The Little Nyonya Withdrawal Syndrome
I guess I, like many other millions of viewers, are now suffering from post ‘The Little Nyonya’ withdrawal syndrome. The 34 episode serial drama, which received the highest TV ratings for the last 15 years, ended its run yesterday.
How are we now going to spend our weeknights? What are we going to do?
There are no more misadventures of the ill-fated mother Juxiang and daughter Yueniang to follow, no more villains to curse at, no more tok panjang to look forward to, no more pretty beaded shoes to look at, no more tasty Peranakan dishes like babi pontei, ngor hiang, rempah udang and many more to salivate at, no more lovely lacy kebayas to ogle at, no more pantun to listen to… Oh dear, this is bad!
The food feast at tok panjang
I don’t deny it’s the beauty of the Peranakan culture, the grandeur of the houses, the lavish costumes, the mouth watering wide spread of delicacy that captures hearts. But that is not all. Who can forget the struggles, the tears, the plotting, the love and the unloved that perpetuates the entire serial?
I remember reading media reports that this serial took more than a year to finish scripting. After all, it’s billed as Mediacorp’s 45th anniversary big production. So it better be good. And boy did it not disappoint.
Viewers were transported back in time to the 1930s. Flashbacks were deftly interspersed in between episodes to connect viewers to the modern days. In total, the entire storyline spanned a total of 70 years – from the lives of the grandmother, mother and daughter whose individual stories are related orally to the grandaughter. This so reminds me of Grandma telling me stories of her past too. I wish I had heard more, just like the granddaughter who realises that time is never enough for you to love someone deep enough.
Like many many others, I sat glued to my TV screen for many a continuous nights (if I could rush home in time). My heart hurt for the bullied and cheered when the heroine escaped miraculously each time by virtue of her personality and wit.
‘The Little Nyonya’ is a breath of fresh air as compared to the rest of the drama serials where women are always portrayed as the fairer sex. In this local drama, we see the heroine escaping from an arranged marriage, fighting against conventions, learning to read and write, do business and be allowed out of the house in broad daylight. All these would have been taboo as Grandma would put it. Must a female’s marriageability also always be highly dependent on whether she has good embroidery skills and cullinary skills?
‘The Little Nyonya’ rules the TV screens!
For the record, these are the three evil women who were best described as ‘nightmarish’ in Yueniang’s life. They plotted to kill or harm her in one way or another. Yet through all the ordeals, she survived.
The evil women in The Little Nyonya
The lady in red, Zhenzhu, bullies and treats Yueniang as a maid even though they are supposedly half-sisters. She clams Juxiang’s (Juxiang is Yueniang’s mother) hand, scalds her, and even pushes her into a well…only to feign innocence each time. Her biggest achievement in the serial is to throw tantrums all the time when she does not get what she wants. Evil is she too when she witnesses her sister getting raped and yet doing nothing about it. Her motto in life? I will get what I want! Period.
The matriach in orange, Guihua, threw Yueniang and her mother overboard the ship which was in the middle of the ocean. She devises all means to drive Yueniang and her grandmother (whom she views as a vixen for stealing her husband away – grandmother who is a maid and husband had an affair) out of the ancestral home. Peace to her is playing her cherki and chewing on her smoked leaves. She almost always resorts to violence to get her aim. Breaking the maid’s leg? That’s a piece of cake. Ordering a beating session? No sweat. Threatening to burn someone alive? Bring it on. Her motto in life? I am woman. Hear me roar.
The lady in black, Meiyu, acts as an accomplice to her mother (Guihua) in attempting to silence Yueniang’s mother, Juxiang. When Zhenzhu pushed Juxiang into the well, Meiyu was the one who added planks on top of the well’s surface to block off the air passage so as to let her suffocate and drown to death. It’s interesting to note Meiyu’s transformation from innocent girl to devious woman. Like mother, like daughter? You bet. But if you trace the real reason, it’s because she cannot get her husband’s love. Her husband was matchmade to marry her. Trapped in a loveless marriage, she sought means to make miserable Juxiang’s life and subsequently Yueniang’s love. Her motto in life? If I can’t him, you will never have him too!
Of course, not forgetting father and son tact team, Charlie Zhang and Robert Zhang, who are ruthless both in their treatment of women (they rape them when they can’t have them) and business (they buy over other people’s plantations and estates at a fraction of the price). They sue as and when they like it all because they are rich.
Credit must be given to the production team and the acting talents for bringing the show to live and entertaining us for the past one month plus. Well done! Kudos!
No more ‘The Little Nyonya’…but at least the theme song by Olivia Ong titled Ru Yan (如燕) is still playing furiously on my PC night after night.
Maybe Mediacorp will consider shooting another Peranakan serial and call it ‘The Little Baba’? I want a minor role too in it if it materialises! But like what Da Sha sings in ‘The Little Nyonya’…
Ang kong sai (red lion head)
Pek bak bai (white eyebrows)
Bo lang chia (nobody invites you)
Ka gi lai (you come on your own accord uninvited)
I think I may be qualifed though as I have written a few research articles in varsity on Baba Malay. The one I am most proud of is this one titled ‘Creolization in Baba Malay’ which got me an A+. Hehehe.
