Holland V (TV series)

Written by famed Singaporean scriptwriter Ang Eng Tee. Holland V, spanning more than 100 episodes, Holland V, as the title suggests, revolves around the quaint neighbourhood of Holland Village, particularly singling out the Mo Family.

"Big Sister" Mo Wanwan is known not only for her famous nasi lemak, but also for her Herculean strength, huge appetite and rotund build. Yet, she hasn't always looked like that. The hefty-sized Mo used to be a pretty, svelte girl, and had a daughter, Lin Siting, with Lin Jingcai at the age of 18. Jingcai then brought the baby back home to be taken care of by his wife Su Yueping, who is unable to conceive. Ever since Jingcai was put behind bars for a crime he committed, Yueping forbids Wanwan from seeing Siting. The 2 women are always squabbling, and are known as 'the most quarrelsome duo in Holland Village'.

Upset from not being able to see her daughter, Mo turns her misery into eating sprees. Within a decade, she has turned into a boorish 'Iron Lady' whom everyone fears. She is however, forced to look into her weighty issues when she finds herself falling for Fang Nuowen, a doctor.

Mo Wanwan has many siblings: second sister, the deceptively skinny Mo Lingling, possesses a formidable kick when she's provoked. Otherwise, though, Mo Lingling is all demure and kind but sadly, she is often bullied by her colleagues and even her own foul-tempered husband, Tian Dahua.

Third sister, Mo Yanyan, also older twin sister to Mo Jingjing, is a lazybones who holds a record of sleeping continuously for 3 days and nights. A beauty with brains but who's so lazy, she could give up a Varsity exam for sleep! She soon begins to see the harsh reality of the working world but yet dreams of amassing $100m by the age of 30.

Mo Jingjing is the exact opposite of her older twin sister, Mo Yanyan. She is dim-witted, has a low IQ but works very hard at Wanwan's nasi lemak stall. An innocent and kind girl who often gets cheated of her money and love, she nevertheless remained optimistic and bear no grudges against those who had done her wrong. Although her family often berates her for being stupid, Lady Luck is always by her side - she strikes lottery frequently and everyone begs her for lottery numbers.

As a dedicated botanist, Mo Rourou is yet another pair of twins with her younger twin brother, Mo Yangyang, whose life revolves around nothing but plants. Though blessed with good looks, suitors are often put off by her highly scientific talks and unromantic soul. When out collecting specimens in the forest on one occasion, Rourou runs into her love interest's half-brother and is raped. She wakes up from the ordeal mentally traumatised.

The only son and baby of the family and also younger twin brother to Mo Rourou, Yangyang is agile and alert, Yangyang is quickly promoted in the Police Force. However, when his girlfriend runs into some problems with the law, he gets himself onto the wrong side of the law in a bid to cover up for her...

At the Star Awards 2003, the show, at time on the ceremony, set a record for the most number of acting nominations awarded to a cast in a single year, with nine (four were in the Best Supporting Actor category, which was also a record). The drama also made notable history by becoming the first show to earn such distinction on winning all four major acting categories at the ceremony; at eight wins (five won during the main ceremony), it originally had the highest number of wins in a Star Awards ceremony until the 2009 ceremony, where it was first beaten by The Little Nyonya 's nine wins (the current record holder as of 2016 was The Dream Makers II (another drama with a distinction of winning all four major acting categories), which won 12).

Additionally, at the Star Awards 25th Anniversary show (2007), Holland V 's theme song was voted as one of the top five favourites theme songs and the character of Mo Wanwan (portrayed by Chen Liping) was named one of the five most memorable characters. The show itself was honoured as one of the top five favourite dramas. The character of Edison Ying Tiancheng (portrayed by Jeff Wang) was named one of the Top 10 most memorable villains.

• Holland V at IMDb
• Holland V (English) on MediaCorp website