FEW realised that when Silver Ang lit up the small screen with her first leading role in a Malay drama serial, she could hardly speak Malay.
The actress-host is more familiar to TCS 8 and Channel U audiences.
But her performance in MediaCorp Suria's drama UMMI (Untuk Mu Mama Idaman, which means To Mummy With Love) was so convincing that it impressed the Suria audience.
Said polytechnic student Muhammad Bazli Hamzah, 19: 'It's incredible that she spoke Malay so fluently and convincingly.'
Miss Constance Goh, 26, an administrative officer, agreed.
'For her to express her feelings in a language that she's so unfamiliar with, it's definitely not easy.
'It's a great leap for her.'
Ironically, this acting gig looks set to be the breakthrough the 24-year-old, who is signed under WaWa Artistes Network, had always been looking for.
Before UMMI, the 2005 Project Superstar finalist had taken on mostly bit parts in Channel 8 and Channel U series, which failed to raise her profile.
On UMMI, a six-part family series currently airing on Suria every Monday night, Ang plays a Chinese single mum, Qistina, struggling to carve out a better life for her nine-year old daughter following a nasty divorce from her Malay husband.
Ang said she put in a lot of hard work to familiarise herself with the Malay language.
'I remember the first time I looked at the script, it was entirely in Malay,' she recalled, in an interview with The New Paper.
'Even the notes with information on scene location and time were scripted in Malay, I couldn't understand anything!'
She then bought a Malay textbook and instructional VCDs to teach herself conversational Malay.
'I am actually slightly familiar with the enunciation of Malay words, as I used to have Malay neighbours, I remembered how they pronounced certain words,' she added.
'Also, I studied in a neighbourhood primary school where I made many Malay friends.'
The difficulty for her, was getting used to colloquial Malay, as most textbooks and instructional VCDs taught the language in its strict, formal sense.
Ang said she wasn't one to be daunted by adversity, and had decided to take on the role fully aware of the language obstacles ahead.
'I was getting worried that I would be stuck doing supporting roles forever,' she said.
The second-runner up in the female category of the inaugural Project Superstar, she had previously appeared in Channel 8 series Love Concierge (2005), Miracles (2006), and medical drama Perfect Cut II (2008) on Channel U.
The characters she played, however, hardly allowed her to flex her acting muscles.
'In my previous acting experiences on Channel 8 and Channel U, I played mostly minor characters,' she said.
Grabbed her chance
So she jumped at the chance to be one of the leads in UMMI.
'UMMI finally gave me a chance to show how much I can deliver.
'Initially, it never crossed my mind to do a Malay drama,' said Ang with a laugh.
'Not only was there the language difficulty, admittedly, the Malay-speaking market is smaller.'
She soon changed her mindset, viewing the opportunity to act on Suria as 'widening' her range.
'Crossing over to Suria does not mean I am cutting myself off from the local Chinese scene, it just shows that I am versatile enough to branch out.'
Mr Ezra Farabi, assistant vice-president, Suria network programming & promotions, said Ang was picked for UMMI after her performance in Timang (To Caress), a Suria telemovie aired in February during the Chinese New Year period.
Although her role in Timang was a small one and didn't require her to speak Malay, the producers of UMMI were attracted by her 'sweet disposition'.
They were also impressed with her diligence in perfecting her Malay enunciation, even though the language is essentially foreign to her.
'She attended a script-reading session and the effort she had put in during the session convinced us that she'll be fine for the role,' he said.
He explained that it is often not too difficult for non-Malay speaking artistes to adapt to Suria programmes, as 'the production (portions), which includes directing, is normally conducted in English'.
Before the shoot, the director explains to the entire cast - in English - what the scene is all about.
As for non-Malay cast members, it requires just an additional step on the director's part.
Director explains meaning
'They will be informed of what their lines mean and how they should express their dialogue.'
While Ang is Suria's first Chinese Singaporean lead actress, casting non-Malay talent in Suria productions is not a new phenomenon, said Mr Ezra.
Celebrities such as Kym Ng, Kumar, Moses Lim and Jack Neo have made cameo appearances on the channel before. (See report.)
Mr Ezra raised the example of drama series Di Pinggir Hati (Blinded Hearts), which aired last December on Suria.
'About 70 per cent of it was filmed in China and featured a large ensemble cast of actors and actresses from China.
'Basically, our dramas are a reflection of reality in the context of Singapore's multi-racial social setting,' he added.
'Adding non-Malay characters makes the scenes more believable.'
But he emphasised that adding non-Malay faces is not a gimmick.
'Non-Malay artistes have always been part of Suria's regular programming since the launch of the channel in 2000,' he said, citing the example of getai host-comedian Tay Yin Yin, who was made 'one of the channel's main hosts' in last year's variety show K-Nite.
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They appeared on Suria too
Actors Moses Lim, Timothy Nga and Steven Lim have all appeared in Suria's Malay programmes at some point in their career
TIMOTHY NGA
FLY Entertainment artiste Timothy Nga continues with his crossover stint and will be appearing in Suria's Father's Day drama series titled Ayah Kat Rumah (Daddy's At Home) next month.
The 37-year-old actor made his debut appearance in February's telemovie Timang, playing the lead role of a Peranakan-Chinese boy who falls in love with a Malay girl.
'I don't have any formal exposure to Malay, so most of the time, I'd be reading the script and then asking someone to explain to me what it was about,' Nga told The New Paper.
On the other hand, learning lines in Malay turned out to be 'not as difficult' as he anticipated.
Nga said that while it probably helped that he grew up in a Peranakan family and 'listened to Malay being spoken' around him, the encouragement of the crew was pivotal as well.
'I've never had so many language coaches in one production before!'
It took him some time to feel settled in his Malay-speaking role.'There are different rhythms and methods of expression,' he said.
'When watching Timang, I did feel that some parts of my performance didn't gel with the feel of the other performers.'
Nga added: 'Malay actors often have a direct access to their emotions that I struggle to achieve.
'It was inspiring to watch some of them on set, especially the veterans like M. Ramlee and Jainon Pari.
'It's like they just read the script, feel it, the next thing you know, it becomes a real scene with deep emotions. Amazing!'
STEVEN LIM
For Steven Lim, best known for his role in the nostalgic Channel 5 family drama Growing Up, language did not pose any problems in 1999's Soldadu, a Malay drama revolving around a group of guys who are headed for national service enlistment.
'I was approached to play the role as I was pretty fluent in Malay, having studied it all the way up to AO level,' said the Malaysian-born actor, 37, who has been based in London since 2002.
'That put me in a unique position.'
MOSES LIM
Veteran comedian Moses Lim, too, wasn't unfamiliar with the language.
The 61-year-old star of hit sitcom Under One Roof did cameos 'a couple of times' on Malay variety skit segments in the mid-90s.
'I can speak Malay, as I studied it in secondary school,' said Lim.
'Also, during my teenage years, my family used to have a Malay driver, we spoke to him a lot. It was definitely easier to pick up then.'
He added that he would take up the opportunity to act in Malay programmes again, should it land on his lap.
'Multi-racialism is part and parcel of our society, it's good for actors of different races to interact with each other.'
