Back in the ’90s, when the main source of entertainment was a big, black box known as television, which now sits in your living room as decoration, people were glued to the TV.
That’s why, back then, Mediacorp organized a group of celebrities to sing the song “Watch TV,” which became so popular that even though it was played repeatedly at certain times every day, people still watched it.
The catchy song, written by Singaporean singer-songwriter Liang Wern Fook and released in 1999, was initially sung by local artists such as Christopher Lee, Fann Wong, Zoe Tay, Xiang Yun, Kym Ng, and Guo Liang, among others.
Another version was released with several more celebrities joining in.
Now, almost 20 years later, when those Ah Ge and Ah Jie have become uncles and aunties, a young actress has covered it—by herself.
Kind of.
On 17 April 2024, actress Chantalle Ng, who is veteran actress Lin Meijiao’s daughter, posted this on her Instagram account, seemingly announcing that she would be dropping a music video soon.
It confused Gen Z, but everyone else knew what it was.
And as expected, a day later, she dropped the music video, and boy did it bring everyone back to the ’90s.
Other than the familiar beat that made all uncles and aunties sing along, she made strikingly similar poses like the veteran actresses, such as this iconic pose by Fann Wong that has lived in many people’s minds rent-free.
The 28-year-old is born in 1995, which means she was four years old when the first “Watch TV” song was released.
While it would never replace the memories we had in the past, it did bring back one familiar face: Uncle Christopher Lee made a cameo at the end of the music video, without his F4-inspired hairstyle but with gray hair instead.
One thing is for sure, though: for the millennials and boomers who aren’t familiar with the new generation of celebrities, they now know who Chantalle Ng is.