Joys of Life

It stars Chew Chor Meng, Alien Huang, Rui En, Chen Liping, Zheng Geping, Chloe Wang, Kate Pang, Andie Chen, Huang Wenyong, Lin Meijiao and Zhang Yao Dong as the cast of the series.

Set in post-World War II Singapore, the story line spans the decade between the end of the Japanese occupation and the HDB's clearing of squatters during the late 1950s to early 1960s.

In an old tenement house at Huaxiang Street, several families live together and play out the acts in life every day.

The story revolves around six friends – Zhao Mingxing (Alien Huang), Qian Yiduo (Zhang Yaodong), Han Yongyong (Rui En) and her sister Rourou (Chloe Wang) and Sun Zibin (Andie Chen) and his sister Lianjing (Kate Pang) – and their families as they go about their lives in post-World War II Singapore.

Zhao Dagou (Chew Chor Meng), who has lived through the horrors of the Japanese Occupation, is a master storyteller.

Zibin, who works in the office of the TV station, has a leftist younger sister, Sun Lianjing.

His mother Cai Shuxian (Pan Lingling) married Uncle Roti (San Yow), a bread seller, through an arranged marriage.

The tenement house is owned by bakery owner Qian Caifa (Zheng Geping) and his stingy wife Jin Yinjiao (Chen Liping).

When Mingxing finds out that Lianjing is a closet fan of stars, the quarrelsome pair who shares a common interest start dating each other in secret.

A keen learner, she seizes the chance to learn English, and catches the fancy of Master Johnson (Bobby Tonelli).

Daiyu pretends to be the one pregnant so as to protect Rourou from shame, but the latter gives birth to a baby of mixed race.

Recognising Dagou's talent as a standup comic, Xiaoyu encourages him to perform at getai shows.

Mistaking Xiaoyu for a Japanese, he starts to distance himself from her, however, he feels anguish seeing how she is mistreated by Yamaguchi.

The intense competition in the getai business compels Xin Hua Xiang to consider joining the bandwagon in offering striptease acts, to Zibin and Lianjing's objections.

When Jianren finds out that Caifa is Yongyong's biological father, he creates a ruckus by demanding his money back.

On finding out that Caifa has given her up for Shuxian, the jealous Yinjiao flies into a rage and wants to drive her family out.

Unhappy that Yongyong is more popular than her, Rourou quits as a singing duo to go solo but fails to earn an audience.

When Rourou retires from singing and plumps herself in the bakery, Erduo sets fire to the shop out of resentment.

Set in the '60s to '70s when mobile getai was all the rage, the story will allude to well-known entertainers of the day such as Sakura Teng and the comedy icons Wang Sha and Ye Feng.

Chew Chor Meng makes a comeback after a brief absence due to illness alongside fellow veterans Chen Liping, Zheng Geping, Huang Wenyong, Lin Meijiao, Pan Lingling and Rayson Tan.

The cast also includes younger local household names Rui En, Zhang Yao Dong, Andie Chen and Romeo Tan and Taiwanese idols Cynthia Wang and Alien Huang (Xiao Gui).