Masters of the Sea (TV series)

Masters of the Sea
Created by	Joanne Brough [1]
Written by	Joash Moo [1]
Starring	Wong Li-Lin Ng Chin Han Irene Ng Bryan Wong Lim Kay Tong Donald Li
Composer	Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Country of origin	Singapore
Original language	English
No. of episodes	20
Production
Production location	Singapore
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	Channel 5
Release	12 October 1994 (1994-10-12) – 22 February 1995 (1995-02-22)

Masters of the Sea was a 1994 television drama series produced by the Television Corporation of Singapore (TCS), the predecessor of Mediacorp. It was the first full-length English drama series to be produced in Singapore. ^[2] The series starred Wong Li-Lin, ^[3] Ng Chin Han, ^[4] Irene Ng, Bryan Wong, and Aziz Mustajab. ^[5]

Reception

Masters of the Sea was derided by some as "fairly disastrous".^{[ citation needed ]} One of the criticisms was that it portrayed an elderly Peranakan woman wearing the wrong costumes and ornaments and speaking the wrong phrases. ^[6]

The creator of Masters of the Sea, Joanne Brough, mentioned in 1995 that it was "too ambitious for a first effort", due to having a larger cast and not enough time to develop plots in a limited 30-minute episode. ^[7] TCS executive Daniel Yun said in 1997 that the failure was because the foreign consultants did not understand the local context, and called it a "half-baked Singaporean attempt". Despite that, the experiences helped TCS to produce later serials, including Triple Nine ^[7] and Growing Up . ^[8]

References

1. "A recipe for success". 3 October 1994 – via NewspaperSG.
2. "TV ENTERTAINMENT IN SINGAPORE" (PDF). Retrieved 22 November 2008. The first full English Drama series was MASTERS OF THE SEA which was also shown in Indonesia, albeit redubbed in Bahasa Indonesia...
3. Michelle Tay (18 February 2008). "Leap of love". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 22 November 2008. She made her television debut in 1994... as a dewy-eyed veterinarian in TCS' soap serial Masters Of The Sea.
4. "IWC Portuguese Watch Graces Dark Night Premiere In New York". ViaLuxe. 23 July 2008. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2008. The actor was first introduced to Singapore audiences in 1994, when he appeared in the English-language television drama "Masters of the Sea".
5. "Oh Man!". Archived from the original (DOC) on 28 October 2005. Retrieved 22 November 2008. He was also in TCS's first drama series Masters of the Sea and its second season Masters of the Sea: Troubled Waters...
6. "THE PERANAKAN ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER" (PDF). November 1994. Retrieved 22 November 2008. It is quite apparent that one of the aspects of this television production is its disregard for authenticity in Peranakan costume and language.^{[ dead link ]}
7. "She's leaving with a Masters". The Straits Times. 19 November 1995. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
8. "Channels 5 and 8 will become very S'porean". The Straits Times. 19 October 1997. Retrieved 11 December 2023.