Mediacorp and Johnny Lau, creator of Mr Kiasu, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on a series of upcoming projects featuring the iconic and popular character over the next three years. And the first of these will be Mr Kiasu's inaugural radio drama on Mediacorp's CAPITAL 958 come November 18.
A character created by Lau in 1989, Mr Kiasu's personality is based off the local concept of “kiasu” (commonly known as “the fear of missing out”) and features a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of the behaviour of Singaporeans.
Mr Kiasu was first featured in a series of comic books by Lau and his co-authors, and has since catapulted into much success and popularity among locals, with adaptations made into a stage musical, television series and soon a web series.
Aligned with Mediacorp's strategy to provide innovative content that is close to the hearts of Singaporeans, this new collaboration will see Mediacorp and Lau working closely together to showcase Mr Kiasu across multiple initiatives on Mediacorp's Chinese News and Current Affairs platforms.
The first is a 15-episode radio drama Kiasu Playbook《怕输攻略》, a commemorative Bicentennial special that features Mr Kiasu travelling back in time to uncover Singapore's history, and meeting figures like the legendary Sang Nila Utama and founder of modern Singapore Sir Stamford Raffles, among others.
The drama is scripted by crosstalk performer Soo Wee Seng and produced by CAPITAL 958's presenter Lu Linxuan, and will showcase music arrangement by renowned Chinese chamber orchestra Ding Yi Music Company.
It will feature Mediacorp artiste Ben Yeo as the voice of Mr Kiasu, alongside CAPITAL 958 presenters in other roles.
Chua Chim Kang, Chief Editor of Chinese News & Current Affairs, Mediacorp, shared: “Leveraging the familiarity and popularity of the character, we hope to connect with and inspire our viewers, listeners and digital audiences, and fans can look forward to our first collaboration 'Kiasu Playbook', a special radio drama that will premiere on CAPITAL 958.”
On the collaboration, Lau also said: “For the first time, audiences will get to 'hear' Mr Kiasu come alive, without accompaniment of the visual character. The script direction took many months of debates and tweaks before we were happy, and it was not as easy as I first thought.”