Seen the Netflix hit ‘Old Enough!' from Japan? The Singapore version created a buzz too
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Loading... - Qian Huang
- 21 Apr 2022
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The adaptation for the programme On The Red Dot featured 20 pre-schoolers who ran all sorts of errands alone for the first time, and sparked a debate among local viewers. There is more to come.
Now that it is on Netflix, the Japanese television show Old Enough! is taking the streaming world by storm, with a lot of buzz about it in the West.
But did you know there is a Singaporean version of this prime-time hit in Japan, where the series has run for over 30 years? The first season here was broadcast in early 2019 and the second in August that year.
They featured 20 pre-schoolers, aged two to five, who did all sorts of things on their own for the first time, from crossing traffic junctions to doing farm chores to buying groceries in the supermarket and the wet market too.
This adaptation for the programme On The Red Dot was the result of a deal Mediacorp did with Nippon Television Network Corporation, and remains available only to viewers in Singapore.
SEASON 1
The very first episode introduced audiences to Ninja, who was all of 35 months old. His mother, a second-generation owner of Singapore’s only frog farm, thought it was not too early for him to start helping out with simple things.
So she asked him to scrub a frog pen and feed the fish in two ponds while navigating around the one-hectare Jurong Frog Farm without his parents, as well as deliver frog meat to a neighbouring farm.
And he did all that, even singing to himself while feeding the fish.
What got viewers buzzing with comments online, however, was the task given to Nathanael, aged five years and one month. His mother sent him from their home in Simei to his father’s office in Marina One by himself.
The only child was told his father had left his laptop behind and needed it urgently, but Mum could not leave home because someone was repairing the television.
So the boy rode the bus and train to the financial district — two bus stops and 17 MRT stations away — to run the errand.
He alighted at the right station by listening out for the train announcements and then got to the right office building, where he asked the concierge to call his father. While this impressed his mother, some viewers were concerned.
In one of the most-liked comments on Facebook, user Geraldine Tan-Wee wrote: “It’s not that we don’t trust our kids. We don’t trust the people we don’t know.
“If it were this safe, schools won’t need IDs to pick kids up or to enter the school.”
Noting that there was a production crew following the boy — disguised as passers-by to secretly monitor the children’s every move and ensure their safety — she questioned: “If he’s travelling solo, who’ll watch out for him?”
Facebook user Joseph Yap, meanwhile, said that apart from letting a five-year-old make a “regular adult’s commute”, there are other opportunities for children to "learn about the world and understand themselves within a realistic boundary”, such as by crossing the road on their own.
“Both parents and children have to learn to manage risk. Such practices further encourage a community where children are safely watched (over) by the public,” he wrote.
“There’s merit in placing trust in your children and in society. It’s definitely doable if your child is prepped with adequate knowledge about road safety, stranger danger, thought processes in emergencies and the importance of being alert.” Read More…
