The Beginning (, literally "The Point of Origin") is a 30-episode Mandarin Chinese episodic drama produced jointly by Singaporean broadcaster MediaCorp TV and Malaysian broadcaster Media Prima Berhad. It was the first joint production between the two companies, and is a remake of the 1997 Television Corporation of Singapore (now MediaCorp) drama Rising Expectations.

Plot

The story centres on the struggles of two of the three main characters of the series: Fang Yucheng and Shi Jianing. Shi Jianing was born in a moderately rich family, but her father, Shi Dongqing, abandoned the family to seek greater wealth by marrying a rich woman, even when his first wife was gravely ill. Jianing, faced with the loss of her mother, hated her father ever since, and vowed to exact revenge, especially after her father, upon orders from his domineering second wife, ran her over with a car, and later went to jail on assault (the charge was trumped up by the second wife). The death of her sister, Jiamin, also spurred her to exact revenge. Jianing eventually succeeded in destroying her father's business empire after her discovery that her father's company, Syarikat Ma (Ma Corporation), succeeded in getting listed on the Stock Exchange after committing accounting fraud. Shi Dongqing's family went broke overnight, while his second wife suffered a stroke after she went to Jianing's house to attack her. Successful as it was, Jianing's revenge came at a cost: her friend, Tie Dongliang's father, was accidentally murdered by an accountant of the now defunct Ma Corporation, who provided Jianing with the evidence of the fraud and was now ruined. This severely damaged her relations with Tie Dongliang, with whom she had an on-and-off love relationship. Jianing only let go of her anger for her father after he and his second wife were killed by Jay Fang. The second arc focused on Fang Yucheng, who lost his father in an accident early in his life. He vowed to attain great wealth, going to no ends to achieve them, even working for the man who was responsible for his father's death: Fang Huakang. In the end, the drive for revenge and wealth had ruined many person's lives, and all the characters realised that they can return to a happier time when they return to where they started.

Cast

Shi family

First Shi Family

Second Shi Family

Fang family

Other

Production

Filming started at Malaysia in April 2006.

Release

Reception

Viewership ratings

This drama series has recorded one of the lowest viewership ratings to date in Singapore, while recording the highest ratings in Malaysia.