Ang Eng Tee

Ang Eng Tee (Chinese: 洪荣狄) is a Singaporean television scriptwriter and novelist, known for his contributions to Chinese-language drama series on Singapore’s Mediacorp Channel 8. He joined the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) in 1983 and has since written several well-received drama series such as The Little Nyonya (2008), Holland V and The Price of Peace. In 2006, he left Mediacorp to work as a freelance scriptwriter. Since then, he has continued to write dramas for Channel 8 on a contractual basis, while also participating in Chinese productions such as The Little Nyonya(2020) and Sisterhood.

Ang was born into a large family, the youngest of eleven siblings, in 1960.^[1] He grew in a village known Kou Teu Kio (九条桥), located near what is now the Institute of Technical Education headquarters in Ang Mo Kio.^[2]

From a young age, Ang developed an interest in writing.^[2] At the age of 18, he participated in a novel-writing competition organised by the People’s Association, where he placed fourth.^[2] During his youth, his academic performance was average, and after attending a private high school, he did not gain admission to university.^[2]

In 1983, after completing his National Service, Ang chanced upon an advertisement for the first Professional Scriptwriting Training Course (Mandarin) organised by the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (the predecessor of Mediacorp), and decided to enroll in it due to his interest in writing.^{[3][4]: 242–243} After graduating from the course, he joined the broadcaster as an assistant scriptwriter and was promoted to scriptwriter two years later.^[3] In 1983, he was then promoted to script supervisor, with his first credited script-supervising work being Paint A Rainbow.^[3]

In 1990, he was promoted to story planner, with his first work being Marry Me,^[3] which explored contemporary views on marriage, cohabitation, and divorce through three couples in the story.^[5] In 1996, after working on several other series, he decided to undertake a shift in his creative direction and wrote Tofu Street, a drama set in 1940-1950s Chinatown.^{[4]: 244–245}The modestly budgeted drama achieved strong ratings and positive reviews^[6], outperforming several high-budget productions and winning the Best Drama Serial award at the Star Awards 1996.^[7] The success of the series brought recognition to his writing ability, and he was subsequently entrusted with leading major drama productions.^[4]: 245

The following year, he served as story planner for The Price of Peace, a World War II–themed drama that again received critical acclaim, winning Best Drama Serial at the Star Awards.^[8] Two years later, another major production, Stepping Out, also achieved both strong ratings and positive audience reception.^[4]: 245

In 2001, when Singapore Press Holdings entered the television broadcasting industry and launched Channel U, Singapore had two television stations for the first time. ^[4]: 245 The introduction of Channel U created strong competition for Channel 8, particularly in the highly contested 7 p.m. prime-time slot.^[4]: 245 Channel U launched with Hong Kong drama A Kindred Spirit and Taiwanese drama Taiwan Ah Cheng, posing a significant challenge.^[4]: 245 In response, Ang was tasked with developing a long-running drama series, which he created Holland V, a distinctly local Singaporean story designed to engage audiences, which achieved over one million viewers in ratings.^[4]: 245

Ang was later promoted to Assistant Vice-President of Chinese drama productions at Mediacorp, becoming one of the highest-ranking creative personnel in the broadcaster.^[3]

After 23 years with Mediacorp, Ang left in 2007 to pursue an independent scriptwriting career while continuing to work with the broadcaster on a contractual basis.^[3] He explained that, as a story planner, the stories he developed were often completed by other scriptwriters, with the final scripts sometimes differing from his original vision, requiring him to make time-consuming revisions.^[3] Although he was able to request full responsibility for his own projects, he ultimately decided to change his working arrangement to avoid placing the company in a difficult position.^[3] He subsequently created several television dramas, including The Golden Path, Just in Singapore, The Little Nyonya, Tiger Mum, and 118.^{[4]: 245,247}

In particular, The Little Nyonya which aired in 2008, which focused on the shared Peranakan Chinese culture in Singapore and Malaysia, achieved the highest television ratings in Singapore in 15 years and became one of the country's most internationally recognised television drama productions.^[9] Ang served as both the story planner and scriptwriter of the series.^[10] He explained that the idea had been in development for a long time, inspired by his experiences living in eastern Singapore, particularly areas such as Katong and Joo Chiat, which are known for their rich Peranakan heritage.^[10] He was also deeply moved during the writing process and reportedly wrote parts of the script in an emotional state.^[10] In addition, he conducted extensive research over several years, describing it as the production for which he undertook the most comprehensive preparation.^[10]

In 2010, Ang was invited by Taiwanese production company Next TV, under creative director Cheung Wah-Biu to join as a contracted lead creator.^[3] He developed a 30-episode youth-oriented inspirational drama centred on teenage girls, however it was never produced as Next TV ceased broadcasting due to financial strain.^[3][11]

In 2020, Ang collaborated with G.H.Y Culture & Media and a Chinese production team to remake his earlier work The Little Nyonya, producing The Little Nyonya(2020).^[2] He later continued working with the same team on Sisterhood, and also co-authored a novel adaptation of the series with scriptwriter Xiao Jixiangtian (小吉祥天).^[12][13]

In 2023, he returned to write the drama series All That Glitters for Mediacorp after a hiatus.^[14]

Ang was noted to excel at writing dramas with nostalgic themes, with Tofu Street, The Price of Peace and Stepping Out being awarded the Best Drama Serial award consecutively in the Star Awards.^[15]

Ang is married to Zheng Lizhu, which was also a former scriptwriter. The couple have two daughters. Their elder daughter is a lawyer, while their younger daughter also graduated with a degree in law.^[16]

Ang has written novels and proses, using the pen name of Hong Di (洪笛) and Sahara (沙哈拉).^[35][4]

• 洪荣狄. "从小就是问题少年的我，如何逆袭成为新加坡广播局的公务员". 澎湃 (in Chinese (Singapore)).

• 洪笛 (1990). 雪探. Singapore: 点线出版社. ISBN 981-00-1428-7.

• Ang Eng Tee at IMDb
• Ang Eng Tee at Douban (in Chinese)