Tan Family on Throwback Balik Kampong!

Guess what?! We're going to be on local TV! Yes, all five of us! Hubbs, the kids and I! Exciting eh? Take a look at the trailer Channel 5 has released.

Throwback: Balik Kampong features three modern day Singaporean families trying to cope with living in a kampong (rural village) reminiscent of Singapore in the 1960s - bereft of modern technology and amenities.

I guess this year, being Singapore's 50th birthday, we'd be seeing a lot of programmes and events bringing us back in time to the 60s - in particular 1965, the year Singapore gained independence. I suppose that's also why we have one Chinese family, one Malay family and one Indian family in this show. Racial harmony for the win! 

So how did we come to be involved with this? People from the production firm contacted me via email and asked if we would like to be in this reality tv show. Think they probably found us through this blog, or through Petite Travellers the blog which I contribute to. It is where I blogged about our kelong trip as well as our camping experience (or this post). We guessed that it could be these posts, as maybe... they are thinking "Okay, if this family can survive the kelong and the camping, perhaps they can survive the kampong too!" 

Apparently, they tried searching for families with some TV ads like this one above. We didn't know though, as we don't exactly watch TV. We were told that we would be staying in a circa Singapore 1960s style kampong, without modern conveniences and without our electronic devices - no mobile phones, no tablets, no laptops. Instead, we would be expected to live life as it was back in the 1960s. Sounded like a pretty unique experience, especially for the kids. If anything, we hoped that this experience would make them more appreciative of what we do have in our lives now. So we agreed to come on board. The camera crew came and did some pre-kampong interviews at our house, and before we knew it, we were off to the kampong!

After we adjusted to the rigours of living without modern amenities and conveniences, we had a great time. We were very blessed that all three families were friendly and easy-going people. As such, we all got along very well, and the kids had a blast playing together, everyday. We had challenges and tasks we had to carry out, but with the help we provided each other, we got through it all. Our three families were one big family, for we were all in this together. It was truly an experience of a lifetime. You'd have to watch the show to see what I mean.

Throwback: Balik Kampong - 9.30pm Sunday 8th March 2015 on Channel 5

That's the date of the first episode of the 10 part series. I know! Ten episodes!!! We haven't seen the finished product yet. We are very excited and can't wait to see it. But to be honest, we're feeling a bit wary and apprehensive about how we would be portrayed on tv. We're just praying that they would show us as we were, and not sequence shots out of context. 

Rozz & Fuzz - Hosts of Throwback: Balik Kampong
Photos courtesy of @heyrozz on Instagram, used with permission.

On the bright side, we had some really cool hosts to be on the show with - Rozz & Fuzz! They were great at what they do, fun and friendly, and best of all, they loved the kids! ALL the kids from all three families! It was just serendipity that we all got along! :) So we're the Balik Kampong families - The Tan Family, The Awad Family, and The Azimullah Family! Support all of us and watch us all in the 1960s themed 

Throwback: Balik Kampong - 9.30pm Sunday 8th March 2015 on Channel 5 !