Everlasting charm of classic multi-dialect show, Empat Sekawan

Datuk Lai Meng aka Aunty Meng and Yap Chin Fong aka Uncle Fong of Empat Sekawan have been friends for the longest time. Photos: The Star/Raymond Ooi

Not many people can lay claim to being friends for more than 50 years. So when Datuk Lai Meng and Yap Chin Fong arrive in our studio for the photoshoot, they were like little children at their favourite playground, posing effortlessly as they offered each other support.

Aunty Meng, 88, and Uncle Fong, 68, first met on the set of Empat Sekawan, a multi-dialect TV series about the day-to-day lives of four friends that was presented in Mandarin, Hakka, Hokkien and Cantonese.