By now, most of us would have seen "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", perhaps multiple times, and also pored over the commentaries and follow-up analyses discussing the plot, the return, appearance and departure of certain characters.

What most of you will not have realised is the fact that some 27 years ago, these same scenes played out in a Singaporean television series you may or may not be old enough to remember:

Still confused? It's called "Star Maiden" (or飞越银河, as you might otherwise know it), and it starred Chen Xiuhuan (Sherry Tan) and Edmund Chen, among others.

Chen, now 48, was one of Channel 8's biggest TV stars at the time playing a lovable alien princess — and she's making a comeback with her on-screen other half Chew Chor Meng.

BUT more importantly, the following clip shows exactly why the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (then TCS and then MediaCorp and now Mediacorp) was wayyyy ahead of its time (and also "Star Wars: The Force Awakens") in producing this sci-fi drama:

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It is Star Wars, Star Trek (note the Vulcan salute) and E.T. all rolled into one. Take that, J. J. Abrams.

Also, in case you're interested in a walk down memory lane, you can watch all the "Star Maiden" you'd like here.

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