THE scorching weather did not deter film production crew from filming scenes for a Chinese drama series at Poh Hock Seah Temple on Armenian Street in Penang.

Age of Glory II producer/director Simon Long said the weather, which he described as extremely hot, made most of the 60-odd crew plus its main cast tired.

“We rested a lot as the weather is awful, especially the cast who had to wear various costumes,” he said.

Long said this to reporters after briefing Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng who spent about 30 minutes witnessing the filming at the temple.

The series which is produced by Double Vision Sdn Bhd will be broadcast on NTV7 in June.

Long said that filming started on March 1 in Penang.

He added that the crew would also be shoot scenes at the Khoo Kongsi and the Penang Peranakan Museum until March 15.

He said they searched for many locations in the country to shoot the serial which takes viewers to the 1938-63 era when the Chinese arrived in Malaya.

The show will cover the challenges they faced and how they managed to survive with help of the other races like the Malays and Indians.

“We wanted to film the serial in Malacca and Ipoh, but there are a lot of modern buildings there, and Penang was the prefect place. About 50% of location of the filming was done in Penang.

“Besides Penang, there are also scenes in Taiping, Seremban and Kuala Lumpur,” he added.

Lim said hoped more local and foreigner production companies would pick Penang for filming.

“Most of the buildings here are ideal for filming. They can’t be found in other parts of Malaysia, Singapore or even Hong Kong,” he added.

Saturday March 13, 2010

The Star Online