How do you envision Singapore fashion in the mid-20th century? Some of us think of women of the time as dressing modestly, but not actress Jin Yinji.
Though she was in her 40s during the filming of the 1985 drama Good Morning, Sir, set in the 1950s, she still served looks.
Revisiting a scene from the show where she wore a back-plunging dress, the 75-year-old said: “Because I’m a hip person anyway, that dress was mine. I owned many tulle dresses like that, so I could wear my own clothes.”
The scene saw Yinji trying to get into the dress with her on-screen daughter Shen Rong (played by Chen Liping) desperately trying to tighten her mum’s corset.
But not everyone was appreciative of Yinji’s glamorous wardrobe.
“My son was in secondary school [when the episode aired] and the next day, he said, ‘I won’t go to school, you embarrassed me. You exposed your back on TV, how can I go to school? My classmates all saw it!'” she recalled.
This episode of the meWATCH programme The Reunion saw cast members Yinji, Liping, Li Nanxing, Hong Huifang and former actor Wang Changli reunite to reminisce about their time on the iconic drama Good Morning, Sir.
The drama follows the story of Shen Rong, a new teacher at a village school. She initially gets bullied by her students but wins them, and the headmistress (played by Huifang), over. Changli plays the antagonist who ousts Huifang and takes over as headmaster of the school.
Nanxing plays the bespectacled doctor Zhou Wenjie, and as Shen Rong’s love interest, he had to look the part too.
“This mother is so hip, and her daughter is like this,” the 58-year-old remarked, pointing at the duo. “My character had to smarten up too. Four-Eyes Zhou couldn’t stay that frumpy.”
Though she didn’t remember it, Yinji played a hair stylist in the show, which meant her looks were always top-notch.
“It was my real hair too,” she added.
Teacher both on- and off-screen
Xia Chuan watches his scenes from Good Morning, Sir with Hong Huifang.
PHOTO: Screengrab/meWATCH
Another cast member making their appearance on The Reunion was former actor Xia Chuan, which left the rest of the cast emotional.
“He was our teacher both on and off the show,” Nanxing said, serving Xia Chuan a drink of pineapple water. “He taught our drama training course. The fact that we were all able to get this far in life was thanks to his teachings.”
Xia Chuan, 81, was modest about receiving praises but had some to give Nanxing in return, saying: “He was one of my best students, I mean it. We let him do his own thing, and he stood out in the training course.”
Liping, Huifang and Changli were his students as well, and while Yinji was not part of his cohort, she recalled Xia Chuan’s popularity among fellow actors during the time.
“I had never taken his course, but I knew Xia Chuan was really proud and handsome. Many actresses fell head over heels for him,” she said. “Your image and gait, and your pronunciation of Mandarin were spot-on.”
Despite being their teacher, Xia Chuan felt some nerves acting alongside his students, including Huifang, 62, who attended his first training course and went on to play his love interest in Good Morning, Sir.
“Every actor is a bit nervous the first time, but it was gone in an instant,” he said. “We got into character, and I wasn’t their teacher on the show, we were all playing our characters.”
