Extraordinary

After a long and hard day at work, we return home only to be greeted by a sad and depressing drama serial like BY MY SIDE. A mood dampener, no doubt, but the HPB message is driven home with a bang here. In this 20-parter, veteran actor Chen Hanwei plays a family man who, in a moment of folly years ago, contracted HIV and sees his life fall apart before his eyes now when the virus becomes full-blown AIDS. (In life, there may be no second chances.) This is Singapore's first TV show centering on the still-incurable STI (sexually transmitted infection) and, from the looks of it, the aforementioned portrayal is a shoo-in for Best Actor at this March's Star Awards. (Note: As much as prevention is advocated, viewers are also educated on misconceptions of the disease and culpable discrimination against HIV carriers/AIDS sufferers.)