Season One Review: Heartland Hubby

Spoilers Below

The show started on a high note, with the correct Singaporean accents and Singlish. To mirror real life, Heartland Hubby’s Singapore had characters in all races – Chinese, Malay, Indians, and Caucasians. They also drew in characters from Mainland China and England. If you’re not local, you could actually learn about how Singaporeans act in real life!

One of my personal favourite parts was when Encik was teaching George how to be a proper Singaporean in Episode 3. He taught him how to ‘chope’ seats by using tissue paper, and how to cut taxi queues. Not the most glamorous side of Singapore, these can be seen quite often! Another memorable moment was when Winnie went on her scholarship to Sweden and came back a year later to find her family living (and behaving!) like savages in Episode 8. Another was when Bobo had a new Taiwanese girlfriend and she was a live fortune cat who could only say “Hello!” in Mandarin in Episode 6.

My biggest grouse is still that there aren’t any dialects used in the show. But since this is because of the strict rules of Singapore television, it isn’t the fault of the show. Still, it is a big pity since Singapore is all about the meshing of different cultures and languages, and dialects are commonly used here!

The episodes were mainly funny. They weren’t hilariously laugh-out-loud the entire show, but they let you chuckle at certain spots. The producers can throw in a few more jokes and make it funnier for the next season, so that people will be more excited for the show to start!

I say, give Heartland Hubby another chance. Isn’t 10 episodes too short for it to come into its own and shine? And I’m sure there’s plenty more fodder to write about to show the Singapore way of life!