[Episodic Thoughts] “Outbound Love” Episode 1

Outbound Love <單戀雙城>
TVB Series 2014

Cast: Ruco Chan, Aimee Chan, Tony Hung, Lin Xia Wei, Matt Yeung, and Samantha Ko

Disclaimer: This is a watch as I write episodic thoughts and some information may not be accurate since this is memory based. Certain dialogue is reproduced with some creative license adopted. I apologize if there is any mistake. All opinion remains my own.

EPISODE 01

First episode, things at lightning speed and if this is promo for Malaysia, I will say it must be some inside joke I am not aware of.

But first, a short recap.

Themesong is mandarin, did not catch who sang it but it sounded absolutely terrible.

Basically it starts with Aimee as Law Sik Sik running through a just opened shopping complex to buy a very specific bra. It seems she is buying the bra for her BFF Wong Kei Ying (ahhh puns on names..) who just had a one night stand that is so passionate her bra strap basically snapped and BFF Sik Sik bought her a sensible bra.

Pause.

There is a problem here. No not Samantha Ko playing a man eater which I don’t buy. She is sexy but she doesn’t give off the vibe of a man eater. Somehow there’s a certain innocence to her and I will say this is a miscast. Anyway for a woman who has many many many one night stands where she had sex on the sofa, the window whatever, the floor wherever, everywhere but the bed, why would she be so concerned with a bra?

You know what I mean?

Continue.

Move on from that scene and we see Sik Sik and her brother in law (for now I can’t remember the actor or the character’s name) in a meeting with big boss in a travel agency. They provide tour to Malaysia and the boss is not happy others are doing better with all durian feast trip and what nots. So he wanted his agency to arrange for a super high class tour to Malaysia where they will stay at an exclusive award winning hotel in Penang plus high class Nyonya food. Benz Hui is the manager who says yes to everything and then dumps everything on Aimee and brother in law to arrange the impossible. Why?

1. the hotel does not do tour group package; and
2. that restaurant recommended by their boss for Nyonya food is super expensive.

So for HKD500 per pax, no one will go. And I was light only HKD500 and they consider expensive?! Wow, we Malaysians have been “eating expensive rice”. As for the durian feast, that has been done to death according to Aimee. But Benz said they must arrange it and brother in law feels compelled to go eventhough it is mission of death for they will surely fail. Sik Sik’s sister (actress is very familiar) and son arrives and immediately sister tells husband they can sacrifice Sik Sik since she is university grad, knows English and so can get another job. Sik Sik feels compelled to take the job and lied that she wants to change to hotel management anyway. Anyway she also wants to visit her boyfriend Matt Yeung (as Nic) in Singapore. Nic is a super successful architect by the way. Before going she has a good time with 2 BFFs, one is Kei Ying and another a TV chef. I think the actor is Tony Hung, but frankly I thought he was sorta forgettable so I never paid attention.

Off she goes to Malaysia and arrives in Penang and that’s where EVERYTHING GOES WRONG (for Sik Sik and for me). Let me just summarise her misfortune. Oh and if you think this is some opposition sponsored program, which may or may not be true, then surely the following scenes give Malaysia a very bad name.

1. Once she arrives at the airport, she nearly gets run over by 2 people pushing their luggage carts recklessly. Ok maybe they are foreigners.

2. Her bag nearly hit a car nicknamed Mary I think and yes Ruco appears and introduce himself as Luk Kung Tzi (same pronunciation as 6th Son or 6th Master son which is oh… another pun). What is offensive is what Ruco is wearing. Green hat… get it?! Urghhh!

3. He was 30 minutes late but that is because he was only informed of her arrival like 20 minutes before for something. He is the local tour guide in charge of driving Sik Sik. Anyway in the car, another offense, none of them wearing seatbelts. NONE. The car isn’t that old!

4. He is also talking on handphone, without hands free.

Pause.

May I just inform non Malaysians, do not try talking on handphone whilst driving without hands free set. The fine is high. I felt like I was slapped. Why can’t they show him use some bluetooth device which is rather popular here? Or if they do any research, a cheaper way is to wear a helmet and stick the phone in place to the ear. Ahhh instant bluetooth!

5. He drives recklessly nearly hitting a dog. Car broke down and Sik Sik is so angry and upset and on top of that it rains, hard. Sik Sik declares Ruco as her bad luck sign when she also confesses before meeting Nic she was very very bad luck. She actually met Nic at some end of the world party and the world didn’t end, and so she declares him as her good luck charm.

6. No taxi. What?! Anyway arrives at that hotel 30 minutes late and boss refuses to see him. Dejected she leaves. Ruco takes her to that Nyonya restaurant and she wants to ink the deal but Ruco says the food’s bad and basically insulted the owner and so no deal.

Pause.

I take offense at certain words used. Do we say Nyonya as Cantonese version? And do we call ourselves “dai ma”?

7. She goes into a bus which she says goes either to Komtar or Georgetown. Penang is small but not that small.

8. She falls asleep in the bus and the driver wakes her and she is lost. She asks the driver (Malay boy) where she is in English and Malay boy says he can’t understand a single word of English. She goes to a Sikh or some race whatever seller and again asks in English and the guy can’t understand a word of English, does not try to help her and leaves the girl alone!

Pause.

WOW! Penang so unfriendly eh? Come on! We know basic, very very basic English. Some other race knows Hokkien for heaven’s sake. By this point I was fuming.

9. Rains, yet again and she runs to a bus stop and alas, top is gone! So she is soaking wet and falls down hard. Ok.. bus stop no roof is true, mostly.

10. Runs to a telephone booth for shelter (still got such booths meh?) and cries her heart out at her bad luck when Nic, her saviour arrives.

No no, NOT YET FINISHED. Got some more!

11. Nic knows the hotel’s lady boss who happens to be the dead owner’s daughter running the show but she is so inexperienced she listens to the manager who Sik Sik wrongly identifies as the boss who Ruco knows personally. Anyway thank you to Vivien Yeo for speaking in the right errrr dialect? Especially when she says “Uncle…” and this is how we refer to older people. But then she is Malaysian. Anyway Sik Sik inks the deal for the time being and happily Nic takes her around and also takes her to some fancy hotel in KL facing KLCC. Before that she meets Nic’s sister, played by the boring Lin xiawei who is a learning pastry chef, learning Nyonya desserts.

Pause.

A busy day. Penang to KL plus jam is at least 3 hours away.

Anyway she meets with his friends who tried to make her drunk or whatever and Nic has to go for a while as client calls him.

12. Sik Sik excuses herself, a bit drunk and walks out to the front of Pavilion. You can see it is quite late at night since shopping complexes here closes at around 10pm but there is major jam outside since this is city centre and it is always jam there. Anyway she bumps into a bunch of equally drunk gwailos and this leaves me fuming; she is sexually harassed! I have walked there in middle of the night, no drunk gwailos and believe me it is safe since that is not Chow Kit area. If you want drunk gwailos try hard rock cafe or near bangsar. I thought that just shows us in a very very bad light.

And of course Ruco appears in white to rescue her.

And here I must wonder, why would a guy travel at least 3 hours from his home in Penang all the way to KL? Is he obsessed with her? Since he said he knows her but not sure from where? Or to TVB there is no difference in geography?

And there it ends for tonight. Oh yes, ending part during credits scene, Aimee was kind enough to explain the Penang murals and what they mean. There, Malaysia tourism. But oh it hurts!!

Such a sloppy series. So much negative stuff that I don’t feel it is favourable to Malaysian tourism.

But that of course is arguable. There are some good stuff like Penang’s scenic area, the murals, and many scenic spots. You can see the camera angle is deliberate and scenic wise, shows Malaysia in a very good light. Even Pavilion looks so modern and clean. And thanks to the extra hot sunny weather in Penang, everything looks so bright! But the rest… aiyahhhh…so bad lar!

Let’s move to the dialects or accents or slang words.

Ruco’s character is not from Malaysia or so he claims but at least grows up here. It is cute to hear him throw in a few Malaysian slangs that I am sure you too can identify and yet when it comes to crunch time, he said Dai Ma which I thought strange. Then he said Nyonya in Cantonese which is even more weird unless he calls Nyonya in mandarin version? There are a lot more that I can’t specifically say but all I can say is his slang is sometimes there, sometimes not and it feels forced instead of natural.

Performance wise, I am eager to see a different aspect of Ruco and I am sorry to say whilst I think he is competent, I feel he is a miscast as the playful irresponsible tour guide. I will think Bosco looks more Malaysian and can play this part better. But then when it comes to more serious stuff, maybe Ruco can do better.

I like Aimee and I feel she improves a lot but I find her rather forced here, the way she laughs, etc. I don’t find her cute nor her bad luck prone nice girl remotely charming. The role in Slow Boat Home suited her since she is more on the mature side even though she looks young for her age. I feel she is a bit too jaded for this role. I consider her a miscast and I feel Samantha Ko should switch role with her. Or perhaps Nancy can take this role. Nancy may be a bit too mature looking but I feel she can play accident prone charming girl well if she tones down the way she speaks. But Samantha Ko will be ideal. There must be some innate cuteness in her, like she is not aware she is cute but is cute. However let’s see how it progresses. Aimee is ok unless she is required to speak more than 10 lines at one go. When she isn’t smiling she looks mournful but when she is smiling she looks very happy. However Sik Sik to me is a character that should be neutral when she is neither. Personally I feel Linda Chung will give this role justice. And Steven Ma can take on Ruco’s role.

So far the only one who impresses is Vivian Yeo because she is Malaysian and she is convincing as a Malaysian.

Let’s hope episode 2 is better. And enough with the slangs and the puns in names! There was a time it was all about nicknames, now it is about puns! And if you wanna do slangs, do it all the way.

By the way a bit of discussion or moot point. The HK-ers call Malaysia “Ma-lai” as in Malay. Can’t blame them for the misconception so that is not a criticism. However Malaysia IS Malaysia, not Malay. Malay is a race, Malaysia is a country. Malaysia is made up of more than just Malay. Chinese is not Malay Chinese or Ma-lai wah yan but rather Malaysian Chinese or Dai Ma wa yan or Ma-loi-sai-ah-way-yan if you must.

This Episodic Thoughts was written by Funn Lim, a Contributing Writer at JayneStars.com, and was originally posted at http://outboundlove.blogspot.com.

 

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Responses

  1. Agreed! All Malaysians speak basic English la…

    Instead of drunk gwai lo’s should have bangla’s harass her outside pavilion.. That would have been more convincing… Lol

    1. Yeah, any basic workers would know enough English to answer her in the bus, duh!

      So many bad points in this series, I cringed so much. Aimee is so fake, bad expression and so forced in most scenes. Samantha Ko, unnatural as a man eater. Ruco…well, don’t know yet. But the slang and all that were getting stale even on first episode.

      I think they couldve gotten other better cast for this series, which btw, is heading towards disaster.

    2. you guys and Funn got it wrong; she was molested by a bunch of Indians not gwailos!

      1. You can’t tell the difference betw Indians and gwailos? Speaking English doesnt make you a gwailo btw. In fact one of them spoke a foreign word before another said “Hello Baby” something like that. Maybe this pic will help.
        [IMG]http://i39.tinypic.com/fka1ea.jpg[/IMG]

      2. Come on! Maybe not blonde gwailo but are those indians or even banglas?

        Can anyone confirm? I am too lazy to rewatch that scene.

      3. I can’t tell but not banglas, not Indians per se… I don’t know. Looks more like foreigners for sure but the race not sure.

        Ok so not gwailos. I will say foreigners. Since I can’t amend this article, I will amend my one. Thanks Buzz.

    3. I felt offended when they showed the bus/bus stop scene. They portrayed Malaysians as being unhelpful and stupid (we do speak good English). Perhaps better than most hong kongers

  2. Always a pleasure reading Funn review, I hope this series can keep you writing

  3. The theme song is sung by Lin Xia Wei. Raymond Lam’s cousin.

      1. Bottom of the barrel lousy singing. Why couldn’t they get Mag Lam to sing it?

    1. I personally like the theme song. The song probably used the nasal-like singing style.. :c

      1. I like the song too…can’t really explain why. It just fits the whole atmosphere.

      2. it grows on you; hated it the first time i heard it. Now it sounds ok to me.

    1. I agree. Ruco has so much versatility inside of him. Loved his acting!

      1. I’ll watch Ruco any day in any drama rather than some of the other over-hyped siu sangs that tvb is adamant to promote though they cant act for shiat.

  4. I stopped watching about 15 mins. The opening theme song – it was horrible and nasal-y and actually put me off from the first moment.

    1. Same here. The other new drama is also boring. Now I only watch Come Home Love which is pretty good.

    2. The song is “horrible’ because the song used the nasality technique. It is actually a “trend” in some Asian songs. Example, the preview of the 20th Sailor Moon tribute album exemplifies the “nasal” voice.. http://youtu.be/CuuCEI2jCxA .

      1. Her voice reminds me of Yang Mi’s singing voice in 如果爱老了. They used similar style. But for those who aren’t used to it, it’s a horrible style to sing with.

      2. Why not let Ruco sing the song? Why the song is mandarin? Why her name is spelt in Mandarin? Why is she so special and so different? Why she adopts nasal type singing? Why is she even singing?

  5. Only going to attempt to watch this for Elaine Yiu…

    By the way, I really enjoy reading your reviews and recaps, Funn. They’re always detailed and entertaining.

  6. Are u writing every episode???? Lol. Not watching this drama. No one I really like. Skip.

    1. I hope too. It has to be either so very good or so very bad to motivate me to continue writing. Or at least a lot of things happening for me to write anything. I can’t keep saying I love Ruco every single thought. Wait! You know what? I shall say that! I shall start each episodic thought henceforth with the words I Love Ruco Chan.

      And then a huge BUTTTTTT….

      1. Keep up your good work although I’m not watching it but will try to read some of the reviews.

  7. It was ok, Aimee seemed to be trying to act too hard, the guy who is her BF Nic is too loving and obviously as the posters show they don’t end up together anyway, besides I think the call was from a girl not a client. Seems ok so far, not a Aimee or Ruco fan but will give the drama a chance.

  8. I think your right about when you wrote Linda instead of Aimee but then again she as a lot of drama’s in 2014 and she has many series with Ruco already, I don’t think it will make a spark again. People won’t really watch it if you keep on watching Linda and Ruco a couple again and again, won’t you be sick of them? Another opinion, to me it sort of looks like slow boat home don’t you agree and the song Lin Xia Wei was not to bad(sorry I have no music with Mandarin I speak Cantonese and English, well maybe that would explain) but seriously it wasn’t too bad, right?

  9. I’ve never felt such an urge to skip a series as I do with this one. As much as I like Ruco, unfortunately I can’t stand most of the main cast, first episode failed to capture my attention, themesong was horrible….definite skip for me, as I’ve got better things to do than sit through this crap.

    The only thing this series has going for it right now is the beautiful scenery (though let’s see how long that lasts).

    Oh, and thanks Funn for the episodic thoughts — very well written as usual! After reading your post, I’m glad I don’t know a whole lot about Malaysia because if I did, I would probably be just as frustrated (more like ‘ticked off’ in my case) as you were over the sloppiness of the first episode.

  10. Thank you Funn Limm and I hope you continue the episode review for all 22 episodes to support Ruco. Ruco has done a hardwork in a hot weathered foreign country for this series and we should support his blood and sweats.

    I think the first episode is disappointing and Ruco is a little below his usual performance but it’s expected from the lowly budget TVB has put aside for this small series with a very incompetent lead actress. What has Ruco done wrong to TVB to be paired with a weak and inexperienced actress like Aimee Chan? Is it because Ruco is from ATV that TVB pushed Aimee onto him?

    I hope Ruco can get Kristal Tin, Charmaine, Esther Kwan or at worst come to worst Tavia Yeung, Kate Tsui or Linda Chung. I don
    T mind if it’s good supporting actors like Nancy Wu or Elaine Yiu too but that would downgrade Ruco so prefer not to.

    1. how can ruco pair with esther kwan unless she plays a cougar?

    2. Worse comes to worse Tavia, Kate or Linda??? Lol. U really think Ruco is some big star actor?? He is not even top 5! Moses, Wayne, Raymond, Kevin, Roger, Bosco, Kenneth will all be higher priority than him in tvb.

      1. Admittedly he is not top 5. I will put Bobby in top 5, bosco in the 2nd group of top 5 where ruco is.

      2. Yes I know he acted with Linda and Tavia. He is lucky to be paired with them to get more exposure! That guy make it sounds like Tavia and Linda are not even qualified to pair with Ruco!???!!!!! Hello??? If it wasn’t of Tavia I wouldn’t know Keith! And Linda gave Ruco a lot of exposure as rumour couple. They look so good together. Please don’t make it sound like Ruco is some big star although his acting is very good but his popularity is not even higher than Tavia and Linda.

      3. I see. But then what about Him Law? Didn’t he ride on Tavia’s success to forge his own success as well as save his public image? Look Ruco is not as successful as Tavia or Linda, which is a tragedy since he is mostly given terrible roles to begin with but I think his time as in big time is soon nearing. I do believe in The Other Truth he was more talked about than Tavia. But why compare? One male one female. Personally I feel Tavia is not as big as her fans think she is. And for better or for worse, Ruco is leading this series. So I see him as Bobby Au Yeung. He is a leading man in his series which are smaller production which to me is infinitely better than Moses who is co lead in big productions but is lost when he is to lead first in a smaller production. Ruco need not share his limelight with anyone to standout, that is what I mean.

      4. I believe in my eyes and not names. Ruco is definitely top 3 in acting in tbb.

  11. However I disagree Funn. Steven Ma always had that staple scholarly look and attitude which limited his versatility so he will be a major miscast. Ruco is notches better than Steven whether in age, acting, looks, pipularity or versatility.

    1. agree with you Steven Ma will not be any better than ruco in this role. Anyway, i say give this series a chance. Some series start off slowly. I have confidence in ruco’s acting.

  12. Skip after watching for 20min..Aimee Chan juz spoil d whole show.

  13. It is interesting to learn more about Malaysian slangs and cultures after reading the above Episodic Thoughts. Thanks for the information, provided by a real Malaysian.

  14. I was laughing out loud when both the Malay & Sikh don’t understand English..it’s an insult to Malaysians.
    Must teach them ‘Nyonya’ should simply mentioned as ‘Nyonya’. If wouldn’t understand what they are saying if it’s not for the subtitles.

  15. Aih. This is so misleading. Malaysia is not that bad la….. impossible that no one knows basic english. And molesting does not happen that easily, especially right in front of shopping malls. What a bad impression this drama is giving to those who do not know Malaysia. Hope episod 2 would be better!

  16. I when like WTF when both the malay bus driver and sikh ice cream uncle don’t understand english and started speaking in Malay. C’mon tvb if you were to promote tourism in Malaysia u might as well do it properly and not give the oversea audience the thought that we MALAYSIANS doesn’t speak english and only knows malay. We are not ILLITERATE in english in fact english is teach in all primary/secondary school here and it’s a compulsory subject. TVB is telling me that someone who works in a city like PENANG where it’s also a tourism city with many gwailos and foreigner from different parts of the world doesn’t even know how to speak basic english, really???

    1. You know if I didn’t know better I would think Penang is some fishing kampung. In fact the way Ruco dressed, he looks like he just came back from somewhere in Indonesia.

      That’s why I am fuming. So I am glad I am not alone!

      However due to the strong sunlight malaysian scenery very pretty. Pavilion looks so cosmopoliton. I shall remind myself to look up when I am there. I wonder who advised them where to shoot? Because I must admit the scenery is top notch. By the way the scene where she was meeting Nic’s friends, what hotel is that?

      1. yeah i hated the way ruco dressed! Green Hat and snakeskin print shirt?!?!Really?? As far as I am concerned, Penangites wouldn’t wear such OTT shirt out in the broad day light. Tshirt and faded jeans makes more sense!

        I don’t know about the name of the hotel in Penang but the bar that they went to meet up Nic’s friend is called Luna Bar@ Pacific Regency Hotel,KL.

      2. P.S: As much as I don’t like the way TVB is portraying the malaysian in this series but I gotta give credit to ruco for saying “cincai lah” quite often in his dialogue. That’s really Malaysian like imo 🙂

      3. Also liked the way he said money as in XX kau instead of something else. But I got very irritated when he said Dai Ma. Only our DJs who sold their souls to internationalism calls Malaysia as Dai Ma and KL in which we speak lower tones as KL as in higher tones in very HK-ish.

  17. Wow, there are so many Malaysian readers on this website. It is good that you people let us know about the real Malaysia and Malaysian culture. Thanks!

    1. Malaysians very active in forums and facebook. Except I suppose we never really declare we are Malaysians. Singaporeans also very active.

      1. Thanks for letting me know. I thought most readers are from North America.

    2. sandcherry, I must clarify, although we may speak to some broken english but basic yes, no, left right and even pointing direction, these all we know. Especially Penang which is not some god forsaken small town.

      As for Nyonya food, for a moment i thought why not set this series in Melaka/Malacca the state of babas and nyonyas? Not that Penang isn’t but Malacca more on point. Penang is more like char kuey taios and small eats and such. Nyonya also got but well I suppose if this was set in Melaka it might be the smaller scale production of Brother’s Keeper!!

      1. just because Funn is Malaysian doesn’t mean she know everything or what is in Penang. Orang KL, how often u been there ?

      2. So you mean this series is correct about Penang being unfriendly unhelpful bm only small town nyonya food? Ok. If you insist.

      3. @Funn
        Thanks for your help. I had a look at the Wikipedia as you suggested.

        I haven’t watched the drama series yet. Instead I read your Episodic Thoughts which were very interesting. Perhaps I should watch Ep. # 1 since “Nyonya” is explained in the episode.

      4. No, I m saying Funn own definition of Penang is also not as accurate la…

    1. There are some comments under the fb pic. Looks like one of the foreign guys is from Iran @@ if you click on the profile given by his friend commenting on the picture

      1. Thanks! So foreigner is correct. Ahh Iranian. I see! They did look like they really grabbed her.

  18. Bus driver doesn’t know english? Impossible, most of them can speak basic english as they often have to deal with tourists. And most of the Sikh can speak too. Is this a drama to promote tourism of Malaysia? Because I feel like its insulting us. Totally not interested in this drama after the first episode, as comparison the 9.30 comedy is good.

    1. Come to think of it I am not sure he is Sikh to be specific.

    2. Bodo. the point just to make sure that both of them cannot communicate and thats it. Of course the bus driver knows english. And that malay boy is a bus driver anot you know mer? just wearing driver’s cloth only la dude.

      1. thanks raymond for pointing the obvious. And I would like to point out what I pointed out why this series failed in that aspect. And since no one is named Bodo here, I assume you are trying to call us or me specifically stupid. Well if you must spell, spell it right. It is bodoh. I assume you are saying bodoh. Could be dodo, bobo, coco, whatever.

  19. ma Lai actually means Malaya. It doesn’t specifically only mean Malay. There are a few words such as Ma Lai, Dai ma, Ma loi sai a…all referring To Malaysia.

    1. Which is why I don’t argue on that as that is a misconception. We have not been Malaya for decades. Malaysians don’t call Malaysia Dai Ma or Ma Lai. That’s the point.

  20. I don’t get your point on the bus route about Komtar or Georgetown. Both are located in the same area. N there is no route to Georgetown. It’s too general. Komtar is the main bus station in Penang

    1. Not making any point except Sik Sik said all buses in Penang goes to Komtar or Georgetown.

  21. common. funn lim. is just a drama. watch it if u like. if u dislike just don’t watch it. if you want to make sense then don’t watch drama.

    1. A drama that is based on reality but doesn’t make sense, even a fantasy drama is bad writing and lazy writing that can fool stupid viewers such as yourself but since everyone here but you demands for some intelligence and isn’t stupid, I will say the laughter is on you.

  22. What irks me is Ruco saying Leceh as leeeeceee or something like that. If you suppose to grow up there, I am sure you can say a few words correctly. It’s like his most famous word but wrongly pronounced.

    1. I am not sure he grew up there. He may have escaped to Malaysia due to some personal reason.

      1. Spoilers:

        He escaped because he broke up with his gf 😛

  23. According to the producer, Ruco’s role is multi-faced & complicated. I think that’s why he’s casted. He also mentioned that he watched the series 10+ times and each time he was so touched by Ruco’s acting that he has an intention to cry. Let’s see how the series progress. This one is
    Ruco’s 5th series filming non-stop in a bit over a year. I will surely continue watching as a support for Ruco’s hardwork.

    1. Frankly I am not watching because he worked hard. Even the worst actor worked hard. I am watching because I am hoping for some quality work. Hopefully this is not Slow Boat Home where he was wasted.

      1. Not really. Some but not all are serious at work. Francis Ng complained about his co-stars’ working attitude while filming TITS 2.

  24. Being off-topic for a while, Funn, are you writing a review for Return of the Silver Tongue? 🙂

    Now back to topic, the first episode, as usual, was typical TVB style for me. Boring. I do agree most of the points you’ve said 🙂

    1. And I actually find it VERY weird to hear Ruco Chan speaking with a Malaysian-HK accent. Not nice la. I’m Malaysian btw 😀

      1. Also, I do feel kinda insulted by the directors/producers. They should have at least ask the Malaysians about the true culture of Malaysia. This just wrecks every positive aspect of Malaysia.

    2. “Funn, are you writing a review for Return of the Silver Tongue? ”

      Yes

  25. Great review!
    I especially liked how you compared it to how things are in the real world. It really shows how lazy TVB are that they didn’t even bother to get input from the crew that are from there. What a wasted opportunity.

    If you do the rest of the series, I won’t have to watch it and will probably learn more about Malaysia then if I had watched it lol.

    1. I also agree that TVB producers and scriptwriters should respect the cultures and characteristics of Malaysia when they film drama series there. It should have at least 75% accuracy. Otherwise it will mislead their audience and turns out to be an insult or disrespect to Malaysians. That is always a TVB’s typical problem ………… no thorough research before a drama series is filmed.

      When I watch a drama series, I don’t just take it as a pass of time or pure entertainment. I want to enjoy it …… storyline, acting, artistes, dialogues, scenery, music, etc. Therefore, I am rather selective and don’t watch every single TVB drama series.

  26. As a Malaysian, i totally agreed with writer. I was thinking since the whole cast made a brave move to film in Malaysia, why don’t they just stick with our culture? When i was watching the Malay bus driver, I snapped. I believed that he could speak some, at least few very basic English words; ie No, I don’t understand what you are trying to say. Malaysia isn’t this way when few ang-mohs will come to molest you. Hahaha… after all, those ang-mohs acted real bad too..

  27. Funn, thanks for sharing.
    This drama not only disrespect Malaysian, it gives audience wrong perception of Malaysia. We Malaysian easily know few languages and dialects.
    Today episode Ruco mentioned 1 or 2 chinese word replacing ‘Asam’ (referring subtitle). I don’t remember we use any word replace ‘Asam’, do we? Besides today got few k-le-fei with broken Bahasa.
    Aiyo…no eyes see

  28. Aimee is really spoiling this drama for me. Hate her fake bubbliness, she totally cannot act and should stay home to look after her baby. Also dislike watching the Malaysian cast whose acting is much worse than even the hk kelefes. Watching this for ruco only.

    1. hahaha. yea! totally weak until like i am speechless the way they speak cantanose and acting. Like very fake. Example that kah fai, talking with aimee near the river there, his acting totally cannot ah, duno how to describe but just terrible. Even those keh leh fei from Hong Kong are far more superior. hahaha.But when ruco times, its much more better. hehe. I hoping for much more dramatic moments from ruco ba.

  29. China Chinese refers Malaysian as Ma Lai.
    Malaysians named ourselves Dai Ma.
    And it’s possible KL to Penang in less than an hour. Cos drama usually can turn from 1 mainstreet in Central to 1 small lane in Mongkok in seconds.

    So I suppose this is a Visit Malaysia Year 2014 drama?

    1. No we don’t call ourselves Dai Ma.

      And 1 hour from KL to Penang? No Jam and drive dangerously? How reckless can that be?! Ahh you mean drama time issit?

      Yes China Chinese refers to Malaysians as Ma Lai because they do not understand the difference between Malay and MAlaysians. Had to explain to them whenever I say I am from MAlaysia and they think “Oh you’re a Ma Lai”. No we are not.

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