''You Mean the World to Me'' (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

: 海墘新路; Taiwanese Romanization: Hái-Kînn Sin-Lōo) is a 2017

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 ...

n semi-

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

drama film directed and written by

Saw Teong Hin Saw Teong Hin () is a Malaysian film director, best known for directing the Malay language epic fantasy film ''Puteri Gunung Ledang (film), Puteri Gunung Ledang'' and ''You Mean the World to Me (film), You Mean the World to Me'', the first Malays ...

, based on his stage play. The film, set in 1970s

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

, is the first Malaysian film that is entirely in

Penang Hokkien Penang Hokkien (; Tâi-lô: ''Pin-siânn Hok-kiàn-uā''; ; ) is a local variant of Hokkien spoken in Penang, Malaysia. It is spoken as a mother tongue by 63.9% of Penang's Chinese community, and also by some Penangite Indians and Penangit ...

. The film's Chinese name, 海墘新路 (Hái-Kînn Sin-Lōo), refers to a Hokkien nickname for Victoria Street in George Town,

Development

The film's script was written based on Saw's family history and his estranged relationship with his mother. After the script was finished, Saw had desires of turning it into a film but lacked enough money to do so. He presented the script to several parties who were interested in the project but they had conditioned that the film be made in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

instead, to which Saw refused. Thus, he decided that the script be made into a

stage play A play is a work of drama, usually consisting mostly of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and intended for theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Reading (process), reading. The writer of a play is called a playwright. Pla ...

first. The play, under the name of ''Hai Ki Xin Lor'', was held in 2014 during the George Town Festival to receptive audiences. The success of the play helped open doors for him to get funds to turn the play into a feature film.

Music

The film's

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

, "感謝妳 (Kám-siā Lí/Kám-siā Lú)" was performed by Taiwanese singer

Chao Chuan Chao Chuan (; born 18 June 1961), known sometimes as "Chief" Chao, is a Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indig ...

Cast

Yeo Yann Yann Yeo Yann Yann (born 20 February 1977) is a Malaysian actress. She has worked in theatre, television, and film. Her credits include ''Singapore Dreaming'', ''Thunderstorm'', '' 881'', ''Ilo Ilo'' and ''Wet Season''. She is a pioneer-graduate ...

as Hoon * Steve Yap as Father *

Chelsia Ng Chelsia Ng () is an actress from Malaysia. Biography Kuala Lumpur-born Ng made her first step in the entertainment scene in the Malaysian English-language comedy ''Kopitiam'' as Rain, an assistant in Steven's (Lim) salon. Besides ''Kopitiam'' ...

as Vivian *

Neo Swee Lin Neo Swee Lin (; ) is a Singaporean actress who has appeared in several Asian films and theatres, notably in TV films and drama since the 1990s. Early life Born in Singapore, Neo Swee Lin has a law degree from National University of Singapore and ...

as Cheng * Frederick Lee as Sunny * Gregg Koay as Young Sunny * Yee Min Eng as Young Hoon * Ai Suan Tan as Old Vivian * John Tan as Ah Boy

Awards

References

External links

*
Official website
2017 films Hokkien-language films 2017 biographical drama films Films directed by Saw Teong Hin Astro Shaw films Films with screenplays by Saw Teong Hin Malaysian drama films 2017 drama films {{Malaysia-film-stub