Singapore. Dreaming.

I've been asked to review the local movie Singapore Dreaming. Well, I don't wanna review it, cos I've got nothing much to say about it. If you go with the raving reviews that have been garnered for this film, then it's a must-watch movie. It's been endorsed by President S. R. Nathan and it's been given 4-5 stars and 2 thumbs up ratings by almost every reputable movie reviewer, so just go with them and you can't be wrong. Right.

Synopsis: "This is a poignant, yet darkly humorous story about a typical Singaporean family coming to grips with their aspirations. It weaves a layered and moving tale about a family dealing with loss, ambition and the search for what really matters in life."

I dun wanna review it, cos I dun love it, but I dun hate it either. It is, in fact, a rather forgettable movie for me. Maybe because it has achieved what the producers wanted it to be: a simple story about real Singaporean life, so much so... so close to reality that it... ermmm... dun register in my mind. Heh.

I just have one grouse though. Why can't productions about local life reflect Singaporean dialogue properly? They try to mix English, Mandarin, Malay, dialects, etc in their dialogues to create the Singaporean way of speaking, but they often don't do it very well ("well" meaning reflecting how it's actually done in reality). For this film, my main grouse is Irene's (Seng’s girlfriend, played by Serene Chen) lines. I thought her switching between English, Mandarin and Hokkien was too deliberately done.

Ok, that's that, I'm really not here to review the movie. What prompted me to post is this write-up in today's The Sunday Times on Alternative Singapore: The Encyclopedia. It's a tongue-in-cheek counter to the recently released Singapore: The Encyclopedia (640 pp, 280 mm x 225 mm, hardback, S$75!!).

I thought it was very well done. Finally, someone(s) tried to do a Singaporean thing and got it right with real Singaporean flavour! My favourite is this entry:

"MERLION: There is a seven-paragraph entry on Merlion (noun) in the official Singapore encyclopedia, but nothing on merlion (verb). To merlion means to vomit, a reference to the water spouting from the Singapore River statue's mouth. For example: 'I don't want to go on the roller coaster - later sure to merlion one.'"

And the dig at GEP (Gifted Education Programme):

"The jury is still out on whether this is a programme to separate the smart from the stupid and make the stupid feel worse and the smart even more arrogant and anti-social, or a genuine talent-spotting venture that has resulted in the nurturing of already brainy people to be upright contributors to society. Some say it's just a way to add more stress to the school life of children - gifted or otherwise."

We have a film trying to explore what the Singapore dream is, and we have a book trying to squeeze what Singapore to date is about into 640 pages. Hmmm.

I am still trying to find my big dream on this small island.