A New Life (Singaporean TV series)

A New Life (Chinese: 有福) is a Chinese drama in Singapore which aired in 2005. It is about how an ordinary man and blue-collar worker manage to overcome obstacles by himself and face many challenges and difficulties in his daily life. This drama also depicts on the daily Singaporean life and also working out on different jobs in the workforce and also assisting the medical doctors and nurses in helping out on the cancer patients by earning and donating money to the NKF Cancer Fund. It also marks the on-screen reunion of Christopher Lee, Yvonne Lim, Jin Yinji and Alan Tern after their previous collaboration in the police drama known as True Heroes. Secondly, it also marks another on-screen reunion of Yvonne Lim and Alan Tern after their previous collaboration in the fishball factory drama known as Portrait of Home and Portrait of Home II, where they both portrayed villains in that drama and as good people in this drama instead. Thirdly, it also marks another on-screen reunion of Andrew Seow, Carole Lin and Jin Yinji after their previous collaboration in the fantasy drama known as Zero to Hero. Moreover, it also marks another on-screen reunion of Melody Chen and Lee Weng Kee after their previous collaboration in the restaurant sitcom known as Happy Belly. Furthermore, it also marks another on-screen reunion of Hossan Leong and Cheryl Desiree Chan after their previous collaboration in the popular Jack Neo education film and television sitcom known as I Not Stupid Movie and I Not Stupid TV Series respectively. Also, it also marks another on-screen reunion of Christopher Lee and Margaret Lee after their previous collaboration in the Jack Neo gambling movie known as The Best Bet. At the same time, some of the cast members including Yvonne Lim, Carole Lin, Alan Tern, Hossan Leong, Timothy Nga, Margaret Lee, Melody Chen, Lee Weng Kee, Cheryl Desiree Chan and Sharon Wong would later make appearances in certain episodes of the popular Singaporean local sitcom known as Police & Thief, where Margaret Lee and Sharon Wong would portray Mark Lee's character Lee Tok Kong's Wife named Lily Lee, where the former portrayed her from Seasons 1 to 5 and the latter in Season 6, which was also the final season. Darren Lim, Eelyn Kok and Yan Bingliang would later collaborate in the future again as members of Huang family in the popular and award-winning Singaporean local period drama known as The Little Nyonya. Darren Lim, May Phua, Eelyn Kok and Jin Yinji would later collaborate again in the flower and florist drama known as Love Blossoms. Darren Lim, Ann Kok, Alan Tern and Seth Ang would later collaborate again in the Chinese New Year drama known as Happy Family. Darren Lim, May Phua and Jin Yinji would later collaborate again in the drama known as The In-Laws. Christopher Lee, Darren Lim and Ann Kok would later collaborate again in the future in the musical drama known as Crescendo.

A New Life
有福
Genre	Family
Written by	Ang Eng Tee
Directed by	Lai Lee Thin Fang Jiafu Li Meifeng
Starring	Christopher Lee Yvonne Lim Darren Lim Andrew Seow Carole Lin Ann Kok
Opening theme	明天的幸福 by Ocean Ou
Ending theme	满天星 by Ocean Ou
Country of origin	Singapore
Original language	Chinese
No. of episodes	20
Production
Producer	Soh Bee Lian
Running time	approx. 45 minutes
Original release
Network	MediaCorp Channel 8
Release	13 June (2005-06-13) – 8 July 2005 (2005-07-08)

Plot

Zhang Youfu (Christopher Lee) is an ordinary man and blue-collar worker who stopped schooling at Secondary 2 at the age of 14 years old to join the workforce by helping his father Zhang Wancai (Yan Bingliang) in the curry chicken business and also tried working out on different jobs from different industries including a durian seller, a handmade fishball noodles seller and a massage service assistant after he completed his national service either, but unfortunately, they were all failed attempts and he ultimately returned back to cooking curry chicken at funerals. However, as he is slow-witted and clumsy, the former 2 (being the bosses of the durian and handmade fishball noodles business respectively) of his employers find his work performance wanting and thinking that he's beyond hope. However, he is optimistic by nature and does not hold a grudge. Following the death of his father Zhang Wancai because of throat cancer due to heavy smoking, the heavy burden of supporting his entire family consisting of his mother (Jin Yinji), his elder sister Zhang Zhenzhu (Carole Lin) and his elder brother Zhang Hongyun (Andrew Seow) falls squarely on his shoulder.

Cast

• Christopher Lee as Zhang Youfu
• Yvonne Lim as Ah Mei
• Darren Lim as Lin Laifa
• Andrew Seow as Zhang Hongyun, Youfu's elder brother
• Carole Lin as Zhang Zhenzhu, Youfu's elder sister
• Ann Kok as Guo Jialing
• Jin Yinji as Youfu's mother
• Hossan Leong as Ah Gen
• Eelyn Kok as Qiurong
• Alan Tern as Ah Ler
• May Phua as Xiuxiu
• Yan Bingliang as Zhang Dongcai, later renamed Zhang Wancai, a.k.a. Curry Cai, Youfu's father
• Timothy Nga as Michael (Main Villain of the series)
• Margaret Lee as Xiaoyan
• Melody Chen as Ah Hua
• Cheryl Desiree Chan as Laifa's younger sister
• Lee Weng Kee as Jialing's father
• Justina Low as Guo Jiayi, Jialing's elder sister
• Seth Ang as Steven
• Sharon Wong as Michael's girlfriend and wife (Mentally Unstable Villain of the series)
• Luis Lim Yong Kun as Ah Xing (Villain of the series)
• Remus Teng as Richard (Villain of the series)
• Benjamin Yeung Sheung Bun as Alex
• Chua Lee Lian as Herself (Creator, Storyteller and Narrator of this Drama)

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominees	Result	Ref
2005	Star Awards	Best Actor	Christopher Lee	Nominated
		Best Actress	Yvonne Lim	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Darren Lim	Nominated
			Andrew Seow	Nominated
		Best Drama Serial	—	Won
		Best Theme Song	明天的幸福 by Ocean Ou	Won

External links

• A New Life (English)
• A New Life (Chinese)

Preceded by A Child's Hope (season 2) 2004

Star Awards for Best Drama Serial A New Life 2005

Succeeded by The Shining Star 2006