5 times local drama Kin was just too #relatable for Singaporeans

When it comes to local long-form dramas, there are plenty that we remember with much fondness – Tanglin, 118, and some others that fall a little short. So what next? 

In comes Kin, a drama that aims to flip expectations on their heads. 

For the uninitiated, what exactly is Kin?

To put in the briefest of briefest summaries, two girls born on the 9th of August were swapped at birth, causing them to live very different lives. But little do they know an accident is about to turn their lives and everyone's around them upside down.

Since its premiere in October 2018, the show turns every local TV drama trope on its head to offer a refreshingly new insight to scenes that otherwise would never have made it onscreen. By subverting all the typical cliched plot-lines of most local dramas, Kin brings forth such nuances that make the entire watching experience oh so relatable.

You might even say it's too relatable. 

Buckle up for a dose of reality because these are just five of the most relatable scenes in Kin. 

1. WHY WE SLACK

Ah Yoke (Rachel Wan) mistakenly lets slip that she's already finished with her work for the day. Unfortunately, her boss is a firm believer of keeping busy.

That's probably the reason why your ridiculously slow colleague is, well, ridiculously slow. It's not them, it's your boss that just happens to be incredibly efficient at delegation. When the work never seems to end, we learn to find ways to skive off.

Alas, even the most careful of us make mistakes, and we've all been in Yoke's shoes one too many times. #relatable

Relatability level: 4/5 - Big mood

2. SLUT-SHAMING IS SO 2009

"My clothes aren't the problem, that guy's the problem."

That's right, you go girl.

We've all had that conversation with our parents at some point in time and by now, we're pretty much sick of repeating the same things again. Slut-shaming and victim-blaming is a big no-no, but some outdated parents just don't seem to understand.

Relatability level: 3/5 - Waiting for the day it's 0/5 relatable

3. I AM WHAT I AM

People judge.

People judge a lot.

Everyone's so quick to stereotype that more often than not, they don't bother to see past the surface and to see who we really are.

More so than others, Handsome (Timothy Lee) finds it hard to get even his family to see him for what he can do, rather than his Down Syndrome.

As he displays his tenacity in proving himself in the clip, you can almost, almost, hear the lyrics to Katy Perry's Roar at the back of your head.

We all have a tiger inside of us and boy are we ready to make ourselves heard.

Relatability level: 3.5/5 - Roar. 

4. ASIAN GRADING SYSTEM: A IS FOR ACCEPTABLE, D IS FOR DON'T COME HOME.

Having grown up in the shadow of his brother, Zaryf (Danial Ashriq) struggles with getting any shred of acknowledgement from his mother.

"All you did was tell me I'm not good enough."

In one line alone, Zaryf externalised how a lot of us feel towards our parents.

After all, why settle for 98 when you can get 100? Why settle for anything less than the best? We all know that feeling of not being good enough, and sometimes the need for validation eats at us so strongly that it cripples our self-worth.

Oof.

Some might say that's just typical of a strawberry generation, but no one likes to be constantly put down. Like a steady stream of water on a stone, even the toughest of us wear down eventually.

It's also most likely the reason why so many of us suffer from imposter syndrome.

Relatability level: 5/5 - Same.

5. SELF-CARE DAYS ARE A NECESSITY.

Raise your hands if you've ever thought of running away from your problems because you felt as though it was impossible to plough through your own demons.

If you did, the show reminds us that it's perfectly alright to do so as not everyone is strong enough to "just man up and do it".

When Kenneth (Ebi Shankara) find out his wife suffers from terminal cancer, it unlocks a pandora's box of unpleasant memories, shaking him up as his unresolved trauma from losing his sister floods his mind again. Unable to deal with his crippling helplessness and unable to pull himself together, he decides to run away.

Nobody's born Superman, and even Superman had to remove himself from a situation when it got too much.

There's never any shame in being vulnerable, we just need to learn to take a step back to reorientate ourselves, to find our north in order to find our way home.

Burnouts and breakdowns are no fun.

Relatability level: 5/5 - Love yourself

While not all the instances mentioned above are 100 per cent relatable to everyone, it doesn't mean that they're dramatised or that such things don't happen. These stories are merely someone else's stories, just a small fraction of the problems faced by people all around us. They are there, they're just invisible. At 209 episodes (as at the time of writing) and slated for 368 episodes, there are still plenty more opportunities to showcase even more of such ordinary struggles. 

It is, by no means, a perfect all-encompassing show, but it's the representation that makes the show so #relatable.

Kin airs every weekday on Channel 5 at 8.30 pm, with the whole week's episodes available to binge on Toggle every Monday.

rainercheung@asiaone.com