Season 1 |
Episode Guide
Generation Asian
No Risk, No Reward
To Happiness, Health & Good Fortune
Failure To Launch
The Ex Factor
Mother, May I?
Moment Of Truth
C’Est La Vie
I am in love with Asian culture. I’ve recently booked a holiday to Korea after studying the language for a few months and spend a lot of my free time reading up about the culture from various different countries in the region, including Singapore itself. Singapore Social then is an interesting but ultimately culturally irrelevant reality-TV series. This show is clearly aimed at an American audience interested in Asian culture but ironically does little to actually show how the locals really live, spending most of its time around the privileged 1%. Reveling in all the usual reality TV tropes you’d expect from a show like this, Singapore Social is likely to be an instant hit with fans of the genre, especially in America, but for everyone else this is probably a show to avoid.
Split across 8 episodes, Singapore Social follows a group of young friends navigating the tricky world of love, friendships and career aspirations in a country rich with tradition. Making up this eclectic group of rich friends are entrepreneur Nicole, filmmaker Vinny, influencer Mae and burlesque dancer Sukki. There’s also Paul and Tabitha too, along with a whole host of supporting characters that crop up through the series. Each character has their own arc through this first season, especially Nicole who spends a lot of her time working on her relationship with her Mum. All the usual bubbling drama comes to the foreground through the various episodes too, so expect plenty of tears, laughter, drinking and glam as you watch these characters across the season.
Despite a unique slice of reality pie, showcasing all the drama under the neon-lit lights of the beautiful Singaporean streets, Singapore Social ultimately doesn’t offer anything unique or original you haven’t seen before amongst a myriad of other reality shows. Everything, right down to the on-screen text cues for each character and the various music montages during establishing shots, embrace that reality TV feel. While that in itself is fine, the show feels primarily geared for those looking for drama rather than indulging and learning about a different culture.
Don’t get me wrong though, there are some unique moments here and I actually found myself really getting into the drama for the various characters throughout the show but ultimately Singapore Social fails to offer anything new. I’m not a massive fan of reality TV as it is if I’m honest but Singapore Social’s likable cast of characters should be enough to keep you sticking around to see what happens by the end if you’re into this genre. Whether this one will be renewed for a second season or not remains to be seen, especially given the backlash this is likely to spur from Asian audiences, but then that only reinforces the target market this is actually aimed at.
For those looking for something wholly unique or more educational in regards to Asian culture, Singapore Social is not the show for you. If you love all things reality-TV and are hunting for something a little different but still very familiar, Singapore Social is your ticket. The musical cues, the deliberate dialogue and various different dramatic situations the characters find themselves in is trademark reality-TV fodder. For everyone outside the reality TV circle, Singapore Social is not a show I’d recommend, especially with more educational and culturally relevant shows on the platform already.
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Verdict - 3/10
3/10
Ok old white lady review. As an adult we just want to know that the younger generation is grounded and has a head for what’s important. And this show portrayed real thought and real life struggle. I’m so happy that the youth of our time has their hand on the pulse of what’s really important. Love you guys , good show, fantastic influence, I’m 100 percent for you!
This content is amazing I really love the concept I love that I can get to know about the country and it really helps me to improve my English 💙 also there are a lot of situations in this program that is so existing
Hope session 2 soon 😍
What is wrong with you people? Who said this show was supposed to be a cultural documentary? Also, it doesn’t pretend to depict regular Singaporeans, ever. At the introduction of a pop singer and a blockchain CEO, viewers should have clearly understood that. And enough jealous shaming stating the cast are vacuous and that they’re vain losers. Put your damn selves in their shoes – if you were born to wealth, would you do differently? And also, there’s a ceo working hard for her dreams and a fashion influencer who’s running her own damn brand with eyes for raising fashion awareness in her country- how’s that being losers like some of you state? I’m not defending them and I don’t know the veracity of all their efforts, but these hateful comments seem to reveal far more about the insecurities you critics seem to suffer than about the flaws of the cast. It’s a reality show about wealth young socialites in Singapore – get on with it or shut up and look within yourself for the reasons behind your ire.
Why does this show offend to Thai people in the ep. 1 ?????
This show is total BS. It is not promoting the culture of Singapore, or the country where they are from. There isn’t any lesson to learn from it either. Total waste of time, I couldn’t even finish the whole episode and I’ve been cringing the whole time I was watching. They’re just a bunch of rich kids who love dramas.
Rubbish show. Filled with rubbish people. should all go kill themselves
This show is devoid of any significant relating to Asian cultures.
These are just a bunch of young adults that just don’t seem to care much of anything other than their shallow pursuit of righteousness. No appreciation whatsoever of what was afforded to them by their past generations. I don’t know who their target audience care but this show does more harm than good for young adults. This isn’t real life. Everything is not scripted or staged in real life. This show reeks of fakism and sensationalism.
Good review. I agree, apart from the “likeable” characters part. They’re all shallow and vacuous … the worst type of Western hipster wannabes who don’t have the brains to try something more rooted (but not stuck) in their own cultures. There’s a lot more going on in Singapore than is shown here.