By Catherine Manabat
One family's tragicomic tale of chasing after the status quo is shown in a uniquely Singaporean way.
Co-directed by husband-and-wife team Woo Yen Yen and Colin Goh, Singapore Dreaming has been floating high above the clouds, nabbing critical acclaim and awards as it tours festivals around the world. The film was the Official Selection at the 2006 Singapore International Film Festival and won the Montblanc New Screenwriters award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival in 2006. Now, they can add to that list the Audience Award for Narrative Feature at the 30th Asian American International Film Festival, held just last month.
According to Woo and Goh, the idea for the film was dreamt up in New York City, when both were international students at Columbia University. A "government-linked NGO" (another one of those Singaporean oddities) asked them to write about their experience abroad in relation to Singapore. The couple found writing the essays surprisingly therapeutic. All their feelings about the 5C formula of success (cash, car, condo, credit card, and country club) and powerlessness over changing this robotic, step-by-step plan to so-called happiness surfaced. After the essay was published, the two received an outpouring of mail from readers relating their own stories in great length and feeling. Five years later, they were still getting mail from people touched by the essays. Woo and Goh felt the tug to do something valuable with the confessional responses, and that's how the screenplay came about. The two stitched together these true experiences to frame a personal story on Singapore, more human than its reputation as "that country that doesn"t let you chew gum."
There's nothing extraordinary about the film in the usual sense: there are no high-flying acrobatics or innovative special effects. What makes it so "special" is that it embodies an instinct about universal issues, takes all the elements of good filmmaking, and puts it together in all the right ways.
At the core of Singapore Dreaming is the Loh family, who lead an achingly average life. Pa (Richard Low) works hard as a lawyer's clerk, ironically seizing property from credit card debtors. Ma (Alice Lim) works hard too -- she takes care of the house and makes sure that everyone drinks too much tea. Mei (Yeo Yann Yann), the eldest daughter, struggles to make money for her husband and unborn child. She desperately wants to show her parents she is successful, even though all their hopes and money are invested on the Loh's only son, Seng (Dick Su), who is finally returning from America with his expensive university degree. His fiancée, Irene (Serene Chen), is excited to start the family she has been waiting for since he left. Everyone, especially Pa, wants so badly to be middle class and have the coveted 5Cs -- the necessary signs of success in Singapore. When Pa strikes it rich winning the lottery, it looks like the family will get what they've always wanted.
The interactions between the characters are familiar, with the usual quarrels over bills and favoritism. The Lohs could be your own family; these types of love-hate relationships are very relatable. Every character has some kind of quirk or personality trait that distinguishes them from the rest of the family and also informs us about the choices they've made. Irene loves to take candid photos from her camera phone. At first, she is always snapping photos of babies, but as her image of a perfect family gradually deteriorates, she starts to snap photos of her reality. Pa cuts out newspaper ads of things he wants to buy and talks incessantly about the 5Cs, while intelligent Mei is underappreciated at home and work. Watching the family as their luck keeps turning, you can't help but wonder how your own family might react.
The cinematography is as sharp and no-nonsense as the script. Montages between scenes give vivid snapshots of everyday life in Singapore, a country known for its rules and high standard of achievement. There is a tendency for family-oriented scripts to provide saccharine messages and neat, happy endings of togetherness, but the controlled range of emotion and comic relief keep the story from drowning in drama.
The original trailer for Singapore Dreaming was actually banned to air in Singapore because officials felt there was too much use of Hokkien, the country's most widely-used Chinese dialect. For the purposes of encouraging the use of the "more standard" Mandarin and English, the government has also regulated Hokkien on television. This unfortunately resulted in diminishing certain characters' roles in the film (including the key role of Ma) simply due to lack of lines. But even despite the regulations (or perhaps because the locals are used to this type of censorship), the film has still been celebrated in its home country. Many of Singapore's internationals hail it as an accurate representation of Singapore and its peoples' sensibilities.
Complementing the colorful scenes of life, the personality of Singapore also shines in this film. Pa turns his nose up at the people who live in public housing. Ma reminds him that he lives in public housing, too. There's their obvious favoritism over the son, though it is revealed that Mei got better grades and was always more responsible. In one memorable scene, a mother scolds her son for being late to school. She laments that her son got only 95 instead of 100 and won't get into a top school. She tells him he watches too many cartoons and asks if he wants to be a road sweeper. The scene comically captures the nation's obsession with education and success—the woman is worried over a low score, even though her son is barely in first grade. It's exactly Singapore's fascination with the signs of success that inspired the movie in the first place.
By the unexpected, yet satisfying, end of Singapore Dreaming, the film has superceded any preachy lessons about materialism and family love. In the end, what drives the success of Singapore Dreaming is its refreshing blast of realism that is poignant as well as comically absurd -- as life often is.
Published: Friday, August 10, 2007
