A Place of One's Own

How long : 20 episodes

Foreword
We have seen Chan Chung Ling paired with Ekin in most dramas. How about seeing how she pairs up with Ng Kai Wah for a change? It also shows the beautiful scenery of Dai Ou.

Story/Introduction on characters

1. Fong Shun Jit – Ng Kai Wah
He is a successful but somewhat a bit selfish investing manager in a company till the market stock crashes. He is demoted and is sore over it. He has little money left and notices that his grandfather has left him a piece of land in Dai Ou. He goes there, planning to sell the land away but is stuck with it as his grandfather has rented it out to a family. He still leaves his Hong Kong apartment intact so that he can still has something to fall back on.

In order to get Fu Gan to sign the contract to leave the land back to him, he deliberately gets close to the family. Through the process of staying near each other, he learns the importance of kinship and how to love someone correctly. He is once romantically linked to Kei but finds out that Hoi Sum is more suitable for him. He then decides to leave the land to its original state and manages to get hold of funds to make a successful comeback.

Kai Wah’s performance here is satisfactory although not fantastic. However, he is quite good in scenes with Chung Ling. I really laugh at the scenes when they are together. They are really cute as a couple!

2. Luk Ho Cheong – Yuen Siu Cheung
He is Shun Jit’s colleague but is more selfish than him. Seeing how he woos Foon Hei to ditch her later makes all feel like bashing him up.

3. Ng Lap Kwong – Tang Yat Kwan
He is an undergraduate from the U.S. who comes to Dai Ou to experience village life. He seems to be like a loafer with no aim in life so Fu Gan opposes to him to be with Fai Lok.

4. Shek Fu Gan – Yuen Wah
He owns the prawn paste farm and his three daughters are his potential helpers. He dotes on his three daughters and try to provide them the best that he can.

5. Ou King Piew – Wong Ching
He owns a coffee shop and is very rich. That is why Yuet Ho eyes him for his money and marries him.

6. Shek Foon Hei – Chan Miu Ying
She is the eldest daughter and is very gullible. She doesn’t get to know many men as she is stuck working on the prawn farm. She chooses in whatever Ho Cheong tells her. She is upset upon knowing that he is actually wooing many other women behind her back. Miu Ying is often cast as a rich or elegant woman in other dramas. It is my first time to see her as a village girl role and she does it well.

7. Shek Hoi Sum – Chan Chung Ling
She is the second daughter and is considered the son of the family as she is very capable to promote the family business. She is drawn to Shun Jit after teaching him how to fish and both often go out to sea. When he is sent back to Hong Kong to work, she is quite unused to see him in a suit and tie as she comes to his home. She is devastated when knowing his motive in befriending her family. It takes her long to forgive him.

Although Chung Ling claims that this was her breakthrough by cutting a mushroom hairstyle, I doubt I see any change from her previous roles. She is still the earnest and warm character as in other dramas. It’s time for a change for her to keep a longer hairstyle. I am growing sick of it.

8. Shek Fai Lok – Lam Chi Yuen
She is the youngest rebellious daughter but she knows what she wants. Although her parents oppose to her to be with Lap Kwong, she knows that he is down to earth and tries to persuade them to accept him.

9. Tong Kei – Ng Mei Hang
She is a top notch model who often flies overseas. Shun Jit grumbles her for being a workaholic and not to be with him when he is down and out. When she intends to spend more time with him, it is too late for her to turn back the clock.

10. Lee Yuet Ho – Cho Chung
She comes from the mainland and is very materialistic. She looks through all the potential suitors in the village before deciding that King Piew suits her requirement. He soon regrets his choice upon knowing how calculative and lazy she is when she handles the shop accounts.

11. Ou Kit Bing – Cheng Hor Wai
She is the women’s mother who worries for their future and nags constantly.

12. Chiu Kit – Lee Kok Lam
He is a policeman. He woos Foon Hei and tries to mend her broken heart.

Interesting scenes

Shun Jit is forced to attend social gatherings with Kei. He becomes weary but has no choice as the guests are also his potential clients.

Kei is unhappy that Shun Jit spends too much time in Dai Ou and quarrels with him. She soon discovers that their views differ now.

Shun Jit is too bored going msn at night. He never realizes that his msn friend is Hoi Sum till much later. Both become close friends before becoming lovers.

Hoi Sum coming to Hong Kong to visit Shun Jit. Worried for her, Shun Jit waits for her at the harbour and brings her to his apartment personally. She is tongue-tied at her nicely-decorated home and suddenly feels inferior.

The young couple has a quarrel before they part. Soon later, Shun Jit learns that a woman meets with a car accident. He finds a slipper that Hoi Sum wears and gets on the ambulance. He wastes his brain cells for the worrying when he realizes his mistake. Hoi Sum returns to the scene when he gets off as she regrets her act. Both hug in relief.

Song

The title is ‘sunny day’ by Chung Ling. Very well sung.

Conclusion

Mei Hang keeps pairing up with Kai Wah after this drama. We can see why - although they have limited scenes, both have a lot of chemistry.

It is a simple story to make others aware of the other important things in life besides money. It also shows the simple life of people staying at the countryside. They still preserve their kind and trusting nature that most urban people lack. It also shows the other side of rural Hong Kong which we are seldom shown.

Sukting’s ratings :

On acting : *** (Scale of 5)

On story : *** (Scale of 5)

On song : *** (Scale of 5)