I choose not to choose [typical] life

I may have been talking crap just now by the sea. But the brain was revving. I am nothing short of afraid of what the future may be. 2006 has indeed been an intriguing year. And we are still 3 months short of the end. And I am not getting any younger.



I am just 54% nerdy. Don’t know if it’s good or bad. I guess it is bad because I think I am on the verge of being bimbotic.

SINGAPORE DREAMING




Dont you think the last shot is a subliminal effort to tell us what will happen to Ah Huat?


Though Shoe may be disappointed in the show, I find it achingly endearing. Firstly, the movie is not perfect (and hey, that coincides with our lives!) but perhaps, that was what Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen wanted to bring out.

I can see both the parents in the protagonist – frustrated, and yet, hopeful of a bigger life ahead. But the parents seemed to cope with being heartlanders much better than the protagonist, lah. Anyway, I can relate to the story. I can relate to the debts and trouble the parents have to go through to put me through university…a degree from a university where most haven’t heard of. By the way, don’t look down on my uni okay and don’t say that it is not recognised. Do you know that the local SPF have an affiliations with ECU? Okay fine..we are not as famous as fellow Aussie unis which have been known to have a degree system that can be bought with cash. And please, my uni is featured on Aussie $50 note okay.

Err... okay.
Fine.

Maybe it is the fact that the highlighted issues strike a chord makes the movie work for me. The movie is a success to me because it is timely and straight-to-the-point, although with a bit more exaggeration. You may say that it may not reflect well to the eyes of the farangs, but hey, them foreigners are not the target audience. Come on, when Danny Boyle made Trainspotting (my favourite, by the way), I don’t think they cared if the Asian people were going to think of the Scots as bloody junkies.



Think we are being stereotypical Asians by slamming Singapore Dreaming. Are we threatened by it? Is it us being insecure? Cant we take it with a pinch of salt? I can show this movie to the parents and I can almost hear their mocking laughter followed by rapid disgruntling noises. I think they will mock at the protagonist but deep down, they know that they are experiencing the same thing. They just don’t want to accept it and hate it when smart alecs (i.e, the directors/screenwriters) shove the sad fact in their faces.

Well it is a satire. It is supposed to work that way. It is suppose to incite emotions. Singapore Dreaming may not be as beautiful as 12 Storeys or 4:30, or as thrilling (be kind, people) as The Maid, One Leg Kicking or Home Run, or as romantically cheesy as The Teenage Textbook or Chicken Rice War or as hilarious (again, be kind) as Army Daze, Forever Fever or Money Not Enough. But I rate it to be one of the shows to be the most “real”. Hey, at least I dare say it is better than Talking Cock.

Okay I cant believe I almost write a semi-essay on Singapore Dreaming…rather that churning out the Agbar Tower article.


I cant help it.
I love talking about movies rather than writing about a building which is in Spain.

Oh well. Time to start work. Must slog for the few hundred dollars. The make-up money has to come from somewhere, right?

Choose life.
Choose a job.
Choose a starter home.
Choose dental insurance, leisure wear and matching luggage.
Choose your future.
But why would anyone want to do a thing like that? (Trainspotting, 1996)


I don’t know, man. I don’t know.

A thousand times goodnight, confused abusers and societal junkies.

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