I started blogging in February 2003 and have made it habit to blog almost everyday. This page is where I note down my thoughts, opinions and critique of almost everything. Please note that this is an adult blog and would require the reader to be thick-skinned. Oh, and some of the stuff here may be gay related so proceed at your own risk. No refund given for offence taken.
...thrills, spills & flatliners
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WEBLOGS I READ
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With all due respect to MJ and his family and friends, Yasmin Ahmad's passing affected me way much more than his. But why should it be so? She is not a famous pop star, I didn't know her personally. And admittedly, I haven't watched any of her movies yet.
But thanks to the invention called Youtube, I got to know her advertisements she did as a creative director for Leo Burnett. And through her blog, I got a slight glimpse of what makes her tick and drives her.
I can say for certain that what drew me to her are her commercials that are both moving and funny. The common thread that runs through them is love, family, kinship and friendship that runs across racial boundaries.
The most famous one in Singapore is the one she did called "Funeral" for our Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports where we see an Indian woman in a sari eulogising her recently departed husband who is Chinese. Apart from the skin colour and choice of apparels, she mourns his passing as any loving wife would. Yasmin has this knack of throwing characters of different races together in a family or a group of friends that made it seem so natural.
For the ones she did in Malaysia, the same evocative theme crops up again and again, like the Chinese boy and his Indian caregiver in last year's Chinese New Year ad or the cute one where a young Tan Hong Ming professes his puppy love for his school mate Umi Qazrina. Some were controversial like the one she did called "Kongsi Raya" in 1997 when Chinese New Year and Hari Raya occurred around the same time. Perhaps it was controversial because it offended certain people's idea of racial purity and segregation.
Some might accuse her of being emotionally manipulative. But it seems to me that the only way her commercials "manipulate" was that they appealed to the goodness and humanity in each of us.
Personally, what appealed to me most about her work is her belief in a Malaysian Malaysia where race ("Race? That means race car ah?") and religion is insignificant. In a country where politics and patronage is based on ethnicity and faith, she dared to go against the grain. And looking at some comments on the internet, she did ruffle a lot of feathers.
I am convinced her appeal in Singapore is also for that very same reason. Where races still tend to congregate and interact with their own kind, she showed a different vision (some say an "idealised" past) of what it means to be one nation regardless of race, language or religion. Something I hold as dearly as her.
When news broke about her stroke on Thursday, a lot of people were naturally worried but expected her to recover. After all, she has so much more up her sleeves. She can't just leave like that. There were still people she was supposed to meet, like-minded friends to work with. So when the initial news of her death spread on Saturday, many refused to believe it, thinking it was just some unfounded internet rumour. When it was finally confirmed, the tons of facebook postings and tweets showed that many in Singapore from different walks of life were as grieved as Malaysians. I think it's to her credit that never in my recent memory has a death of either a Singaporean or Malaysian shocked and saddened so many people of different races in both countries.
This lady had so many more stories to tell, so many more commercials to make, and so many more racial barriers to demolish. As a matter of fact, she was in pre-production for one feature film in Singapore and was scheduled to do another one at the end of the year. Her passing is really too swift and sudden.
But you know what? I believe all of us can be thankful for all that she has done while still alive. Her absence will be keenly felt in Malaysia each year during festive seasons when people realise that the TV commercials for Petronas is not done by Yasmin.
I can only hope that other artists, directors, playwrights, creative directors, etc in both countries will be inspired by her and her work to explore and celebrate the commonality that binds us all like a blood red thread regardless of our differences.
Yasmin Ahmad (July 1, 1958 - July 25, 2009)
(Note: Links in the post above except for the first three lead to her commercials. Go watch them all.)
It's been rather amazing reading the raving online response to the new 881 movie by Royston Tan and its accompanying original soundtrack (OST) which sold out in a blink of an eye. And based on what I've read so far, the OST has reached the top position in HMV Asian sales chart and has earned a gold record. Now that's impressive.
I wasn't expecting anything much when I went to watch it last week. After all, I am your typical ang mo pai sort of guy whose Mandarin is atrocious and whose Hokkien... Let's just say that I can only swear in that dialect. And because I had to rely on subtitles most of the time, my head was practically turning left and right the whole time through. Yes, I was seated only a few rows from the screen and hence, have more real estate to cover (neck pain!!).
But while the story was simple, the mood and the music were infectious. Covering the life of two singers who perform in the cultural underworld of the seventh month Hungry Ghost festival's getai (歌台 - song stage), it is one of the rare occasions when Singaporeans can get to hear Hokkien dialogue and music on screen of a mainstream (and not art house) cinema.
Somehow, I think it appeals to the inner rebel of a majority of Chinese Singaporeans who have been forcibly press by the government into the Mandarin-only mould since primary one. Our dialects have practically been made illegal. And the only time we can indulge in it is either with our parents or grandparents who were too old to be coerced, in the karaoke or once a year during the getai performances of the seventh month.
And now with 881, Hokkien is somehow becoming cool again and the cringe-inducing (for me that is) Hokkien songs sung by the bengs and lians in karaoke has taken on a new life that I was never aware of.
As the movie played itself out, I found myself listening to these songs free of any preconception or judgement. And what struck me was the palpable emotions underlying the singing of these often moving songs that focussed on the often difficult lives led by ordinary people, usually poor or underprivileged (read: cham). And for this, I guess we can give credit to Mingzhu Jiemei (明珠姐妹) who provided the singing for the two lead characters that formed The Papaya Sisters. Of course, there were others who contributed to the excellent music as well.
I know some may argue that the music is a bit too modern and the costumes a bit too campy, but I think we can indulge Royston his artistic license to glam it up for the silver screen.
And you know what would be even better? That after this movie, the kitschy getai and its music would somehow become cool again with the general Chinese population. Maybe it can even become an industry in its own right. And every seventh month, people will check online for the listing of their favourite acts and rush all over Singapore just to catch them live.
Now that would probably give seizures to the guys managing the yearly "Speak Mandarin" campaign.
Sans the online checking, I guess this is what our parents and grandparents had to contend with for entertainment when television wasn't that affordable, movies were a rare treat and VCR, DVD, internet, computer games and gaming consoles were not even in existence.
So if you're in Singapore, go and watch it. If you're not in Singapore... well, I guess you'll just have to wait for it to be released commercially in your country. Otherwise your best hope is for it to make an appearance in some film festival in a city near you.
This movie is as Singapore (in a non-government sanctified non-Singapore-Tourism-Board glorified way) as it can get.
Oh, and I just have to mention this. There are three be-gowned drags that play background roles in a few scenes. And their name? HIV, Holy Innocent Virgins. BWAH!!! HA! HA! HA! HA!
To give you a sampling of the music, here are the videos of two of my favourite songs from the movie: 一人一半 and 代替.
Watching the second video and listening to the song made me teared a bit, just like the last scene in the movie before the end credits rolled.
And to get a feel of the movie, here are The Papaya Sisters singing (actually Mingzhu Jiemei singing lah) 野花唔通找. The video of the original singers performing the same version of the song for KTV is available on this YouTube posting.
This is very interesting. According to what I studied in school, history in Malaya began when Parameswara established Malacca in the 1400s. What I did not know was that there were other political entities prior to that time. For example: the Kedah Sultanate (which is still extant), Srivijaya (which I did study in school but thought to have only existed in Sumatra), Pan Pan, Langkasuka, Gangga Negara, etc.
And now, a Thai filmmaker by the name of Nonzee Nimibutr ("Nang Nak" and "Jan Dara") is making a film entitled "The Queen of Langkasuka". The story is supposedly about three sister queens of Pattani and their efforts to acquire a powerful cannon to protect their kingdom from a rogue prince and his pirate allies. "The Queen of Pattani" was the proposed original title, but was dropped because of the sensitivity of it in relation to the present separatist movement in southern Thailand.
It's kind of strange to see characters dressed up in old-style Malay clothes speaking Thai, but I dare say this movie might prove to be quite a hit. And it's also nice to see an Asian filmmaker making a movie about a culture and history that is not his. Then again, knowing how intertwined the ancient history of Thailand and the Malay peninsula is, it might be presumptuous of me to assume that the history and culture of Langkasuka is foreign to him. After all, the northern part of this ancient kingdom stretched all the way into the south of modern day Thailand.
"The idea came when I was researching my last film, Okay Baytong, which took me around the southern provinces. I became aware that we knew so little about the place, the people and the history of the region. There are so many stories worth telling." - Nonzee Nimibutr
And what is "OK Baytong"? It's his 2003 movie that tells the story of a Thai monk going south to settle his late sister's affairs after she was killed in a train attack by separatist insurgents. There, he learns that his sister had married a Muslim man who lived across the border in Malaysia and had a daughter by him.
Looking at the present situation in Southern Thailand, I think this might be a touching and moving story.
PS: An interesting fact that cropped up during my search on "Langkasuka" was that it was one of the names being considered for the new political entity that would emerge after UK granted independence to what we now know as the Federation of Malaysia.
*** Added on 3 Aug 2007: Here's more about the queens of Pattani (Langkasuka). There were four queens regnant (queens who rule in their own right) whose reigns saw great prosperity for their kingdom. They were the Rajas (or should it be Ratu?) Hijau (Green) who ruled for 31 years, Biru (Blue) who ruled for 7 and Ungu (Purple) who ruled for 12. All of them were sisters and succeeded each other after the older one died. When Ungu passed away, she was succeeded by her daughter, Kuning (Yellow) who ruled the longest, about 50 years in total.
About four days ago, the UK along with its political establishment began activities commemorating the end of the slave trade on 25 March 1807 when the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was passed in parliament. This act finally led to the 1833 emancipation of African slaves that were formerly traded in the UK for forced labour in many of its colonies.
It's been 200 years since then, and commemoration activities of this bicentenary were held in the UK and other countries connected to the trade to mark this day - such as a walk led by the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr Rowan Williams) and the Archbishop of York (Dr John Sentamu) where some 250 walked in chains, a modern version of those that held the African slaves back then.
However, controversy has dogged this day. For example, Prime Minister Tony Blair was blasted for not formally apologising for the UK's leading and principal role in the slave trade even though he did express deep sorrow and regret. And a protestor by the name of Toyin Agbetu interrupted a commemorative service at Westminster Abbey by shouting demands for an apology at the Queen and Tony Blair and condemned African Christians for taking part. It is interesting to note that his feeling was shared by quite a number of Africans who were attending the service.
It is hard to gauge the lasting effect of slavery on the descendents of the slaves living in the UK and other parts of the world. And I can't even begin to imagine how this burden of history and oppression has affected them. But it is undeniable that a lot of the riches and splendid buildings and manors in the UK exist as a result of the slave trade.
Anyway, while I was surfing Apple's Quicktime trailer site just now, I came across this interesting movie starring Ioan Gruffudd. Entitled "Amazing Grace", it's about William Wilberforce (1759 - 1833), an MP in the British parliament who became the spokesperson and prime mover of the act that finally ended the slave trade.
The title of the movie is taken from the hymn of the same name written by John Newton (1725 - 1807), a former captain of a slave ship who later became an Anglican pastor and mentor to William.
Despite its heavy religious and church-y feel, which I am sure will be milked for all its worth by the more... how should I put... independent and neo-con evangelical churches with political aspirations, the trailer makes it seem very powerful and moving. But leaving religion aside, I think it's a good attempt at dramatising the person who practically changed history with his relentless effort for 30 years in parliament. I guess it would have taken a shorter time if he wasn't such a clumsy political strategist.
Of course it's easy to make William the hero of the abolition movement, but it is an undeniable fact that a lot of other people (known or unknown) contributed to the eventual end of slavery. And as a matter of fact, it was a combination of factors within and without Westminster and the UK that finally made the passage of the act possible.
And before we make William out to be some infallible hero, we need to remember that he is human with his own foibles too; such as his religious conservatism, which ironically led him to his work in trying to end slavery.
200 years later, his work and the work of his contemporaries are still not complete.
More news at Wikipedia's Star Trek entry. Apparently, this effort by J. J. Abrams is going to be sort of like a prequel (between "Enterprise" and the original series) where Kirk and Spock are young and idealistic Starfleet Academy cadets. I wonder how true this is. Then again, nothing is concrete yet. But regardless of all that, the promotion poster above is going on to my desktop. Gosh... I am so starved of all things Trek.
FYI: The insignia above is the original fabric one found on the uniforms of the crew on the original NCC-1701 of Kirk and company. That was before a modified version was adopted for the entire fleet.
This post is actually one week late. I had meant to write it last week, but I guess I was just too laggy to get about it.
Anyway, I went to the new Cathay Cineplex to watch "Little Miss Sunshine" with a few friends on Sunday. The movie was so-so. I kind of enjoyed it but I wouldn't say I like it that much. Yes, there were moments when I laughed out loud but the movie didn't appeal to me as much as it did for my friends.
Tyle had said that if I like "Garden State" (which I do immensely), I would like this movie. But for some strange reason, I don't. Maybe because it's a family comi-drama and I am so not a fan of family dramas, especially dysfunctional ones.
But this post is not so much about that, it's about the last part of the movie: the beauty pageant for pre-pubescent girls that Olive was so enthusiastic about. And no, it's not about Olive's routine for the talent section. It was the other contestants. They bothered the hell out of me. And I believe I am not the only one.
The directors were smart enough to build it up slowly. First they showed them getting dolled up backstage with one getting her tan sprayed on, then they showed them in their gowns with heavily made up face and hairdo that seemed too big for their head before letting them appear in their swim suits - your typical beauty pageant routine.
But what really freaked the hell out of me and my friends was when they appeared in their swimsuits that leave little to the imagination. These were just mere girls who were not even in their teens and yet they were dressed like child-whores with their ridiculously adult over-the-top hairdo, makeup and skanky swim suits. Echoes of JonBenét Ramsey? You tell me.
My friends and I were practically shouting "Oh my god! That's sick! Sick! Sick!" That's how bothered we were. I normally don't say much during a movie, but my reaction this time was instantaneous.
And you know what's even more shocking? All the girls in the pageant (except for Abigail Breslin who was acting as Olive) were real-life former contestants of other beauty pageants. All of them looked the same and performed the very same acts as they did in their real-life pageants.
Are these little girls at fault? No, it's the parents as well as the organisers themselves who are all complicit in this awful charade. And I am not just referring to those in the movie but to all the other real-life pageants out there as well.
For crying out loud, they are just little girls. Let them be little girls and not make them out to be something they are not.
Maybe their parents are trying to live their dreams through their daughters, I don't know. But why can't they at least wait till they are much older? Or better yet, let them live their own lives.
You may say that I am a provincial country bumpkin who doesn't know much about the world and should just accept it. But the whole thing just seems so wrong to me. Or am I wrong?
And you know what the best irony in that movie was? That's when the plain slightly out of shape Olive did her striptease number to "Superfreak" and shocked the hell out of the organising judge and the other parents watching the pageant. These are the very same people who encourage and dress the contestants up as child-whores.
Maybe it's just me. Maybe the rest of the world sees the whole thing as something very cute and adorable.
I had read this from an old Djimon Hounsou interview (February 26 1998) about his role in Amistad some years back that was quite disturbing. But unfortunately, I didn't bookmark it and promptly lost it. Luckily for me, I just found it again. It talks about the present migration patterns of sharks in the Atlantic was altered because of these slaver ships in the 1800s.
...There are things that I learned in shooting this film that we didn't tell, like how the migration patterns of sharks in that part of the Atlantic, the ones that still exist today, began as a result of slavers throwing slaves overboard because they'd run out of food or were being chased. We didn't show this because we didn't think people would believe it... - Djimon Hounsou
When "Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage" (Sophie Scholl - The Final Days) was released on the big screen, I knew I had to watch it. Yet, I couldn't bring myself to do so.
Why? Because I know the story and I know how it would end. And furthermore, I have a phobia of watching movies dramatising true stories of courage from the European conflict during WWII. You and I know what usually happens in such stories: unimaginable hate and cruelty, death, fear, etc. This phobia is something I developed as child when I watched a movie about a family of Dutch Jews who had to hide from the Nazis.
So on Tuesday, I bit my tongue and said "yes" to a friend who suggested watching it. And I don't regret it.
For those not in the know, Sophie Scholl is a young German female undergrad who with her brother and a few friends was members of "The White Rose" (die Weiße Rose), an underground group which carried out non-violent resistant activities against Hitler and the Nazis. Their activities were restricted to writing and distributing leaflets critical of the Nazis as well as putting up anti-Nazi graffiti. She and her brother were caught while distributing them at their university and were subsequently interrogated, tried and executed. They were the rare few Germans who actually acted on their conscience and said "No". Now, there are streets, squares and schools named after Sophie, her brother Hans and other members of the group. Of course, this is not to say that there weren't other Germans who tried to stand up against Hitler and failed - there were many in fact. But I guess not that much in relation to the entire population.
There were two other movies made about the group and her, but what made this different is the wealth of material available after the fall of the Berlin Wall; such as Gestapo transcripts of the interrogation and the trial that was kept in the former East Germany. And on top of that, they also managed to interview people related to some of the people who had met her during her last few days including the son of her interrogator Robert Mohr, Sophie's sister Elisabeth, the nephew of Sophie's cellmate Else Gebel and the sister of another resistant member Willi Graf. Of course with the availability of the transcripts, part of the work of the scriptwriters was already done.
All this made a very gripping and intense movie that kept me riveted to my seat for about two hours.
What made it even better is that the directors didn't use a lot of music or tried to over-dramatise it. The end result is like a police-courtroom drama that made the story real to me. And the worst part about knowing the story is that you know what is going to happen and yet at the back of your head, you are either dreading it or willing that some deus ex machina will intervene and make everything right again. Unfortunately, this did not happen in this real life story.
But you know, the calmness and conviction of Sophie was a really powerful statement about moral courage in the face of death - the courage to stand up and say "this is wrong" even though the rest of the country kept silent.
At the end of the show, I wondered how I will respond when I am faced with the litmus test. Will I be like her or will I try to keep my head. In the coolness of my room, of course I can say that I will stand on my principle at the risk of forfeiting my life. But when I am faced with the crunch, will I be able to say that? That's a tough one to answer.
You know, a lot of us will probably praise people who have the moral courage and conviction to do as she did, but what about those who were caught and tried to wiggle their way out of it?
It's of course easy to call them cowards, but is it fair? Though we would like our heroes to die for their beliefs/causes, it is not fair to expect everyone who holds the same belief to do so.
Christoph Probst, her friend who was tried and executed with her, tried to deny (done with her and Han's approval) his role in their activities because of his three young children and bed-ridden wife. But was he a coward? Not in my books. After all, he was an active participant in their activities even though he may not have willingly wanted to part with his head for his own very good reasons.
Interestingly, this reminded me of a statement made by MM Lee last year about how when the young idealists grows up, start working, get married and have kids, they will be co-opted into the system and learn to "know better". Scary. Must we really be co-opted into the system and learn to know "better" before we can really contribute to making this country even better? But I digress.
Towards the end, I cried when her parents gave her the affirmation minutes before her execution. "You did the right thing," her father told her, "I'm proud of you both." That to me was a very powerful scene which released the pent up tension that has been building in me as the movie progressed and broke the dam that held back my tears.
Calmly, they shared their last cigarette given by a kind female guard and hugged each other. Calmly she walked through the courtyard where she said her last words: "Die Sonne scheint noch." (The Sun still shines). In the execution chamber, they lowered her to the guillotine and had her head secured. We see her face one last time as she looks down at the container that will hold her lifeless head later. We see and hear the blade as it rushes down. The screen goes black and I flinched.
"Es lebe die Freiheit!" (Long live freedom!) shouted Hans before the terrifying sound played out again.
And then finally, one last time for Christoph.
Did the White Rose managed to make much of a difference? Unfortunately, no. The students of Munich University did not rise up against Hitler as hoped. Were their actions then for naught? That's hard to say. At the very least, it did inform their fellow undergrads that something was amiss. And in any case, the text of the sixth White Rose leaflet were later smuggled out of Germany to England via Scandinavia and used by the allies who airdropped it over Germany in 1943. It was renamed "The Manifesto of the Students of Munich."
Nothing is so unworthy of a civilized nation as allowing itself to be governed without opposition by an irresponsible clique that has yielded to base instinct — Do not forget that every people deserve the regime it is willing to endure! - White Rose, leaflet 1
Every individual human being has a claim to a useful and just state, a state which secures the freedom of the individual as well as the good of the whole. - White Rose, leaflet 3
How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go. But what does my death matter, if through us thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action? - Sophie Scholl
Perhaps genuine heroism lies in deciding to stubbornly defend the everyday things, the mundane and the immediate. - Inge Aicher-Scholl, sister of Sophie and Hans
The police and the court are shown to follow the law, and in the law resides either good or evil, depending on what the law says and how it is enforced. That is why it is crucial that a constitution guarantee rights and freedoms, and why it is dangerous for any government to ignore it. There should be no higher priority. - Roger Ebert, film reviewer
PS: GO WATCH IT!! PPS: Julia Jentsch who played Sophie was excellent. Her subtle and understated portrayal was perfect for the role.
I just saw the trailer for "Singapore Dreaming" and I must say that the movie does look quite interesting. I think it should appeal to most (if not all) Singaporeans as it addresses some of our issues and our materialistic desires in an ever-changing country and world.
The last part of the trailer really hit home. It shows a young lady from China telling one of the characters C.K. (Lim Yu-Beng), "You Singaporeans are all the same, always complaining. You think your life is tough?"
Check it out. I think this movie is a quite good complement to Alfian Sa'at's "Homesick".
The only issue is that most of the dialogue is in Hokkien. But not too worry, it has subtitles.
An excerpt of the interview with writer, director, editor, co-producer and main actor, Justin Lo (Half Chinese, Half Jewish-Caucasian):
Could you speak a bit about the sexuality of the characters in the movie and how you decided to make Charlie a gay character?
The thing is, while I was writing the script, I felt there were so few films being made with a gay main character, especially intelligent dramas like the ones I was just talking about. So I decided that's what I wanted to make: a serious-minded drama with at least one main gay character.
I also wanted to make a movie where the main character happened to be gay and it's not made into a big deal. If we had made the central romantic relationship of the movie straight rather than gay, very little of the story would have changed, which is exactly what I wanted.
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