快乐一家在The Star

The Star Online>eCentral> Tv & RadioMonday May 18, 2009All in the family By SETO KIT YANWelcome Home My Love revolves around the Jiang family who learn the importance of family ties. THESE are the days when the young and ambitious focus on the pursuit of their goals and achieve successes at the expense of their families. Yet, when the going gets tough, people realise that nothing beats having the affectionate support and warm encouragement of one’s own family.

Hence, Ntv7’s latest Mandarin series Welcome Home My Love (Mandarin title Kuai Le Yi Jia) tries to reflect, in a light-hearted manner, the process of rekindling long-forgotten family bonds. The family drama demonstrates the myriad conflicts and contradictions between traditional and modern values as it deals with various social issues such as materialism, unemployment, late marriage, irresponsible parenting, extramarital affairs and divorce.The heart-warming tale of modern city life revolves around the working-class Jiang family headed by a conservative father with traditional values who dotes on his four children. Filmed in the Klang Valley for three months from late October, the 25-episode series brings together cast members from Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. From Hong Kong are actors Ho Kwai Lam and the Malaysian-born Chu Mi Mi. Singaporean actors include Apple Hong and Adam Chen. The bulk of the cast features Malaysian actors such as Steve Yap, Leslie Chai, Tiffany Leong, Mayjune Tan , Tong Bin Yu and Chen Puie Kong.

At the core of the family is retired magazine chief editor Jiang Zhen Min (Ho) who single-handedly brought up his children after his wife’s demise some 20 years ago. To fulfil his wife’s dying wish, Zhen Min tries his best to provide his children with much love. However, they soon begin to pursue their own paths in life and a gap gradually grows between the father and his adult children. His eldest son Bo Wen (Yap) is secretly planning to migrate with his wife Vivien (Hong) and their 10-year-old son. He sells his condominium and moves in with his father on the pretext of letting his son keep his grandfather company. “My character faces a lot of the issues that regular guys do these days. He has a wife who nags constantly, and he seeks to migrate to greener pastures. He even gets tempted to stray with his boss,” said Yap. Bo Wen and his wife work in the same bank. Trouble brews when he is suspected of having an affair with his superior and he nearly goes bankrupt playing the stock market. Meanwhile, the younger son, Bo Cong (Chai), becomes a father but the couple’s happiness is shortlived when he loses his job. Tong plays his wife Wan Qin. Wan Qin, who works in an electronics distribution company, becomes the family’s breadwinner while the indecisive Bo Cong becomes a househusband. Their financial woes soon drives a wedge into their relationship as he is also suspected of having an affair. “Our scenes are often centred on meal times and involve many characters. It’s one of those dramas that sees us eating all the time, on-screen and off-screen as well. We’d be taking tea breaks all the time,” Chai said.

Zhen Min’s older daughter Jia Ning (Leong) is a talented executive producer in a TV station who seems inclined to singlehood after a failed relationship. “It’s the first time I play a character who is surrounded by a happy family as I’ve often been cast as a loner or only daughter. My character is an independent woman who can handle everything on her own, but gets stumped when it comes to matters of the heart,” Leong said.

In the show, her days brighten up when she eventually meets Kan (Chen). After a whirlwind romance they settle down. The newly-weds are not eager to have a baby yet, but their meddling aunt (Chu) from Penang gives them an earful about the joys of parenthood.

Youngest daughter Jia Tong (Tan) is the apple of her father’s eye. A happy-go-lucky college student, Jia Ning loves to eat cake and her dream is to open a pastry shop. Due to poor health during her childhood years, homebody Jia Tong is her father’s constant companion and she also cooks the family’s meals. Unfortunately, she falls for the wrong guy and suffers a major emotional setback. “The most amusing thing is that our ‘home’ is actually in different parts of the Klang Valley,” mused Tan, who revealed that the main door is in Shah Alam, which opens into a living room in Cheras and a kitchen that is in Shah Alam. The girls’ bedrooms are in Cheras, and the guys’ bedrooms are in Nilai and Rawang.” Through the course of the series, viewers will enjoy the tender moments when the family members offer love, support and encouragement to each other when they face the trials of life.

Welcome Home My Love airs on Ntv7 from Mondays to Thursdays at 10pm starting today.

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