Emerald Hill - The Little Nyonya Story () is a 2025 Singaporean drama serial on Mediacorp's Channel 8. It stars Tasha Low, Chantalle Ng, Ferlyn Wong, Zhang Zetong, Tyler Ten, Jesseca Liu, , Romeo Tan, Dawn Yeoh, Shaun Chen, and Zoe Tay as the main cast. This series serves as a standalone sequel to Channel 8's 2008 series, The Little Nyonya, with Jeanette Aw reprising her role as Yamamoto Yueniang. It is set in the 1950s to 1970s and centres around an extended Peranakan Chinese family in Emerald Hill, Singapore.
The series first aired on Netflix and mewatch Prime on 10 March 2025, and every weekday on Channel 8 from 19 March 2025, at 21:00 (SGT). The drama became the first Channel 8 series to top Netflix Singapore's most-watched list after its streaming debut on 10 March 2025. The season finale was broadcast on 21 April 2025 for Netflix and meWatch Prime, and 30 April 2025 for Channel 8.
The series follows the lives of three Nyonyas from the Zhang family, a Baba Nyonya household in Emerald Hill, Singapore. The story follows Zhang Xinniang, Zhang Anna, and Zhang Anya.
Anya, born into a wealthy family, is abducted at a young age and forced into a brothel, facing a turbulent life. Xinniang, once a street beggar, is adopted by a wealthy family and grows into a striking and accomplished young woman. Anna, regarded as a bringer of misfortune by her birth family, is raised away from home, only to return with a changed temperament that unsettles her household.
As their destinies become intertwined, the three women navigate the complexities of family ties and love. Their journey explores themes of resilience and self-determination as they strive to overcome adversity and reshape their futures.
Mediacorp first announced the development of the series in October 2023 as a sequel to The Little Nyonya. Production officially began on 30 January 2024, with a main cast that includes Tasha Low, Chen Liping, Jesseca Liu, Chantalle Ng, Ferlyn Wong, Kiki Lim, Sheila Sim, Elvin Ng, Zoe Tay, Shaun Chen, Romeo Tan, Tyler Ten, Zhang Zetong, Dawn Yeoh, Desmond Ng, Herman Keh, Zhai Siming and Zhu Zeliang. Zhang Zetong took over the role of middle-aged Zhang Zuye originally portrayed by Edsel Lim and Zen Chong.
Filming for the series took place primarily in Singapore, with select outdoor scenes shot in Malacca and Johor, Malaysia. Mediacorp leased a two-storey conserved bungalow known as the Keppel House located in Mount Faber that is managed by the Singapore Land Authority to serve as the Zhang family's residence. Built in 1899, the property underwent a S$1 million refurbishment for the production. The set included a specially constructed outdoor kitchen, along with the acquisition and rental of various Peranakan furniture pieces, including a round wooden table valued at S$50,000.
The series showcases traditional Peranakan attire, primarily the sarong kebaya, along with traditional beaded shoes. Designed by Raymond Wong and Tee Yu Yan, the outfits feature intricate motifs embellishing each kebaya. After filming concluded, the costumes and accessories were donated to the Peranakan Museum, where they are now exhibited in a section highlighting the significance of costume in Peranakan theatre and television.
On 2 December 2024, Mediacorp released the music video for the opening theme song, "è½è±å¦Âé¨", which was sung by Kit Chan on YouTube.
Mediacorp secured its first pre-sale distribution agreement with Netflix for Emerald Hill â The Little Nyonya Story in Southeast Asia. This milestone marks the first time a Mediacorp Chinese drama has been acquired through a pre-sale deal and premiered simultaneously on both Netflix and mewatch Prime on 10 March 2025. The series also debuted on 19 March 2025, on Channel 8 at 21:00 (SGT) in Singapore and on Astro AEC at 20:30 (MST) in Malaysia. It would be also debuted on sometime in 2026, on TV5 in the Philippines, where it would be taking over the timeslot formerly occupied by a simulcast of ABS-CBN Studios acquired foreign drama series after it was moved to All TV, following the termination of content partnership agreement between TV5 and ABS-CBN in December 2025.
The final episode for the series was released on 21 April, and 30 April for Channel 8; it was originally scheduled for 29 April, but was pre-empted due to the coverage for the Chinese Roundtable Forums for the 2025 Singaporean general election.
An article published by The Straits Times in July 2024 revealed the redecoration works done at the bungalow which served as the Zhang family residence in the series were done without first getting the necessary permissions from government authorities.
The changes made to the bungalow were revealed during a media tour in June 2024, and officials with the Urban Redevelopment Authority inspected the site days later, amid feedback from an unidentified member of the heritage conservation community.
The URA later allowed the changes on the basis of them being "superficial in nature.â Mediacorp was not penalised, but was reminded that such works require permission.
On May 8, 2025, Dr. Charmaine Tang, a psychiatrist from SingaporeâÂÂs Institute of Mental Health, wrote in her column for Lianhe Zaobao that the final episode of the drama portrayed schizophrenia inaccurately and in a stigmatizing way.
In the drama, the character Zhang An Na is depicted from start to end as a cunning and manipulative villain. Yet in the final episode, she is suddenly diagnosed with schizophrenia, despite never exhibiting any symptoms consistent with the condition.
Dr. Tang emphasized that schizophrenia is a complex and serious mental disorder. Its symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, social withdrawal, and cognitive difficultiesâÂÂnone of which are reflected in Zhang An NaâÂÂs scheming and calculating behavior.
She argued that using schizophrenia to explain moral failings or harmful actions conflates a severe medical condition with personality issues. The drama also wrongly portrays individuals with schizophrenia as dangerous, which may discourage them from seeking help and further isolate them socially, making recovery more difficult. She urged content creators to consult mental health professionals when depicting mental illness, and to portray individuals with such conditions seriously and realistically.
Executive producer Loh Woon Woon apologized for unintentionally reinforcing negative stereotypes about schizophrenia in the drama and stated that there was no intention to equate mental illness with moral deficiency.
The sarong kebayas worn by Jeanette Aw, Tasha Low, Chantalle Ng, and Ferlyn Wong in the series, as well as the beaded shoes and other items, were donated by Mediacorp to the Peranakan Museum in Singapore, and subsequently placed on display.