''Under One Roof'' was an English-language

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. First aired in 1995, it was the first locally produced sitcom in Singapore. A critical and popular success, the show won the ''Best Comedy Programme or Series Award'' at the

Asian Television Awards The Asian Television Awards (launched in 1996), is an appreciation to recognize and reward programming and production excellence in the Asian television industry. Held every December, the Awards comprises 56 categories across news, documentarie ...

in both 1996 and 1997, a Best comedy actor award (

Moses Lim Moses Lim (born 12 December 1949) is a Singaporean actor, television host, comedian and food connoisseur, best known for playing Tan Ah Teck in the Singaporean sitcom ''Under One Roof (Singapore TV series), Under One Roof (1995 - 2003)''. Educat ...

in 1996), three best comedy actress awards (

Koh Chieng Mun Koh Chieng Mun ( zh, 許靜雯) (born on 16 December 1960) is a Singaporean actress and comedian. She is best known for her role as Dolly Tan on the Singaporean sitcom '' Under One Roof''. In 2018 she was cast in the American romantic comedy-dram ...

in 1996, Norleena Salim in 1997 and

Vernetta Lopez Vernetta Lopez (born 22 July 1973) is a Singaporean actress and radio DJ. She played the role of Denise in sitcom '' Under One Roof'' from 1995 to 2003. Career Other than being a radio DJ, actress, voice-over artiste, and emcee, Lopez is also ...

in 1999) and was a finalist in the "Best Sitcom" category at the International Emmy Awards as well as the New York Festivals Awards. It paved the way for future sitcoms like ''

Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd ''Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd'' was a Singaporean sitcom. The sitcom centres on an eccentric general contractor with his trademark yellow boots, curly afro hair and large facial mole. While it carries the traditions of a sitcom, many unusual element ...

''. It starred a multicultural cast reflecting the ethnic makeup of Singapore:

(Tan Ah Teck),

(Dolly),

(Denise), Nicholas Lee (Ronnie), Andrew Lim (Paul), Norleena Salim (Rosnah), Zaibo (Yusof),

Daisy Irani Daisy Irani is an Indian television actress, director and producer from Singapore. Biography She was born to Gujarati film actress Padmarani and stage director Namdar Irani in Bombay, India. She is best known for appearing in the role of Daisy ...

(Daisy) and Rajiv Dhawn (Michael).

Cast

''Under One Roof'' stars a multiracial cast of characters. The plot tells the story of a Chinese family, living in

Bishan Bishan most commonly refers to Bishan, Singapore, a residential town in Singapore's Central Region, and its associated places. Bishan may also refer to: Places Singapore * Bishan, Singapore ** Bishan MRT station, a MRT interchange station along t ...

North,

, headed by Tan Ah Teck-the owner of a

mini-mart A superette is an alternative name for a compact supermarket or "mini-mart". Etymology In French, the ''ette'' ending conveys the idea of a smaller version of a supermarket ('). However, supermarket has been shortened to ''super'' - leaving ' ...

and his family-housewife Dolly and children Denise, Ronnie and Paul along with their neighbours, namely the married Malay couple Rosnah and Yusof, and Daisy, a lady of Indian descent along with her brother, Michael all living together in an apartment building. *

as Tan Ah Teck, the patriarch of the Tan family and a

owner. He is prompted by any situations that occur to tell his unappreciated and seemingly irrelevant stories with the intent of teaching the other characters some moral lessons. Frequently begins his stories with "This reminds me of a story! Long before your time, in the Southern province of China..." *

as Dolly, a stoic peacemaker and faithful housewife of Ah Teck, she is one of the few characters who are willing to sit through and even appreciate his stories. She is best friends with neighbour Rosnah. *

as Denise, the University-educated daughter of Ah Teck and Dolly, and the only sensible one in the family who tries to keep the household sane. * Nicholas Lee as Ronnie, a son of Ah Teck and Dolly. He is frequently skirt-chasing and is full of schemes and ridiculous ideas which irk his family, especially Paul, Denise and father Ah Teck. *Andrew Lim as Paul, a son of Ah Teck and Dolly, and a hypochondriac accountant who enjoys classical music. *Norleena Salim as Rosnah, Yusof's large and sharp-tongued wife who often dominates her husband. In the first episode of Season 6, it was mentioned that she had passed away from over eating that choked her to death in a buffet. * Zaibo as Yusof, a

Mee rebus Mee rebus, also known as mie rebus/mi rebus in Indonesian spelling, is a Maritime Southeast Asian noodle soup dish. Literally translated as "boiled noodles", it is popular in Maritime Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, an ...

seller, Rosnah's husband and friend of the Tan family. *

as Daisy, a single advertising executive. She is excitable, outspoken and constantly bickers with her brother Michael.

Release

''Under One Roof'' has been exported to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It was the first Singaporean series to be aired in Canada, and Australia on SBS. ''Under One Roof'' was brought back shortly during Channel 5's 40th anniversary in 2003 for its 7th season, only to run for a short perio

The sitcom then rebroadcast in May 2011 and aired on weekdays around 12pm before being dubbed into French. In September 2011, 30 episodes season 1 was dubbed into French and aired in other countries worldwide. It became Singapore's first ever English sitcom to be dubbed into a foreign language. Some episodes of Seasons 1 and 2 have been dubbed into French and aired in some other countries in 2011, becoming Singapore's first ever English-language sitcom to be dubbed into a foreign language. Season 3 was then dubbed into French in early 2012.

Singlish criticism

Due to its use of

Singlish Singlish (a portmanteau of ''Singapore'' and ''English'') is an English-based creole language spoken in Singapore. Singlish arose out of a situation of prolonged language contact between speakers of many different languages in Singapore, incl ...

, a pidgin English spoken in Singapore, the show came under pressure by the Singaporean government to use only "proper" English. This was mainly because of the worry that the younger school going viewers would start speaking Singlish more and bring down the standard of spoken English in Singapore. Another popular show that also received similar pressure was ''

'' where the lead character Phua Chu Kang was criticised for speaking Singlish.

References

External links

*
Under One Roof Season 7 Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Under One Roof (1994 Tv Series) 1994 Singaporean television series debuts 2003 Singaporean television series endings Singaporean television sitcoms Singaporean comedy television series Channel 5 (Singapore) original programming