| abstract
| - This is a 20-episode drama about a youth who has to shoulder the duty of being the man of the house while his mother is hospitalised. Not only does the boy have to support the family, he also must bear the responsibility of looking after his young brother and sister. The story underscores the value of familial love and the need for young people to be independent and to have a sense of responsibility. Wang Jiahao is a rebellious youth whose bad name causes him to be blacklisted by schools. In spite of that, his mother does not give up hope on him. She works hard at two jobs just to admit him into a private school. But Jiahao does not appreciate his mother’s effort at all. He lives aimlessly day by day, with scant regard for his future until one day, his mother meets with an accident and lies unconscious in hospital. Only then does Jiahao realise that he has to assume the heavy responsibility of being the “head of the family”. Jiahao’s mother, while fending off a thief’s attempt to snatch her $1000, is pushed down the stairway. Despite losing consciousness upon hitting her head, she still clutches her purse. Jiahao knows that the $1000 is meant for him; he has threatened to leave home if his mother refuses to give him $1000 to buy a computer. Staring at his unconscious mother, Jiahao has never felt so remorseful. He promises his mother to take good care of his younger sisters so that she will see a complete family upon regaining consciousness. Jiahao quickly feels the helplessness of managing the family and his two siblings. The two rascals are simply disobedient to him. Fortunately, Jiahao has a warm and kind paternal aunt, Wang Xiaohui. She volunteers to move in with the children and claims that she will take “good” care of them. However, this aunt is a super bungler. She is eager to help but always messes things up. Not only does Xiaohui cook a meal that is too awful to swallow, she almost causes the whole family to die of gas poisoning. Jiahao has no choice but to “head the family”. Only then does it dawn on him that his mother had been a “superwoman”, a multi-tasker; her children do nothing but rely on their mother for food and money. He finally understands his mother’s pains of looking after them. Jiahao’s mother has left little money for them. Auntie cannot even pay her mountain of credit card debts, let alone help them financially. Jiahao has no choice but to work during his school vacation. While working at a restaurant in the swimming club, he is mesmerised by a pretty girl in swimwear. The girl is Jiang Haiying, a sweet girl with a fantastic figure. In the water, she is like a mermaid. Out of the water, she is bubbly and cheerful. But the other party is a top student of a prestigious school, and a swimming captain to boot. Her father is a well-known lawyer. He is nothing compared to her. Moreover, Jiahao has a secret- he has a phobia of entering a pool as a result of a childhood incident where he nearly drowned. This is his secret that cannot be revealed, yet the girl he is fond of is a “mermaid”. Jiahao has the courage only to enjoy watching her in stealth but not to take any action. One day, Jiahao happens to see Haiying struggling in the water due to leg cramp. Seeing that nobody else is in sight, he jumps into the pool to save her without considering his own safety. As a result, Jiahao befriends Haiying and finds out that like him, Haiying has “a secret that cannot be revealed”…. On the home front, Jiahao is in a fix. His sister wants to go to Japan. He opposes it vehemently. His sister’s response that “Mother may never wake up again!” incurs his wrath. After retorting that “You have never behaved like an elder brother”, she leaves home. Will Jiahao eventually behave like an elder brother? In the midst of facing a deluge of problems, his maternal uncle Ah Wei appears at the flat. He is homeless after being released from prison. Xiaohui is afraid that Ah Wei, With his secret society background, will lead Jiahao astray. She is determined to stop Ah Wei from moving in but the thick-skinned latter refuses to leave. In a quick change of heart, Xiaohui also moves in to set herself against Ah Wei. Both parties are hostile and often at loggerheads with each other. Sandwiched between them, Jiahao can only agonise. Around this time, a man claiming to be their future father appears out of nowhere, making this messy family even more “exciting”. … Jiahao tries his best to overcome the various obstacles. His efforts are not futile in the end. He succeeds as “head of the family”, and in “pairing up” Ah Wei and Xiaohui. His mother awakens to see her son has changed for the better and a family full of warmth…. The light-hearted drama, scripted by Ang Eng Tee and directed by Chong Liung Man, seeks to entertain viewers for an hour in a relaxed mood.
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