Glenn Knight

The prosecutor who established the Commercial Affairs Investigation Department. Led investigations in the Pan-El saga.

Photo of Glenn Knight Source: SPH Media

Peter Tham

Director of Pan-Electric Industries, avid bowler and fugitive. The cause of Pan-Electric Industries’ collapse.

Photo of Peter Tham Source: SPH Media

Tan Koon Swan

Prominent Malaysian businessman and popular politician.

Photo of Tan Koon Swan Tan Koon Swan(C) Tan Koon Swan(R) Source: SPH Media

Conrad Raj

Veteran financial journalist. Broke the news on the Stock Exchange of Singapore’s unprecedented closure.

Conrad Raj(L) in the late 80s Source: SPH Media

Lim Hua Min

Founder of Phillip Securities. A contrarian of blue-chip darling, Pan-Electric Industries.

Chairman Lim Hua Min (R) with Phillip Nova Staff during 1990s Chairman Lim Hua Min (C) in PhillipCapital office during 1970s Source: PhillipCapital

Tan Kok Liang

The financial director of Pan-Electric Industries. Facilitated loans between Pan-Electric, Tan Koon Swan and other associated companies.

Moona Kader Sultan (EP1)

The man who built his own version of the Taj Mahal called Karikal Mahal between 1920 to 1922. From a teenager who arrived on Singapore shores in 1879 with nothing, he built up a cattle trading empire, was conferred a Justice of the Peace and became one of the most famous businessmen in the region. But controversy dogged his later years, resulting in a murder trial.

Mohamed Yusoff bin Kadir Sultan (EP1)

The cattle king's first-born son, whose wedding Moona Kader Sultan threw a lavish bash for in Karikal Mahal, with invited guests that were the crème de la crème of Singaporean society then. He assisted Moona in running the business, right up to when the family faced bankruptcy in the 1930s. A suicide ensued later, which rocked the family to its roots.

Armand Joseph Braga (A.J. Braga) (EP2)

Politician. Lawyer. Magician. A man of many identities, of which the most mysterious was his role as the Vice President of the Malayan Magic Circle, a brotherhood of magicians who made Karikal Mahal its headquarters in 1939. Braga was famous for his escape tricks and illusions. The group staged multiple shows at the mansion with invited guests. But everything ground to a halt on 8 December, 1942.

Tan Hock Chuan (EP2)

School teacher by day, magician by night. A key member of the Malayan Magic Circle, famous for integrating mathematics with his illusions and tricks, and also a master of mentalism, magic of the mind. The first Singaporean magician to ever win the internationally recognised Sphinx Award in 1937.

Gus Harold Wade (EP3)

Editor and 'publisher' of the Karikal Chronicle, a simple daily newsletter that kept European civilian prisoners' spirits up while being interned at Karikal Mahal during WWII. The mansion was home to at least a few dozen of them for around two weeks before they were ordered to vacate the premises and walk with other groups to their permanent home, Changi Prison. Wade reflected the hardships that the POWs faced in typical dry British humour with written sections like Karikal Sambals, a collection of jokes, prose and verse.

Thomas Kitching (EP3)

Chief Surveyor of Singapore during colonial times, and civlian internee at Karikal Mahal during WWII. He kept a diary that provided insights into the lives and deaths of his fellow internees, including how the internment camp functioned and the Japanese treatment of them. The internees like him kept a small shelf of books which sat in a coffin that Malayan magic circle member, A.J. Braga used for his famous escape trick a few years back.

Hedwig Aroozoo

Young Hedwig Elizabeth Anuar née Aroozoo (played by Xandra Mariam), navigates life straddling two homes in Johor Bahru and Singapore, connected by the Causeway. Her story unfolds against growing tension and uncertainty as war looms over Malaya and Singapore in the early 1940s.

Hedwig Elizabeth Anuar née Aroozoo
Courtesy of the National Library Board

Philip Carlyle Marcus

Philip Carlyle Marcus (played by Craig Smith) is a water department worker under the British administration in the 1940s. He faces a perilous task during the Japanese Occupation. As he navigates this complex relationship, he balances his resourcefulness and resilience with the constant fear for his life.

P.C. Suppiah

P.C. Suppiah (played by Vichu Boy and Reshwin Romeo Robert), navigates the complexities of identity in the 1960s, just after Singapore's independence. The story explores a pivotal chapter of his youth and his growing-up years, foreshadowing his future as a successful athlete and the emotional tension with his mother.

P.C. Suppiah

Jerome

Jerome (played by Kai Chalmers), an avid photographer, embarks on a journey across the Causeway, commuting by train to see his girlfriend in Malaysia. Set against the charm of the 90s, in a personal story of long-distance love, the unpredictable nature and fascination of train travel.

Andrew Chen

Andrew Chen (played by Saam Leong), a Member of Parliament in Johor Bahru, faces an almost impossible task during the COVID-19 lockdown. Mothers are stranded in Singapore and turn to him for help organising their breast milk delivery across the Causeway. He has to navigate strict border restrictions to ensure the mothers' milk reaches their children, despite the insurmountable odds.

Andrew Chen