''While We Are Young'' ( zh, link=no, Z世代) is a 20 episode Singaporean drama produced and telecast on

MediaCorp Channel 8 Channel 8 ( zh, 8頻道) is a Singaporean free-to-air television channel, airing in Mandarin Chinese. It was created by Mediacorp, Television Singapura on 31 August 1963 with experimental broadcasts, before going official on 23 November that ye ...

. The show aired at 9 pm on weekdays and had a repeat telecast at 8 am the following day. The drama series is a production to commemorate 35 years of locally produced Chinese-language dramas and in appreciation to the local educators in celebration of

Teacher's Day Teachers' Day is a special day for the appreciation of teachers, and may include celebrations to honor them for their special contributions in a particular field area, or the community tone in education. This is the primary reason why countries ce ...

. It stars

Zoe Tay Zoe Tay (; born 10 January 1968) is a Singaporean actress and former model. She has been referred to as the "Queen of Caldecott Hill" and "Ah Jie" (Top Actress) by the local media since the rise of her popularity in the 1990s. She is one of th ...

Rebecca Lim Rebecca Lim (; born 26 September 1986) is a Singaporean actress who won Best Actress in a leading role at the Asian Television Awards and two Best Actress in a Leading Role awards, a Best Supporting Actress award and 10 consecutive Top 10 Most ...

, Zhang Zhenhuan,

Terence Cao Terence Cao Guohui (born 6 October 1967) is a Singaporean television actor. Biography Cao studied at Anglo-Chinese School for both his primary and secondary education. Cao used to be a flight attendant and joined Singapore Broadcasting Corpor ...

, Denise Camillia,

Zong Zijie Zong Zijie (; born 20 February 1996) is a Chinese actor based in Singapore. He starred in ''While We Are Young'' in 2017. Personal life Zong was born in China and moved to Singapore. He studied in Bedok View Secondary School. Career In 2009 ...

and

Chantalle Ng Chantalle Ng (; born 17 June 1995) is a Singaporean actress. Early life and education Ng is the daughter of Mediacorp artiste Lin Meijiao and former actor Huang Yiliang. The couple divorced in 1997 when Ng was only a few months old. Ng studied ...

. The show featured several "second-generation" stars who are children of veteran artistes, including Calvert Tay (son of

Hong Huifang Hong Huifang (born Ang Hwee Fong on 7 January 1961) is a Singaporean actress. Career Hong joined the SBC during the mid-1980s after completing the 5th drama training course alongside Yang Libing and Chen Tianwen, at age 22. She is perhaps b ...

and

Zheng Geping Edmund Tay Kok Peng (born 27 May 1964), also known as Zheng Geping, is a Singaporean actor and executive producer managed under The Celebrity Agency. He works on the Chinese-language Channel 8. Career Zheng, a former chef and Taekwondo instruc ...

), Chantalle Ng (daughter of

Lin Meijiao Lin Meijiao () is a Singaporean actress. Life and career Lin was educated at Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School. Lin has acted in many drama serials and is a multi-nominee for the Best Supporting Actress category at the annual Star Awards. She ...

and her ex-husband former actor

Huang Yiliang Ng Aik Leong (Chinese: ), better known by his Chinese name Huang Yiliang, is a former veteran Singaporean television actor and director. He was a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 1980 to 2006, after which he decide not to renew after the contra ...

), Chen Yixin (daughter of

Xiang Yun Chen Cuichang (born 27 October 1961), better known by her stage name Xiang Yun, is a Singaporean actress & television host. She is commonly referred to as MediaCorp's first "Ah Jie" (Senior actress) for being among the first locally trained arti ...

and

Edmund Chen Edmund Chen () (born 4 February 1961) is a Singaporean former actor and artist. He began his career in 1987 and rose to become one of Singapore's most prominent and popular actors during the 1990s and early 2000s. Career Chen entered the entertai ...

), Marcus Guo (son of host Guo Liang), and Shalynn Tsai (daughter of

Chen Xiuhuan Chen Xiuhuan () (born 10 October 1965) is a Singaporean actress. She is a Mediacorp artiste from 1984 to 1997 and 2018 till today. Career Chen started her acting career at the age of 18 after attending the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation's ...

Cast

Generation X/Y

as Fang Ting 方廷
For the first time in 29 years, Tay played the role of a teacher which incidentally has been her childhood dream. She had previously taken on a variety of roles, but never those of a teacher. ** Alicia Lo as young Fang Ting *

as Zhong Ai 钟爱 * Zhang Zhenhuan as Tang Yiwei 汤一伟 *

as Bai Jinshun 白金顺 ** Chen Yixi as young Bai Junshun *

Denise Camillia Tan Denise Camillia Tan (born 6 November 1992), is a Malaysian actress, who is based in Singapore. Career Tan participated in Miss Astro, a beauty pageant in Malaysia in 2012 which she won, and crowned Miss Astro Chinese 2012 at the age of 19. She ...

as Zheng Jiayi 郑嘉怡

Generation Z

* Calvert Tay 郑凯介 as Tang Yijie 汤一杰, Fang Ting's son

Zhou Yue Junior College Staff(s)

Other Casts

Original Sound Track (OST)

Awards and nominations

Production

Filming began in May and wrapped in July 2017, with the major scene taken at

Nanyang Junior College Nanyang Junior College (NYJC) () is a junior college in Singapore next to Lorong Chuan MRT station, offering two-year pre-university courses leading up to the GCE Advanced Level examinations. In recent years, Nanyang Junior College has witness ...

. The series is the first to cover Singapore's post-secondary education landscape.

References

{{reflist 2017 Singaporean television series debuts Channel 8 (Singapore) original programming