With You (Singaporean TV series)

With You (Chinese: 我在你左右) is a Singaporean Chinese drama which was telecasted on Singapore's free-to-air channel, MediaCorp Channel 8. It stars Adrian Pang, Chen Hanwei, Rui En, Nat Ho & Chen Shucheng as the casts of the series. It made its debut on 12 May 2010 and ended on 8 June 2010, consisting of 20 episodes. The series was MediaCorp's most highly rated drama of 2010 and focused on the effects the supernatural had on a series of people.[1]

With You
我在你左右
GenreMelodrama
Fantasy
Created byChen Sew Khoon 陈秀群
Lau Chin Poon 刘清盆
Written byLau Chin Poon 刘清盆 and co.
Directed byLeong Lye Lin 梁来玲
Chong Liung Man 张龙敏
StarringAdrian Pang
Chen Hanwei
Rui En
Nat Ho
Chen Shucheng
Opening theme感.受 by 黄智仁
Ending themeInside of Me by 黄智仁
Country of originSingapore
Original languageChinese
No. of episodes20
Production
ProducerSoh Bee Lian 苏美莲
Running timeapprox. 45 minutes per episode
Original release
NetworkMediaCorp Channel 8
Release12 May (2010-05-12) –
8 June 2010 (2010-06-08)

Story

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Zhou Wen An is a DIY owner and maintenance man of his owned DIY store, and a rough around the edges, yet easy-going man. He gets into a traffic accident with Zhang Yang, when the former accidentally knocked into the brakes of the latter's motorcycle whilst driving his pickup truck and did not manage to stop in time. During this time, the latter is on his way home to celebrate his father Zhang Yong Sheng's birthday. Wen An, who has a keen sixth sense, feels something amiss and advises Zhang Yang to stop riding the motorcycle. The latter refuses to listen and rides off. As a result of brakes damaged earlier, Zhang Yang dies when his motorcycle gets into a subsequent accident.

After passing on, Zhang Yang's soul is trapped at the accident site. Desperately trying to return home, Zhang Yang's attempts to seek help are futile as nobody can see or hear him. Just when he thinks all hopes are dashed, Wen An appears. Besides being able to see Zhang Yang, Wen An can also communicate with him. Zhang Yang begins to pester Wen An as he strongly believes that only Wen An can help him to return home. Not one to give in to threats, Wen An tries to shake Zhang Yang off, only to have Zhang Yang re-appearing next to him time and again. Seeing that Zhang Yang is a filial son, and feeling that he was indirectly responsible for Zhang Yang's death, Wen An decides to help the latter.

Wen An starts hanging out at the coffee shop own by Zhang Yang's father. His over enthusiasm has the Zhang family thinking he is out of his mind. Despite the Zhangs' reserved attitude towards him, Wen An continues to help Zhang Yang as promised.

After returning home, Zhang Yang realizes that he is neither able to converse with his family nor help them with their problems. Witnessing his family grieve over his passing makes Zhang Yang decide to help them move on.

Business at the coffee shop gets from bad to worse. Zhang Yang approaches Wen An to help Yong Sheng revamp and modernize his outdated coffee shop. In the midst of helping the family, Wen An triggers hostility with Zhang Yang's younger brother, Zhang Huan, who feels that Wen An is being too intrusive with their domestic affairs. Zhang Huan has also accumulated huge credit card debts, and wants to purchase a sports car. To get the money, he collaborates with his friend whom is also a general contractor, to earn commission from his own father Yong Sheng. Zhang Huan's relationship with Yong Sheng deteriorates when the latter reprimands the former. As a result, the hostility between the two deepens.

Lin Jie Ying, Zhang Huan's girlfriend, is a frank and lovable girl. While working on a short film on prostitutes, she meets Wen An, who mistakes her for one. When Jie Ying decides to film a short movie on the supernatural, she pesters Wen An for his help as the latter had told her about Zhang Yang's existence. Slowly, Jie Ying finds herself attracted to Wen An and finds herself drifting away from Zhang Huan, whom she feels is too eager for success. Once again, Zhang Huan fails to see where the problem lies and pins the blame on Wen An. Zhang Huan becomes more resentful towards Wen An and accuses Wen An of being the third wheel in his relationship with Jie Ying.

After the death of Zhang Yang, Yong Sheng tries his best to keep the family together. Yet no one knows the pain he has to go through, with his youngest son causing trouble and his eldest son Zhang Wei facing domestic issues.

Easy-going by nature, Zhang Wei does not expect much from life. His only wish is to help his father keep the coffee shop. Zhang Wei's wife, Zhao Mei Xiang, feels insecure about their future. When it is announced that Yong Sheng will be modernizing the coffee shop to fulfill Zhang Yang's wish, Mei Xiang begins to make plans to safeguard her own interests for fear of being left in destitute as soon as Yong Sheng passes on.

Initially forced to care for Zhang Yang's wife Ye Si Qi and her daughter, Zhang Wei Wei, Wen An soon develops a newfound respect for Si Qi when he witnesses how Si Qi faces her problems courageously – from losing her husband to discovering she's pregnant with his child to learning about a tumor in her womb. She even had to deal with the posthumous knowledge of her husband's infidelity with another woman named Chen Xiao Min. This knowledge deals a greater blow to her than news of his death. Emotionally drained and exhausted, Si Qi decides to leave the love she has for Zhang Yang behind, and move on.

Zhang Yang notices that Si Qi has grown to depend more and more on Wen An, and has begun treating him as her confidante. Overwhelmed by jealousy, Zhang Yang has a clash with Wen An. As a result, Wen An begins to avoid Si Qi. Over time, Si Qi starts to believe in Zhang Yang's existence as she realizes how similar Wen An is to Zhang Yang. She takes the initiative to get closer to him.

Cast

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Main cast

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Artiste Character Description
Adrian Pang Zhou Wen An 周文安 Uncle Looney
DIY owner and maintenance man of his owned DIY store
Chen Hanwei Zhang Yang 张扬
Rui En Ye Siqi 叶思琪 Co-owner of Left Right, a fashion label

Supporting cast

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Artiste Character Description
May Phua Zhao Meixiang
Brandon Wong Zhang Wei 张伟
Nat Ho Zhang Huan 张焕 Villain but repented at the end
Chen Shucheng Zhang Yongsheng
Moo Yan Yee Lin Jieying 林洁莹
Zhu Xiufeng Deaf Granny 聋婆
Kaylar Ong Zhi Wei 王子薇 Zhang Weiwei 张薇薇
Keane Chan Sing-Siu 陈星兆 Zhang Ziming 张子明
Joy Yak 易凌 Mabel Main Villain
Co-owner of Left Right, a fashion label
Lina Ng Chen Xiaomin 陈晓敏 Zhang Yang's ex-girlfriend
Has a son who is Zhang Yang's godson
Amy Cheng Kang Yafang
康雅芳
Zhang Wei's cooking teacher

Accolades

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Year Award Category Recipients Result Ref
2011 Star Awards

Young Talent Award

Kaylar Ong Zhi Wei Nominated [2]
Best Drama Theme Song Award 《感.受》 by 黄智仁 Nominated [2]
Most Favorite Onscreen Couple Rui En and Chen Hanwei Nominated [2]
Best Music/Sound Design Nominated [2]
Technical Category:Best Screenplay Won [3]
Best Actress Rui En Won [4]
Top Rated Drama Serial Won [3]
Best Drama Serial Nominated [2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ ""With You" tops list of most popular dramas in S'pore. Love triumphs almost every other single local drama for the year 2010!". MSN. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Star Award 2011 nominees out!". MSN. Archived from the original on 10 February 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  3. ^ a b "LIVE: Star Awards 2011 'Show 1' Winners". MSN. Archived from the original on 21 August 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  4. ^ "Hot Faves Qi Yu Wu and Rui En for Best Actor and Best Actress". MSN. Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.