Who would have thought...
quiet little Kelian would go out with her mum's enemy behind her back?
Kelian is over 30. It's good she's finally got a boyfriend
But Sis has to put a stop to it
Exactly. Aunt shouldn't interfere in her love life
You can't say that
How can children not listen to their parents...
who go through so much to bring them up?
They can if the parents are wrong
Parents are never wrong. We have more experience than you
We can tell at a glance whether a man would make a good husband
Take that guy your Fifth Aunt wanted to matchmake with her daughter
We knew he was divorced after just a few words with him
So what happened?
We dropped him. If he didn't have faults, there'd have been no divorce
Mum, sometimes it's not just the fault of one party
That's precisely my point
The first three sons-in-law had her and her husband's approval,
and the marriages have turned out to be very successful
The fourth daughter married against their wishes
Now the marriage is on the rocks
Your future spouse must meet with your parents' approval...
or you will repent after marriage
You're all dressed up. Who are you meeting?
I'm going shopping
Who with?
Friends
I'll join you
I'm sending off a friend who's going overseas for further studies
After that, a few of us will go shopping
I've got to go now. Bye, Dad. Bye, Mum
What friend can be so important?
Young people like their freedom. Why do you want to tag along?
I'll go with you since we're closed for business today
Before I came out just now, my mum gave me a long lecture...
about the importance of choosing a man who meets with their approval
I know she still disapproves of me
But I will find a way to get her to accept me
You're so sure of yourself?
Having you accept me is a big boost to my confidence
Shall we have something to eat?
Something wrong?
-What is it? -My mum and dad!
-What shall we do? -Let's get out of here!
-What did you pinch me for? -You were ogling that girl!
I thought I saw Xiangxiang
A likely story. She's at the airport right now
Let's go and take a look if you don't believe me
Fine, let's do that
Find Xiangxiang and prove to me you're telling the truth
If you can't, that shows you were ogling that girl!
Sorry
Where has she gone?
I really saw her. But she's vanished without a sight
You still won't admit you were staring at that girl
Dad, why aren't you in bed?
It's all your fault
My fault? What did I do? I've been out all day
Your mum and I saw you at the shopping centre today
You saw me?
Scared now, are you? Relax, your mum didn't see you
So why do you say it's my fault?
Your mum accused me of staring at some girl
She won't even let me sleep in the room tonight
That's good. You can have a couple of beers and sleep on the couch
Or we can have a chat
Fine. We haven't had one for so long
Honestly, are you seeing someone?
Don't say that. Mum will start questioning me if she knows
You weren't alone when I saw you at the shopping centre
You saw him too?
I did, but not too clearly. That's why I'm asking you now
Who is he?
He... I can't tell you. Mum won't approve for sure
You have to get married one day
I know your mum is critical and has a big mouth
But she won't object to your boyfriend...
so long as he's of good character and possesses the 5Cs
He's definitely of good character. He also has the 5Cs
In fact, he has an extra C
So what are you worried about? Your mum will be thrilled
Dad, you don't understand
Keep this to yourself for the time being. Don't let Mum know
Ah, you want to give her a surprise
Don't worry, my lips are sealed
Caixia...
Shijian put you up to it
Why must you turn around and frame Lion King?
That's quite enough!
Lion King must have owned up. That's why he got the sack
He got Caixia in enough trouble
Luckily Lan-jie has agreed to let her stay on...
on account that she's young and ignorant
Now leave her alone
Lion King is really innocent. Please believe me
You've been brainwashed by all his sweet talk
He made Caixia do such a wicked thing, and you still believe him?
Let's go, Caixia
Forget it. They won't believe you
Lion King has been sacked, and everyone knows about your romance
Be thankful they don't accuse you of being his accomplice
You don't believe that Lion King was set up either?
If I don't believe him, I won't be acting as his messenger now
He called you at home but your mum hung up on him
You don't go to classes anymore and he can't come here
He wants to meet you...
What are you doing here?
-Can't I come and see her? -No! This is my department
If I find any cockroach or hair around, I'll hold you answerable
Now leave
You must be feeling very smug that you dare to cross me...
the same way Keli did
You deliberately get friendly with people I dislike
First it was Lion King. Now it's that sickening slut
Are you determined to defy me?
I'll get back to work
First you said Lion King made you do it
But he no longer works here now. Why won't you tell us the truth?
Speak! Don't think you can get off the hook by keeping quiet
So it's been you all along. You have nothing to say now, huh?
That's fine. We'll let the police handle this
No, don't call the police! I... I'll tell you
Go on!
She was mean to us. That was why I went along with Shijian's scheme
Don't you talk rot! How dare you put the blame on me?
Lan-jie, these people have no conscience. Just dismiss her
Let her finish, Zhen-jie
So Lion King has nothing to do with this?
You framed him?
I did as Shijian told me to
He said Lan-jie, being quality- conscious, would sack Fatty Zhen
He promised me and my mum a job in his shop as well as a pay rise
But why did you frame Lion King?
That was Shijian's idea too
He said nobody would be suspicious since Lion King and Zhen are enemies
This way, we'd never be found out
Aren't you wicked, killing someone by another's hand!
This is all your fault
You docked my mum's allowance for going to the toilet
Shijian was only trying to help us
You're the one who loafs on the job
When did I ever do that?
Everyone knows you're the laziest
You nap in the pantry and read in the toilet,
and push all your work to us
You dock our allowance for the slightest reason,
and won't let my mum see the doctor when she's ill
You're downright wicked!
You've got rid of Lion King. Now you want to do the same to me
Don't believe her. She's out to get rid of all your workers
She should be arrested and taught a lesson. I'll call the police!
Zhen, this is an internal problem. We should settle it ourselves
It's no use going to the police. It will only affect our reputation
About Caixia's allegations against you -
I will look into them thoroughly
You've been discharged from the hospital so soon?
Why not rest a few more days?
There's no one to make decisions if I'm not around
What are you doing with the operations report?
I'm in charge of that. How can you take it upon yourself to do it?
The manager assigned it to me
That's right. She's covering for you since you're on sick leave
This is a confidential document...
for the eyes of the manager and assistant manager only
He'd never let you handle it
Keke, you're back to work so soon?
I cancelled my sick leave
I can do the operations report now
No, let He Wei do it
But why? I...
This is the company's decision
Why, sir?
How are you feeling?
I'm fine now. I'm eager to get back to work
Why did you give my work to He Wei?
Somebody had to do it since you weren't here
You just had an operation. Don't over-exert yourself
You told me we'd soon have a clearer picture of the take-over plan
I must try and excel in my performance. But now...
You were on sick leave, and I didn't want to worry you over the phone
There'll be internal adjustments after the take-over
There may be change of personnel and further retrenchments
Some junior workers in the head office and branches have been laid off
I thought the retrenchment exercise was almost completed?
This next round is targeted at the middle-management
In other words, you have to be mentally prepared
I hear your name is on the list
But why? I came back to work even though I'm on sick leave
How does the company gauge the performance of its employees?
Even if some of us must go, why me?
Take it easy. A reorganization is to be expected after the take-over
Internal cohesion is a factor they'll take into consideration
He Wei may not be as outstanding as you, but she's still a good worker
On a personal level, she's more popular than you
These days, EQ is more important than IQ. Do you understand?
She was so cocksure, but it looks like she's out of favour now
The manager still wants He Wei to do the report even though she's back
Something's not right, don't you think?
It calls for a celebration if that's true
Yes, let's go out and have a nice lunch
I'd love to join you. Let's go later
I already have a lunch date
I have a lot to do. I'm not going
Look who's back!
Lion King, you're back!
Lion King is back!
I was thrilled when Sam called and asked me to come back
This was all part of Sam's ploy
He had to fire Lion King in order to find out the truth
You guys wronged Lion King by thinking he was the culprit
Actually, I didn't really believe he did it
I'm sorry. Luckily Lan-jie agreed to let Caixia resign on her own
It's my fault she turned out this way. I even wronged you
It's OK. Caixia got duped by Shijian because she's young
Don't take it to heart
Kelian, what's the matter? Are you mad at me?
I didn't mean to keep it from you
Come on, Lion King and I go back a long way
But he kept it from me too in order to catch the culprit
Don't be angry now. The 'show' had to go on
What do you think you're doing?!
I'm warning you, leave Kelian alone!
Especially you - do it again and I'll charge you with molestation!
Come on, the truth is already out. Lion King is innocent
It was all a 'show'. Why are you still against him?
I don't care if it's a show
She's my daughter. She has to do as I say
She must break up with whoever I don't approve of
Otherwise, I will disown her
Fatty...
Zhen-jie
Save it
You always call me Fatty Zhen
Don't think you can wheedle me into letting you court my daughter
Dream on!
Lion King, you're back
Zhen-jie, Sam wants to see you
-What is it about? -No idea
I'm warning you -
if you talk to him while I'm gone, then don't call me Mum again!
Go after her
But Fatty...
Why worry? She's not here
Yeah, go on. We won't give you away
Stop following me. My mum will disown me if I talk to you again
Let's just forget it
What do you mean?
We can't be together
I can't live without you
I won't let you go
I don't care if your mum objects. I'm going to make you my wife
What's up?
Have some tea
No. We're very busy, I'd better get back to work
There's no hurry. Sit down
How long have you been with our factory?
Over ten...
No, I started out with your mum 20 years ago
That long? Your children must all be working now
Have you thought of staying at home to enjoy your old age?
What's the meaning of this?
Hua-shen and Kopi-O are older. Why am I the only one retrenched?
Why? Ask yourself why your own worker would put stuff into the kueh
Why should I answer for what Caixia did?
You've found out that she and Shijian set me up. The problem's solved
Far from it
Caixia has resigned
But don't you think you're the reason behind the spate of troubles?
Not at all. A supervisor has to protect the factory's interests
That's why the workers regard me as a villain
Zhu-jie is a supervisor too. How come no one thinks of her as a villain?
She knows how to get along with them
Precisely. What's more, she works harder than any of them
It's your own interests you're good at protecting
You loaf on the job; you're mean to your workers
You often take home things that belong to the factory
I'm not satisfied with the way I'm treated. I want to speak to your mum
My mum has put me in charge. My decision is also her decision
Any further questions?
I'm going to speak to Lan-jie
Lan-jie, I've been looking all over for you
It's you, Zhen. Join me for a cup of coffee
I know you love coffee
You like extra cream and sugar, right?
Sit down
I know you take 3 spoonfuls of sugar
That's too many for someone your age
All these years, you've been making coffee for me whenever I'm tired
Sometimes you also bring me soup or herbal tea
I ought to make you coffee too
Thanks
Lan-jie, remember what fun we used to have working together?
Whenever we had to put in overtime during festive seasons,
you'd go out and get supper for us
It was really nice of you
There was one year when we couldn't rush out enough kueh....
to meet the orders
We cried as we were making the kueh
When the customer saw what happened,
he kindly offered to come back after the reunion dinner...
to give us more time
That's right
We both cherish old ties. But Sam doesn't
Times have changed
We've been working for decades. We're getting on
Now you get tired after working for just a few hours
Sometimes you will sneak off somewhere for a nap
I can understand that
There are times when you're too busy to go to the shops,
and you will take eggs, fruit, kueh or toilet paper home
I don't really mind that
But the younger generation think differently
Friendship matters to us
To the younger generation, it's productivity and discipline that count
We can't keep up with their pace, so why try?
After what happened, I've learnt to take things as they come
I've decided to put Sam fully in charge of the factory
But I've worked for you for so long
Precisely. It's time you retired
Your three daughters are grown-up. You should slow down and enjoy life
I told Sam to give you a generous retirement pay...
as a token of my appreciation
We can meet for coffee and a chat whenever we want in future
Big news!
The factory's retrenching workers
I thought there wouldn't be any retrenchment?
How many?
One? Who?
Zhen-jie
This is our lucky day. We should buy 4-D
Is it true?
My mum's really been sacked?
Sam told me I'd be taking over Zhen-jie's job from now on
That's how I found out
This is wonderful. Life is going to get better from now on
Yeah, we should have a celebration
Come on, it's painful to be sacked
It's even more painful for us if she's not sacked
What's so funny?
Mum, you've really been sacked?
Sacked? I resigned!
With this retirement pay, I can take life easy...
or go on a holiday
I won't starve even if I don't work
Zhen-jie, think carefully. Times are bad
I can ask Sam to give you back your job if you want
Why, thank you. How kind of you
You're both the good guy and the bad guy
You must have been badmouthing me in front of Sam
I can easily find another job. You can save your crocodile tears!
-Let's go! -It's not time to knock off yet
You fool! Why would you want to stay here? You're resigning too!
You're the one who got sacked, not me
What? How dare you!
But she's right. Why hit her?
It's none of your business. Stay out of this!
Are you coming? Then don't ever come home!
What? It's only 3.30?
Wake up!
-It's past 3 a.m. -Are we going to work?
No! I can't sleep. Come out and chat with me
Now?
I worked alongside her for 20 years
I would feed Sam his milk as I was making kueh
Now that he's grown up, he heartlessly kicked me out
We really slogged our guts out back in those days
We had to work through the night to meet orders during festive seasons
And when Lan-jie was working on some new recipes,
I'd stay up with her all night
It was really tough...
Were you listening to me?! What was I saying?
Just look at you. Have you never slept before?
Go back to bed!
Go! I'd rather watch TV than look at you!
Mum, let me go back to work
You want to go back to that heartless factory?
There are plenty of other jobs in Singapore
But I can only make kueh. I don't know anything else
You can learn
I'm warning you - don't you dare return to work behind my back...
ot I'll break your legs!
Now go back to bed!
Who is it?
What a din. Go and answer the door
Go on!
Coming!
Hold on while I turn on the lights!
Sis, it's you?
It's 6 o'clock. It's time you opened for business
I'll give you a hand
You come banging on our door at 6.15 in the morning
We want to sleep even if you don't
Why sleep so much? You'll get your fill later on in life
The earlier you open for business, the more money you'll make
You couldn't sleep the first day after getting sacked, am I right?
I didn't get sacked. I opted for early retirement
You were forced into it
I beg your pardon?!
Ying, go back to bed. I'll stay and talk to Sis
I'll make you a cup of coffee, Sis
Don't mention coffee in front of me again
Back in those days when we had to work day and night...
to meet orders during festive seasons,
the only supper we had was a cup of coffee
Twenty years later, she sent me packing with a cup of coffee
From now on, I'm never going to have coffee again
One other thing. Do you know...
I know, I know
Open the shop for me while I wash my face and brush my teeth
I haven't finished!
Mum, you've done enough housework for today. Let me do it
Go watch TV
Watch TV?
You're just like your aunt, Lan-jie and Sam
You think I'm so free, that I'm old and unfit for work
You expect me to eat and sleep and watch TV all day
It sounds such a good life. But the fact is I'll be like a vegetable!
-I'll go fix dinner -Hold it!
How dared you walk off before I finished talking!
Mum, what's with you? You've been so cranky these few days
Keke, I'm in a bad mood
You don't know what it's like to be sacked
I slogged my guts out for Lan-jie for 20 years
I remember how I used to feed Sam as I was making kueh
But now that he's grown up, he heartlessly gave me the boot
Mum, you've told me that umpteen times since you left the factory
I've had a frustrating day at the bank
Can't I get some rest at home?
So what if you've lost your job? I can support you
Can't you let me have some peace and quiet at home?
I didn't mean...
Mum, I need to rest. I'm in no mood to listen to your grouses
I know you're in a bad mood
You went back to work before you'd fully recovered
You also have a lot to put up with at work...
Was there any call for me?
No. I was out earlier
Didn't you hear Keke? Was there any call for her?
No
What would you like to eat? I'll cook it for you
I don't want anything
She's not even in the mood to eat?
You! You're the most useless!
All you do is stay at home and mop the floor
Will a job or a windfall drop from the sky?
Do you want Lan-jie to laugh at you for not being able to get a job?
What are you staring at me for? I'll gouge your eyes out!
I'm warning you - go out and look for a job tomorrow
If you can't find one, then don't come home!
Well?
They only want skilled workers
Never mind. Come back to the factory
We really need you
Sam and Auntie want me to ask you whether you want your job back
Well?
Give me a definite answer so I can tell Lan-jie what your decision is
My mum will never agree
She wants me to find a job because she doesn't want me to go back
Your mum is too much. You're good at making kueh
Why must she insist you leave with her?
If you take up a new job, you'll have to start from scratch
Tell her honestly what it is you want
She's my mum. She won't like it if I disobey her
The truth is, I miss my friends in the factory
Well then, tell her you want to come back
Don't be so timid in front of her
Stand up to her when she's unreasonable
I can't defy her
Unless I get married against her wishes like Keli
Marry me then
This is no time for jokes
This isn't a joke. I'm serious
Marry me
-Can I help you? -Let me see the biggest one
It's very expensive
You're going to be my wife. Why shouldn't I dote on you?
You shall have the biggest ring they have
I can't believe it's real
Of course it's real
The gold is real, and so is my love for you
Happy?
What are you happy about?
You know the answer to that
I may not be rich, but I have enough to throw a wedding dinner...
and have my flat renovated
I have no car, but I have a motorbike...
to take you to and back from work
My pay is not very high, but I can give you a happy and comfortable life
But what about my mum?
Fatty? Let's go tell her now
We can't!
She's against our being together
She's also been very cranky since she got sacked
And she thinks you'd badmouthed her
If we tell her now, it'll only make things worse
I didn't badmouth her
In fact, I asked Sam to take her back. But he refused
Let's tell her some other time
Some other time? She has to know we're getting married sooner or later
She might throw a fit and put her foot down
We can't do this or that
Are we supposed to get married in secret?
Don't be like that
We'll tell her when she's in a better mood
What are you doing?
She'll question me if she sees my ring
I'll put it back on when she's fully accepted you
Subtitles: Lilian Sim