Honour and Passion
Encyclopedia
Honour and Passion is a Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

 drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

 which was telecast on Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

's free-to-air channel, MediaCorp TV Channel 8
MediaCorp TV Channel 8
MediaCorp Channel 8 is a 24-hour free-to-air Mandarin Chinese general entertainment television channel in Singapore...

. It was hyped for being one of the few Mediacorp series that was sponsored by the Singapore Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (Singapore)
The Ministry of Defence is a ministry of the Government of Singapore entrusted with overseeing the national defence needs of the Republic of Singapore. It is the headquarters of the Singapore Armed Forces...

. This drama serial consists of 20 episodes. It made its debut on 24 July 2007 and ended its run on 20 August 2007.

Meaning of Title

The serie's Chinese title, when translated literally, means "The Po [family] defends the country", a pun of the idiom "保家衛國", which translates to "protecting one's country".

It is a very apt description of the entire series, for every single male within the serie's main family (the Po family) has served or is serving in the Singaporean military. The only member in the family who has not served in the military in Po Wenwei, who, as a female, is exempt from mandatory NS (National Service) duties.

The Po Family

  • Po Pengju (寶鵬舉, portrayed by Huang Wenyong
    Huang Wenyong
    Huang Wenyong is a Malaysia-born Chinese Singaporean actor who has appeared in many Chinese drama Series, and is best known by his own generation for his appearance in The Awakening and The Seletar Robbery...

     (黃文永))- A professional career soldier, the father of four had to raise the children alone (with help from Liu Ya-mei) after his wife died years ago. He cares for his children, but maintains a strict regimen in his household, running his family like a military camp, even to his daughter.

  • Liu Ya-mei (劉亞妹, portrayed by Hong Huifang
    Hong Huifang
    Hong Huifang is a veteran Singaporean actress. She was known for her roles in dramas such as Samsui Women and she won Best Supporting Actress award in the annual Star Awards ceremony twice - in 1997 and 2006 .She married fellow actor Zheng Geping in 1993 and they have two...

     (洪慧芳)- The sister of Po Pengju's wife and also a chief clerk in the Army, who promised to help Pengju raise his four children before Pengju's wife died. She is effectively the mother figure in the family for years but Pengju does not regard her as a part of the family, merely as a friend. She loves Pengju secretly, and refused all other romantic advances, but her love was not reciprocated until the end of the series when Pengju decided to retire.

  • Po Wenjing (寶文精, portrayed by Tay Ping Hui (鄭斌輝)
    Tay Ping Hui
    Tay Ping Hui is a Singaporean Chinese MediaCorp television and film actor. Tay is best known for acting in many Chinese language TV drama series on Channel 8 and has made appearances in the films Summer Holidays and Infernal Affairs II .-Early life:Tay Ping Hui attended Catholic High School and...

    )- The elder son in the family. He followed his father's footstep, and pursued a professional Army career. He is considered to be an outstanding soldier, but he is crippled on the romance front, being not able to profess his true love to a fellow Army officer, Ouyang Pei Pei. He attempted to woo her several times, each time ending either in comedic failure or disappointment. He eventually achieved success though.

  • Po Wenwei (寶文衛, portrayed by Rui En (芮恩)
    Rui En
    Rui En is a Chinese Singaporean singer-actress based in Singapore currently.Rui En was talent-spotted while appearing in SingTel's popular SingTel hi!Card commercial as the iconic "running girl" in 2001. She was offered a general management contract by Artiste Networks, a section of Hype Records...

    )- The only daughter in the family, she was raised as a boy ever since her mother died, and this has caused her to act more like a man than a woman. Her ex-boyfriend cheated on her and broke up with her for that very reason, and this was a source of conflict early on in the series. Her job at an advertising agency allowed her to work with her future love interest - One of them being Wu Cheng Yi, a terrorist, and another being Picasso, whom she fell in love with much later on.

  • Po Wenzhong (寶文忠, played by Bryan Wong (王祿江
    Bryan Wong Lok Kiang
    Bryan Wong is a Singaporean MediaCorp TV actor, who started out as a child actor in 1982. He began landing modeling assignments and commercials while still a teenager. Although his first hosting stint was for the teenage lifestyle programme Gen Y, it was the infotainment programme City Beat that...

    ))- The second son in the family, he works in a computer company after his NS stint. He acts as the mediator in the family during family arguments. His caring personality has attracted love interests, even unwanted ones. However, he finally found the love of his life - Xiaonuo, A girl who walks with a limp.

  • Po Wenguo (寶文國, portrayed by Nat Ho (鶴天賜))- The youngest son in the family, he is about to serve his NS stint after graduating from school. He is drilled heavily by his father before he has to serve his NS stint, and this has created conflict between Wenguo and his father. However, during the passage of his time in his BMT (Basic Military Training), he discovers that the tough training before he got enlisted really helps.

Other Characters

  • Ouyang Pei Pei (歐陽佩佩, portrayed by Felicia Chin (陳靚瑄, credited as 陳鳳玲)
    Felicia Chin
    Felicia Chin Foon Ling , also known by her Chinese stage name Chen Jingxuan, is a Singaporean television actress.-Biography:...

    )- An instructor at the Army Artillery School, she maintains a feisty surface, but is tender and funny inside. She has a crush on Po Wenzhong since Secondary School. Wenzhong's elder brother, Wenjing, has a secret crush on Pei Pei, but she does not appear to be interested initially. Her crush on Wenzhong almost cost her her life, when a mentally unstable lover of Wenzhong attacked her.

  • Amy Lim (portrayed by Constance Song (宋怡霏))- A mentally unstable divorced woman who crossed paths with Wenzhong during a business venture. She loves Wenzhong, but the love is not mutual. Thinking that Ouyang Pei Pei is the one who stole Wenzhong from her, she attacked Pei Pei, and was committed to a mental facility as a result.

  • Picasso So Jianwei (蘇健威, portrayed by Pierre Png (方展發)
    Pierre Png
    Pierre Png is a Peranakan Chinese Singaporean MediaCorp television and film actor and comedian who works on both Channel 5 and Channel 8 . He is best known for his role as Phua Chu-Beng in Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd and as Mo Yangyang in Holland V...

    )- A worker in Po Wenwei's ad agency, he was hired because of his close relations to Wenwei's boss. Picasso has a rather stingy and slack personality on the surface, and this has brought criticisms from his co-workers. However, it turns out that his stingy demeanors are a result of his fraternal brother's incapacity, in which Picasso promised to save money to help out his brother, so that he doesn't starve. He has crossed path with Wenwei several times before they worked in the same company, each time ending in disaster.

  • Ben Phua (portrayed by Vincent Ng (翁清海))- The fraternal brother of Picasso So. He got to know Picasso during their NS stints. They were assigned to the same sections, and immediately became best partners. During a shopping trip for his new son, Ben was thrown off a pedestrian bridge after he tried to subdue a thief, and was crippled as a result.

  • Liang Xiao Nuo (梁小諾, portrayed by Dawn Yeoh
    Dawn Yeoh
    Dawn Yeoh is a Singaporean MediaCorp actress, most notable for her debut role in The Shining Star.It was mentioned in Xin.sg that Dawn Yeoh's contract with MediaCorp had expired on Dec 2009, and she was no longer a MediaCorp artiste, hence her exclusion from the Top 20 Most Popular Female artistes...

     (姚懿珊))- Love interest of Po Wenzhong, she has done some bad deeds in the past to earn money. She walks with a limp. After getting together with Wenzhong, she still kept secrets from him, namely her part-time work in a cafe. In the end, she got married with Wenzhong, with blessings from Pengju, Wenzhong's father.

  • Wu Cheng Yi (巫成義, portrayed by Ix Shen (沈傾掞)
    Ix Shen
    Ix Shen, also known as Shen Qingshan, is a Chinese Singaporean television actor.-Career:Shen began his acting career in TCS before joining SPH MediaWorks not long after the latter was established...

    )- The antagonist of the series, he is the love interest of Wenwei. He is revealed to be a terrorist in the show who tries to threaten Singapore to release his brother who is sentenced to death for drug trafficking, to no avail. However, towards the end of the show he does show that he still has a conscience.

Introduction

Po Wenwei (Rui En
Rui En
Rui En is a Chinese Singaporean singer-actress based in Singapore currently.Rui En was talent-spotted while appearing in SingTel's popular SingTel hi!Card commercial as the iconic "running girl" in 2001. She was offered a general management contract by Artiste Networks, a section of Hype Records...

) is the third child in the family. Her father is Bao Pengju (Huang Wenyong
Huang Wenyong
Huang Wenyong is a Malaysia-born Chinese Singaporean actor who has appeared in many Chinese drama Series, and is best known by his own generation for his appearance in The Awakening and The Seletar Robbery...

) and she has two elder brothers and a younger brother. She is the only female in the family since her mother died of cancer when she was only nine years old. Their father, Pengju, a full-time soldier, is saddled with the roles of both father and mother, and though he loves his brood dearly, maintains strict discipline. The household is run under strict rules, and there is no exception for the girl in the family either.

The eldest, Po Wenjing (Tay Ping Hui
Tay Ping Hui
Tay Ping Hui is a Singaporean Chinese MediaCorp television and film actor. Tay is best known for acting in many Chinese language TV drama series on Channel 8 and has made appearances in the films Summer Holidays and Infernal Affairs II .-Early life:Tay Ping Hui attended Catholic High School and...

) is a Commando Officer and Pengju’s biggest pride and joy. The calm, intelligent and highly skilled Wenjing is very much valued by the SAF. Women tend to swoon at the sight of the tall, well-built Wenjing, but when in contact with a lady that he likes, Wenjing’s mind turns blank and he puts on a cool front. This is why he has never had a girlfriend.

Po Wenzhong (Bryan Wong), the second elder brother, is a computer engineer as well as an active NSman. He is also the peacemaker and counselor in the family. Wenzhong is easygoing in nature with a good sense of humour, which naturally makes him the object of affection for many women. However, Wenzhong is full of ideals on the subject of love, and still has not had a girlfriend. This is because he believes he has yet to meet ‘The One’.

The youngest, Po Wenguo (Nathaniel Ho), has just graduated from a polytechnic and is waiting enlistment for National Service. To help prepare Wenguo for the army days ahead, Pengju forces the frustrated Wenguo to undergo daily physical training. To add on to Wenguo woes, Pengju constantly compares Wenguo to the outstanding performance of his two brothers. This makes Wenguo really resent enlistment. He even tries to escape the call-up by faking illness. Naturally, Pengju sees through all his antics and subjects Wenguo to a round of severe scolding and beatings. After enlistment, Wenguo unexpectedly discovers that his father’s earlier training allows him to excel among the fellow new recruits. During his course, Wenguo gradually realises the significance of military training, and begins to understand the importance of unity and responsibility. He finds himself maturing in the process.

Lamentations of the Commandos

A chance encounter with Ouyang Peipei (Felicia Chin
Felicia Chin
Felicia Chin Foon Ling , also known by her Chinese stage name Chen Jingxuan, is a Singaporean television actress.-Biography:...

) at the swimming pool, a Captain and an instructor with the School of Artillery, leaves Wenjing infatuated with her. He tries to strike a conversation when he meets her at a familiarization course later on, but his ‘coolness’ acts up.

While doing research for the advertisement, Wenwei gets to know female army office Ouyang Peipei. During her interaction with Peipei, Wenwei discovers that Peipei is intricately linked with two of her brothers: Wenjing and Peipei were acquainted during their military training, while Wenzhong and Peipei were secondary school classmates. The very feminine Peipei is the dream lover of many men. Wenjing is merely one of many who have fallen for her. Wenjing wishes to try to win her affection, but every time he comes close to her, his mind turns blank and he is rendered tongue-tied again. This, to Peipei, is a sign of weakness and she forms a bad impression of Wenjing. Touched by Wenjing’s sincerity, she decides to give him a chance and goes on dates with him, but realises that there are considerable differences between them.

In fact, Peipei has been in love with Wenzhong. The feminine yet tough Peipei has always liked Wenzhong ever since they were in secondary school. However, Wenzhong has only treated her as a friend and is aware of his brother’s affections for this sassy officer. Never one to admit defeat, Peipei believes that she will win his love one day as long as she perseveres.

Rising Woes

Liu Yamei (Hong Huifang) has been colleagues with Pengju in the army. She has always been secretly in love with him, and takes good care of the four Bao children. She used to frequent the Bao family home, making sure everything was running smoothly, doing everything the lady of the house would. Yamei has often been arranged to go for matchmaking sessions by her relatives, and has come across candidates with good credentials. But she is always picking on everything she can think of, and no one seems to be good enough. This is because she is still waiting for Pengju. The Bao children are also aware of her feelings for their father, and thus do their best to bring them together. Pengju is also aware of her devotion to him, but he simply cannot forget his dead wife. Thus, he is still unable to bring himself to accept Yamei.

Picasso (Pierre Png) is the new creative director in the advertising firm, and has been assigned to work with Wenwei. Stingy and rebellious in nature, Picasso gets off on the wrong foot with Wenwei right from the start. They are always quarreling about every little thing. Coincidentally, when Picasso attends in-camp training, his commander turns out to be Pengju. Pengju has a bad impression of Picasso because of his slack attitude during training. However, he changes his mind and sees Picasso in a different light when the latter saves a fellow soldier in the face of danger.

In a misunderstanding, Wenzhong gets to know Liang Xiaonuo (Dawn Yeoh) from a neighbouring country. Wenzhong has a good impression of Xiaonuo, who is physically disabled and walks with a limp but is a mentally strong and determined girl. He falls for her and decides that Xiaonuo is ‘The One’ he has been waiting for.

Wenzhong goes all out to woo her. Although touched by Wenzhong’s sincerity, Xiaonuo is unable to forgive herself for causing the death of her ex-boyfriend. On top of it, she is conscious of her handicap and finds herself unable to accept Wenzhong’s affections. Later, Wenzhong risks his own life to save Xiaonuo. His actions finally melt down her defense, and Xiaonuo consents to accept Wenzhong. However, the traditional Pengju does not approve of his son choosing to be with a woman with a physical disability. He objects vehemently, and for the first time, father and son have a falling out.

Subsequently, with the encouragement and advice from Yamei, Pengju decides to find out more about Xiaonuo. He secretly checks up on her and discovers that she is in fact a kind and understanding person. He is finally able to let go of his previous prejudice, and grants his approval to the young couple.

Love and Uncertainty

Peipei finds out that she has lost to Xiaonuo. This is a huge blow to her confidence, and she becomes depressed. Wenjing is pained to see her emotionally crushed, and supports her unfailingly in silence. It is only then that Peipei realises the one who truly cares for her is Wenjing. Besides being deeply touched, she also understands that to be loved is a greater fortune than to love, and thus accepts Wenjing.

At a Taekwondo practice, Wenjing got to know Wu Cheng Yi (Ix Shen). Although in the beginning Cheng Yi appeared to be a cold, unfriendly person, the ice was soon broken after Wenjing and Cheng Yi worked together to foil a robbery attempt. Soon after, Wenjing gets to exchange blows with Wu Chengyi (Ix Shen). The two men’s skills are closely matched. They then discover each other to be primary schoolmates. Chengyi is a freelance photographer, and has been working in third world countries most of the time. With the air of a philosopher, he would spout a couple of lines on the meaning of life now and then.

During an advertisement shoot that Wenwei is charge of, the photographer she engaged backs out due to some food allergies. Chengyi volunteers his service and takes the place of the photographer. Wenwei is extremely grateful and becomes drawn to this talented yet mysterious man. Chengyi is aware of Wenwei’s feelings for him. However, due to the burden of his mission, he tries to keep Wenwei at arms’ length. In an accident, Wenwei mistakenly thinks that Chengyi has died. Her true emotions touches Chengyi greatly and he finally opens his heart to Wenwei.

Picasso and Wenwei are assigned with the task of developing a proposal for the advertisement for the Singapore Armed Forces and get acquainted with Peipei, who has been transferred to do publicity and is overseeing the project.

During the course of working together, Wenwei and Picasso progress from hating to discover the good sides of each other. Picasso subconsciously falls in love with Wenwei, who is a kind and lovable girl. He begins to give in to her every whim, but the careless Wenwei does not notice it.

Triangle Relationship Saga

Picasso used to be a bomb disposal expert in the armed forces, and had a good colleague and friend Ben (Vincent Ng). One day, Picasso and Ben gave chase when they encountered a robbery. In the process, Ben fell down a flight of stairs while trying to save Picasso. Paralysed as a result, Ben sank into despair and even drove his wife and children out of their house.

Wenwei finds out about this incident by chance. She realises that Picasso’s stingy personality is the result of him financially helping Ben, and he is not the slacker he appears to be. Wenwei has a great change of opinion over Picasso. At the same time, she also feels that Chengyi, being frequently non-contactable, has been keeping some things from her. The couple seems to be drifting apart.

Though Picasso is by now in love with Wenwei, he hesitates because of Chengyi’s very presence. He decides to give it all up and leave for an overseas posting. The night before his departure, Wenwei and Picasso are unable to put their thoughts into words for each other. After a sleepless night, Wenwei finally admits to herself that the only one in her heart is Picasso. The next morning, she rushes to the airport but misses out in meeting him. As she downs her sorrows with ice-creams, Picasso suddenly appears before her. Not wanting to have any future regrets, he confesses his love for Wenwei, who accepts him with joy.

Finale

Wenwei arrives at Chengyi’s home to come clean on her relationship with Picasso. Unexpectedly, she discovers Chengyi’s secret and is held hostage by him and his group. It turns out that Chengyi’s mission this time is to rescue his brother who is on death row. Chengyi has repeatedly used bomb threats to force the government to release his brother, to no avail. The group thus decides to take further extreme action and hold a kindergarten of teachers and children hostage.

When Picasso discovers that Wenwei has been captured by Chengyi, he dashes around searching madly for her. Almost at the end of his wits, Picasso remembers having met Chengyi at a kindergarten, and rushes to the building with Wenjing hoping to get some clues. As fate can have it, he encounters Chengyi and his group barging into the kindergarten. In a face-off, Wenjing and Picasso successfully subdue the group and rescue the teachers and children.

With Chengyi’s directions, Picasso finds Wenwei who has been strapped with a time-bomb. The time of detonation draws near but Picasso is still unable to disarm the bomb... With luck, Picasso managed to disarm the bomb successfully - After all, he once worked in the Army as a bomb disposal expert. With Wenwei successfully rescued and Cheng Yi dead, the case was solved. Wenjing and Pei Pei got married, Wenwei and Picasso got married, Wenzhong and Xiaonuo got married, and even Pengju and Ya-mei got married.

Viewership

WeekDateAverage Number of audience in 5 weekdays (Round off to nearest thousand)
Week 1 24 July 2007 to 27 July 2007 664,000
Week 2 30 July 2007 to 3 August 2007 696,000
Week 3 6 August 2007 to 10 August 2007 709,000
Week 4 13 August 2007 to 17 August 2007 750,000
Last episode 20 August 2007 820,000

External links

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