Life - Fear Not

Life - Fear Not (Chinese: 人生无所畏, previously titled Life's Blessings) is a 120 episode half-hour long-running drama series produced by Mediacorp Channel 8, with special appearances by Elvin Ng, Ben Yeo and Ian Fang from Don't Stop Believin'. It stars Chen Shucheng, Chen Liping, Felicia Chin, Rayson Tan, Aloysius Pang, Bonnie Loo, Zhang Yaodong, Carrie Wong, Nick Teo & Sora Ma as the main casts of the series. The series, written by Lau Ching Poon, Wu Cuicui and Chen Siew Khoon and executive produced by Jasmine Woo, revolves around the lives in a traditional inn called “Our Humble Lodge”. Through trials and tribulations, the characters learn that life is a bittersweet journey of happiness and pain, and that as long as they lead a fulfilling life, their fears are insignificant.

These episodes will have a short turnaround time so as to showcase the most recent topics, the first for the channel. It began its run from 19 October 2015, succeeding 118.

The show replaced the second half of the 7.00 pm drama timeslot, airing weekdays from October 19, 2015, 7.30 pm to 8.00 pm, premiering together with news-current affairs programme Hello Singapore.The series is partly sponsored by the Media Development Authority of Singapore.Life - Fear Not is repeated every weekday at 9.30am to 10am.

On 8 & 9 February 2016, Special Episodes were shown about Chinese New Year but still airing weekdays from 7.30 pm to 8.00 pm

Life - Fear Not casts were the 2nd last batch to use Caldecott Hill, Mediacorp Campus Studio 6 before Mediacorp moves to its new home at one-north.

Plot

The story revolves around the Zhuang family who runs and resides in a small inn “Rest House”. Zhuang Shuiqing (Chen Shucheng) is the head of the family; he is kind-hearted and is always willing to go all out to help others.

His eldest son, Zhuang Daoqiang (Rayson Tan) is a secondary school Vice Principal. He is a refined man who is deeply in love with the inn manager, Lin Jiajia (Chen Liping). The second daughter, Zhuang Daohan (Felicia Chin), has many past relationships and has a very candid personality. The youngest son, Zhuang Daoren (Aloysius Pang), is quirky in nature. He dreams of making it big and always thinks of ways to make a quick fortune. He meets self-proclaimed policewoman, Bai Meigui (Carrie Wong), and he eventually falls in love with her.

Though the Zhuangs lives together harmoniously, there are times when the siblings turn against each other. Shuiqing suffers from memory lapses and could no longer carry out his duties. Daoren suggests selling off “Rest House” and divides the profits. His suggestion faces violent objection from the rest of the family members and their relationship soured. After much trial and tribulations, the Zhuangs finally understands the importance of family unity. They put aside all their grudges and reconcile with each other.

Life - Fear Not features various short stories with different themes about life. As the story progresses, each character will learn some valuable life lesson, but most importantly one should learn to lead a fulfilling and fearless life.

Opening sequence

The sequence begins at the reception desk; Dashou (Brandon Wong) and Shenlong (Zhang Yaodong) ring the bell to visit Shuiqing. Jiajia (Chen Liping) appears from behind the desk and shows them the way. In Shuiqing's room, Shuiqing (Chen Shucheng) is resting on his rocking chair when Dashou and Shenlong enter. He then treats them to green bean soup, with Jinhua (Lin Meijiao) and Daoren (Aloysius Pang). Daoren then sets off for Daoqiang (Rayson Tan)'s principal office, where he brings him and Jiajia close together.

Jiajia notices pieces of paper falling from above and goes up to check. She helps Chu Er (Bonnie Loo) tidy up her desk, which is in a mess. They hear beautiful music playing from Daohan (Felicia Chin)'s recording studio. The compliements she receive from her phone, in the form of hearts, come in, forming a heart-shaped balloon. It flies to the hallway of the inn, where Liu Yishou (Zhang Yaodong) is at. Yishou fails to catch the balloon. It then flies to Daoren and Meigui (Carrie Wong), who are sitting on top of a room. In the midst of trying to catch it, Daoren falls down from the room.

At the song's bridge, the scene is cut to a man who lands on an island and sees a lion. He decides to stay there forever, and rides the lion, climbing mountains with it.

Cast

Zhuang (Shuiqing) family

Our Humble Lodge

Zhi Li Secondary School

YES 933

Other main cast

Cameo appearance

Missing but mentioned

Music

Theme Song
1) 人生无所畏 by Liang Wern Fook 梁文福

Subtheme Songs
1) 爱无所畏 by Bonnie Loo 罗美仪

2) 落脚处 by Felicia Chin 陈凤铃

3) 一样 by Aloysius Pang 冯伟衷 & Carrie Wong 黄思恬

Trivia

• Chen Shucheng, Rayson Tan, Aileen Tan, Felicia Chin and Aloysius Pang made guest appearances in 118 to promote the show, with Lin Mingzhe as executive producer. In the series, Somaline Ang had landed herself a role for the show, but the scenes featured were not part of this series.
• This will be the third time Chen Liping and Rayson Tan would be playing an on-screen couple after Golden Shenton Way and Good Luck.
• In episode 98, the song that Peng Chu'er (Bonnie Loo) sang was "未知数", the theme song of Tiger Mum.
• Archived footage of the Nicoll Highway collapse can be seen at the beginning of episode 110. Chen Shucheng and Aloysius Pang were paying respects to a victim of the collapse, Heng Yeow Peow, who sacrificed his life shepherding his workers to safety on 20 April 2004.
• Life - Fear Not poster was placed on Mediacorp bus to promote the drama but was removed to promote Peace & Prosperity.

Controversy

• Malaysia's satellite channel Astro AEC had already began to air the show the same day as Singapore, which mirrors that of Astro Shuang Xing's First Global Premiere plan. This is already controversial, since Mind Game, which was the first drama under the plan, did not perform well in Singapore and is also nominated for only one technical award in Star Awards 2016. In addition, only Super Senior and The Dream Makers II were the only dramas in the plan to win performance categories.

See also

• List of MediaCorp Channel 8 Chinese drama series (2010s)
• List of Life - Fear Not episodes

References