world’s glamorous pussies and talked-about fashionista,

Unfortunately, time does not stand still,

Sooner than you think, you may have to examine yourself in the mirror for lines and crow’s feet and the word BOTOX comes up in your mind with an astounding capital “B”.

Welcome SEX AND THE CITY 2!

If you are a baby boomer on the doom, this one’s for YOU!

Remember, you can only live once.

For this female-centric SEX AND THE CITY 2, the city gals are desperately toying a break from their mundane fabulous lives.

SAMANTHA encounters a Sheik from Abu Dhabi who wants to fly her to his luxury resort hotel to negotiate PR services and she craftily snares a short all-expenses paid vacation (22,000 dollars a night suite and 4 personal butlers) for herself and her chums.

With all the exotic charm, Abu Dhabi remains a city where women adorn “burqas” and frowns on public displays of anything sexual.

And with a sex-starved vixen like SAMANTHA on the prowl, in a forlorn country, you can surely expect round upon round of explosive fireworks.

This is a film for men who gasp and for women who are drawn to female bonding, fashion and fantasy.

The self-righteous critics may go on bragging and bitching for all it is worth,

but it does not stop the loyalists from patronizing the movie and the producers for planning SEX AND THE CITY 3.

This is what box office empowerment is all about.

KARATE KID 2010 Movie Review. KUNG FU FIGHTING in CHINA?

KARATE KID 2010 PRESS PREVIEW

For a majority of the die-hard armchair critics, especially those from Greater China, THE KARATE KID is bound to create some major upsets.

For one, this isn’t a film on KARATE and no, it’s not happening in JAPAN.

Rather, the setting is in BEIJING and it’s all about the KUNG FU martial arts.

So where is the focus?

THE KARATE KID is, in fact, a remake and borrows heavily from the original, very successful 1984 classic that starred RALPH MACCHIO and PAT MORITA (RIP) about a bullied youth who learnt to fight back his bullies with the help of an eccentric mentor. It was then about KARATE.

This time around, it’s JADEN SMITH who steps into the shoes of Ralph Macchio with JACKIE CHAN playing the Pat Morita’s role to teach the disciplines of the KUNG FU martial arts to the whizz kid.

Isn’t it great to have powerful parents such as WILL SMITH and JADA PINKETH SMITH as producers who bought the rights to refashion THE KARATE KID film as a star vehicle for their son JADEN SMITH?

Long live nepotism!

To bridge geographical conflicts, the producers are naming the feature as:

THE KARATE KID in USA and certain parts of ASIA.

THE BEST KID in JAPAN

THE KUNG FU KID in CHINA

THE KARATE KID provides wholesome family entertainment for Jackie Chan’s and martial arts fans, a far cry from the current deluge of 3D and animation offerings.

DRE (JADEN SMITH) is a much sought after kid in his district of Detroit. His confidence takes a beating when his single mother is relocating to BEIJING in the course of work.

In CHINA, DRE has an eye for pretty school student MEI YING but his attempts at friendship are thwarted by big bully CHENG and his fellow cronies who attempt to make his new life unbearable for him.

He learns KUNG FU from MR. HAN, a building maintenance man who takes him under his wings in the hope of getting him in shape for an upcoming martial arts tournament.

MR. HAN is a man of staunch principles. His way of KUNG FU is all about self-defense and not the art of fierce punches and parries.

He imparts the practice of focus, obedience, inner strength and in doing so, this East-versus-West barrier is lifted as the film’s sincerity and poignance paves the way over gaps in plausibility and logic.

JACKIE CHAN is memorable as MR. HAN, and could be his best acting role in Hollywood to date.

JADEN SMITH may be pint-sized for his age, but he is a cutie who delivers the chops!

We are also treated to colorful Chinese backdrops of rural villages, temples, the scenic Wudang Mountains and the unmistakable Great Wall.

And JACKIE CHAN is didactically inspiring when he impresses with his deliverance of Buddhist aphorisms, always with warmth and humor.

It’s like telling us that we are so used to seeing external training that we forget inner training, the training of ourselves.

We like to train other people and forget to train ourselves.

We tend to take it for granted that we are always right, and others are in the wrong.

Kudos must be accorded to film director HAROLD ZWART for this 2 and half hours of family action drama that stays close to the principles of KUNG FU.

Not easy for a Hollywood director to empowers the “ASIAN” mind, but he does it with aplomb where many failed to tread.

IT’S A FILM OF UNDENIABLE WARMTH AND CHARM.

LOVE IN A PUFF 志明與春嬌 Film Preview. Can LOVE blossom in an Alleyway?

PRESS PREVIEW

Excuse me, this reviewer does not smoke.

Maybe he puffs, ever once in a while.

So what’s the big deal?

Let’s say when you smoke, you inhale deep whiffs of nicotine.

The poison goes deep into your lungs and stays, until that rainy day comes when you are feeling queasy for want of fresh air, and medical help, of course.

What if you just take a puff?

Did someone say that puffing is a lighter form of inhaling where the deadly nicotine is not totally “sucked” in?

Is this is a senseless dig at safer smoking?

Or is it just a stupid rationale aim to justify smoking logic?

All over the world, we are reprimanded not to smoke in air conditioned places.

So for a quick puff, you gather in the open alleyway with your regular smoking partners to light a cigarette, relieve temporary stress

and to exchange bits and pieces of sultry news.

This is LOVE IN A PUFF, a film made for SMOKERS, about SMOKING.

Directed by PANG HO-CHEUNG, it has been classified as a Category 3 film in Hong Kong, thanks to a profusion of disturbing smoking scenes and the vulgar Cantonese euphemisms.

Miriam Yeung and Shawn Yue star in this exceptional vehicle which tries to be “different”, dwelling on TOBACCO, a taboo subject.

Miriam is this cosmetic salesgirl called Cherie. She is falling out of love with her live-in boyfriend.

She meets this cute advertising boy called Jimmy (Shawn Yue) in the alley who later becomes a smoking partner over the communal ashtray. Now, Jimmy has just broken up with her flighty girlfriend and is seeking companionship.

Love entwines, in an unlikely environment, amid puffs of office gossip.

This is when “sentiments are stirred”, where the gal eventually moves away from the madding crowd to her own secluded alley with this boy, to banter on delicate matters of the heart.

They SMS each other, go on night sprees, light a lot of cigarettes and then fall in love.

All these, depicted in a crash course of 7 days.

Ask any smoker ….. all the savory gossip, jokes and dirty stories are best shared during cigarette breaks, since the smoking law prohibits smoking in indoor areas, public places, restaurants, even karaoke lounges.

Is this an arresting movie?

Well, yes …..the Director has injected interesting docu-style “first person” interviews where the leads and others opine about love and relationships.

And no, Miriam Yeung and Shawn Yue do seem to be an odd pairing.

The chemistry ain’t there, they just don’t seem to “match”.

There’s a respite at the end of the movie.

Giving up smoking?

Yeah, with true love, you need no nicotine.

You may seek the camaraderie of other smokers,

and all the other psychological cravings develop later to take away the pain of sadness, boredom and depression and so on.

Love maketh the world go round.

And SMOKING is not amongst them,

not one of the golden rules.

You have seen better days,

So quit smoking, chum!