Yue Niang (Jeanette Aw)
Skilled in cooking and sewing but looked down on because her grandmother, Wang Tian Lan (Xiang Yun), is a second wife — and because her own mother married a Japanese man — Yue Niang endures plenty of hardship in The Little Nyonya. Most notably, she is constantly mistreated by her wealthy Peranakan family. She catches the eye of Chen Xi (Qi Yuwu), a wealthy man masquerading as a chauffeur, even as she’s betrothed to a local gangster. When this happens, she has to contend with the jealousy of her cousin Huang Zhenzhu (Eelyn Kok).

Jeanette Aw reprises the role in Emerald Hill – The Little Nyonya Story, the sequel to the hit period drama. Here, Yue Niang has become a supporting player: the adoptive mother of Zuye (Zhang Zetong), who helps run her business in Melaka and develops feelings for Zhang Xin Niang (Tasha Low), one of the show’s three leads.

Tan Ah Teck (Moses Lim, bottom right) with his family

Tan Ah Teck (Moses Lim)
“Moses Lim is Tan Ah Teck!” — the theme song said it all. Running from 1995 to 2003, Under One Roof was a landmark English-language sitcom, and the late Lim played the patriarch of “Singapore’s funniest family”. He starred opposite Koh Chieng Mun as wife Dolly, Vernetta Lopez as daughter Denise, and Nicholas Lee and Andrew Lim as sons Ronnie and Paul. Every episode ended the same way: Ah Teck launching into “this reminds me of a story. Long before your time, in the southern province of China ...” before regaling his family with a moral fable.

A veteran entertainer, Lim rose to fame on Chinese-language TV alongside comedy partner Jack Neo in 1990’s Comedy Nite, then became the first Channel 8 star to successfully cross over to English-language Channel 5 — paving the way for others to follow. Also a celebrated food critic, Lim passed away in 2025 at age 75, leaving Tan Ah Teck as his most enduring legacy.

Barbarella (Michelle Chong)
When The Noose premiered in 2007, it broke a taboo: comedy that actually poked fun at Singapore’s own current affairs, a rarity on mainstream TV. That edge, paired with broad, crowd-pleasing humour, made the satirical news parody an instant hit — helped along by an ensemble cast, each of whom juggled a roster of oddball characters.

Michelle Chong was one of its brightest stars, cycling through characters like news anchor Adrianna Wow, KTV hostess Lulu, and domestic helper Leticia Bongnino. But her most iconic creation is weathergirl Barbarella — a Sarong Party Girl, i.e. a woman who dates exclusively ‘ang moh’ (Caucasian) men — best remembered for her singsong catchphrase, “tanks every-birdy, tanks”.

Check out our full Singapore movie collection and TV collection .

Text: Jedd Jong