The plot tells the story of a Chinese family living at a Bishan HDB Flat at Blk 243, Bishan Street 22, Bishan North, and headed by Tan Ah Teck―the owner of a mini-mart and his family: Homemaker Dolly Tan and children Denise, Ronnie and Paul Tan ― along with their neighbours, namely married Malay couple Rosnah and Yusof Hassan, and Daisy Matthews, a lady of Indian descent, along with her younger brother Michael Matthews, where they all live in the same flat.

Also, Anita's Father Bobby Chow who moved in with the Tan family after he and his daughter Anita sold the Ang Mo Kio HDB Flat and lived in Paul's room due to his apartment in Hong Kong under renovation works for the time being in Season 6, and once they are completed, he eventually returned to live in his apartment in Hong Kong.

It returned briefly during Channel 5's 40th anniversary in 2003 for Season 7.Channel 5 - Mediacorp TV The sitcom then rebroadcast in May 2011 and broadcast on weekdays around 12pm before being dubbed into French.

This was mainly because of the worry that the younger school going viewers would start speaking Singlish more and bring down the standard of spoken English in Singapore.

Another popular Singaporean sitcom that also received similar pressure was Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd where the main lead and title character named Phua Chu Kang was criticised for speaking Singlish and this sitcom was put under pressure by the Singapore Government to use formal English instead of intermittently incorporating colloquial Singlish.