The joke that didn't land?

It has nothing to do with mocking the duly departed. No doubt we do not poke fun at the dead. Jocelyn Chia did not ridicule the victims who perished in MH370. She sneered at the country's citizens whose image bearer in the sky went down without a trace of existence. In the same skeet, she peeled bare the impotence of the government, which had lost in the global fight to stay prominent. Whilst the rest of the world is busy improving the saleability of its country and drawing in foreign funds, besides improving human capital and intelligence, Malaysia's leaders are content in drumming the past century's tune of race and religion. The leaders make their gullible subjects feel special when they are merely donning the Emperor's new clothes.

So when Jocelyn haughtily flaunted Singapore's first-world status after being jilted from an intimate relationship, during which the Prime Minister had cried about an uncertain future, she knew her country had done well. Speaking from a standup comedy stage in New York, embraced by the biggest economy in the world, she knows she has bragging rights. After all, the caustic world of standup comedy allows her so, burns, vulgarity, warts and all.

So the high offices of her former country have apologised. Of course, they did. They need the goodwill of their neighbour to oil the nation's machinery and food supply. More than half of the country's think tanks have roots in Malaysia anyway.

If Jocelyn Chia had mocked the falling of the Twin Towers or Pearl Harbour, the US would flip. So the IGP making an Interpol report to locate her will be about to nought. The US is not bothered about hurting the sentiments of a despotic third-world nation. It has to be seen as the purveyor of what it preaches, free speech, freedom of expression and pursuit of happiness.

It is all about playing the victimhood. It has nothing to do with sneering at something of a taboo subject. The recalcitrant son who cut off his umbilical connexion had all reasons to fail and had paradoxically proved his father wrong. Instead of crawling home all scrawny and embarrassed, poor and hungry, the rebel became more prosperous. The old folks, set in their ways, only spiralled down the path of self-aggrandisement. Excited over minor achievements, they praised themselves for newer, trivial, insignificant achievements. As if rubbing salt into an open wound, the Malaysian ringgit hits an all-time low against the Singapore dollar.

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Just not in my backyard please!

Otters go sightseeing
in Singapore

You say they were here before you. Before you cleared the greens to build your homes and offices, they had theirs. That is how the world goes, is it not? One dominant species or even within species trying to dominate the other is part and parcel of life on Earth.

You sing your victory tunes when India's legal system proclaims River Yamuna as a living entity with rights. And the Native American Courts are looking at possibilities of defending rivers and lakes against errant developers who have no qualms contaminating Nature and destroying natural habitats in the name of development.

And you were happy when your backyard was featured in numeral documentaries and nature magazines for bringing back the fauna and flora that were lost in the name of wanting to catch up with the wave of industrial development. You proudly displayed greenery-filled pictures you snapped of your once backwater country on your wall.

Now it seems that Nature is back with a vengeance.

The cuddly and seemingly animals have outgrown their cuteness. Their living spaces seem insufficient, and they have ambitious plans to displace you or perhaps just build a symbiotic relationship with you. But you cannot stomach the idea of sharing your neighbourhood with them. I interpret your message as wanting them to live happily anywhere but not in your backyard. 

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Tackling the complex issue tactfully!

Fundamentally Happy (Singapore; 2015)
Director: Yuan Bin Lei & Bee Thiam Tan
Writers: Haresh Sharma &Alvin Tan

I would have not given this film a second look if not for the fact that somebody mentioned that this Singapore film got the boot from the Film Censorship Board (LPF). It was initially done as a play and was staged in Kuala Lumpur without much fanfare, but as a film, a no-no. So, when someone mentioned that it was screened on Mubi, I grabbed the chance.

The censors gave for prohibiting screening because the film contains "elements that may be sensitive to the feelings of Malaysian Malays and may be interpreted by Malaysian Malays as an attempt to reflect the community's attitude towards those who abuse the weak to fulfil their desires".

This ridiculous statement given by the powers given the cloud what the general public can be exposed is as absurd as what a retired Malaysian judge had said in a public address, that a particular Muslim cannot be charged for criminal breach of trust as by virtue of being a Muslim, he could do no wrong. As ridiculous as it sounds, he was not misquoted and had since gone into oblivion.

A single swallow does not make a whole summer. Hence, the subject matter in the film is specific to one ethnicity or culture. Paedophilia transcends all societies. It is a very sensitive subject. It negatively affects everyone. The aggressor may regret the whole thing, or he may not. He may just regret that he got but to do it on the sly. The victim may be too scarred to explore and re-open the old wounds yet again. The parties linked to the aggressor may also stand to lose by exposing all dirty linen in public. After all the investigation and public humiliation, there is no guarantee that the long arm of the law will mete out justice. The long ordeal may lead to nothing, and the victims still have to live through the trauma for the rest of their remaining lives. Anyway, how will punishing the perpetrator erase the scar that is imprinted deep in one's psyche?

This film tells about a 30-year-old young man, Eric (Singaporean actor Joshua Lim), who pays a visit to his old neighbour, Habibah (Malaysian actress Adibah Amin). After an initial cordial reminiscence of their good old times, Eric was a young boy who used to frequent Habibah's home. Slowly, the conversation turns murky, as Eric vaguely remembers Habibah's husband's awkward advances towards Eric. The home environment seems to bring those old disturbing memory to Eric. Habibah defends her husband whilst Eric accuses her of being complicit. She further accuses him of initiating and enjoying all the unholy liaisons.

In the second half of the show, the husband seems to have been interrogated by the police. Eric returns to Habibah's home and has another conversation with her. This time they bear to open their inner feelings about Ismail, Habibah's husband. They explore the complex issue of abuse with the grace of love.

Done in a theatrical performance style, it is packed with razor-sharp dialogue and a feisty display of emotions. A powerful presentation performed well by the actors. 8/10.  

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When you are down...

The Yellow Bird (Singapore, 2016)
Director: K Rajendran

How does one make a genuinely Singaporean (or Malaysian) movie? What language does he use to make it look authentic? Just look at the ground level. Stand in the marketplace in the heart of town and listen to the murmur. One hears a potpourri of languages spoken by different tongues and in different accents. It must be a treasure trove for a person like Professor Higgins (of 'My Fair Lady') to do his fieldwork. Hence, quite rightly so, the filmmakers decided to utilise a hodgepodge of common languages spoken amongst the characters in the film to make it look believable.

One can say this is a Singaporean Tamil film as the protagonist is Tamil-speaking. Still, otherwise, there are Mandarin, English, Singlish and Hokkien spoken laced with a liberal dose of profanity in keeping with the company of the crowd that the main character is associating.

When Singapore is shown in any setting, the views that often pop up are the Merlion statue with the spraying of water from its mouth or the infinity pool atop Marina Bay Sands. Here, we have the chance to see the dimly-lit back lanes, shady characters and not the usual spick and span fare of Singapore that we are accustomed to.

The extremely slow-moving story may be a turn-off to those who find the prolonged pause between dialogues irritating and a stern expressionless facies of the main character a put-off. Still, many feel that these slow drags are essential to set the tone and emphasise the helpless situations that everyone is in. 

Siva, a newly released convict for smuggling, is trying to reconnect with his estranged wife. His mother does not want to talk to him. She had rented out his room to Chinese immigrants. None of his friends wants to help him. Siva supports himself by playing the drums at a funeral band and as a helper in a coffee shop. He befriends an illegal Chinese immigrant who also works with the band. She is always short of cash as everyone seems to have cheated of her hard-earned money. So, she hires Siva as her bodyguard to venture out as a call girl. Even though not able to speak each other's language, the two build a relationship as Siva continues looking for his wife. 

It is interesting to see that when the lower one spirals down the economic ladder, the more he has to scavenge it out with the marginalised part of society. The state forgets him, or rather, is shunned as specific societal requirements are not fulfilled. Not only they have to deal with monetary issues, interpersonal frictions, substance abuses and housing facilities all piles up his list of unsolved problems. To top it off, they need to scavenge it out with those fresh off the boat. 

(P.S. Yellow Bird is a symbolism of joy and a positive outlook on life. Sadly, here, a yellow bird dies. Remember the 'Yellow Bird' song by Dicky Lee in the 70s? Now, it makes sense. It is not you think it is! It is actually an old Haitian poem written in 1893 titled 'Chouchone')

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The story of the fallen

The Forgotten Army, Azaadi Ki Liye
(For Freedom, Hindi; 2020)
Amazon Prime.

26,000 Indians had died under the banner of Indian National Army (INA) while fighting for Independence of India. Their actions triggered the Royal Indian Navy mutiny, which nailed the coffin of the British occupancy in India. The plea for Independence and the spirit of Indianness were supported by the diaspora outside India just to be sizzled out by the historical turn of events. They say that history is written by the victors. This is one clear proof of this statement. History had vilified the efforts of INA and had labelled them as traitors. Their agitations had been marked, not as nationalism but as treason.

Flag of Azad Hind

Their rebel yell, Dilli Chalo (Let's go Delhi), was not in keeping with the narrative of the day then, as dictated by the Father of India and supported by the Congress Party. These people wanted India to be a British dominion to be given crumbs by their colonial masters. As such, Gandhi et al. decreed that Indian should be fighting for the cause of the Allied Forces to stay loyal to their master's path.

Subash Chandra Bose wanted full Independence from the British, not being a protectorate of Britain. He definitely did not believe that Gandhi's non-violent path would lead to self-rule. He managed to garner support from all the enemies of the British and the Allied Forces. At a time when India, being the subject of the British, was expected to fight for against the Axis Alliance, Bose lobbied for an Army to march with the Japanese against British in their Burmese campaigns. Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) was his brainchild, armed by the Japanese Imperial Army and financed by contributions expatriate Indian civilian volunteers of Malaya and Singapore. Hence, he was labelled as a traitor and enemy of the state.

      Even though the operatives eventually turned out to be a dangerous one and had to be abandoned due to logistics as the Japanese found the whole exercise an uphill task, the INA did leave its mark. They stirred Indian nationalism. They were instrumental in initiating the Royal Indian Navy mutiny which expedited the British exit from the subcontinent. They were also the first Army (after Russia) to recruit a whole regiment comprising women -The Jhansi Regiment. For that time, the act of Indian women donning pants itself was revolutionary.

History never really gave the INA its befitting place. They were never given credence as free fighters, only tried as traitors.  The 13,000 odd INA soldiers who were apprehended were never given due recognition for their sacrifices and never remunerations reserved for freedom fighters. Their activities actually roused the nation and stirred political consciousness in British colonies. Their soldiers later initiated left-wing and union movements in Malaya, Singapore and even Indonesia. They began to think of Independence. In Malaya, after Merdeka, their members continued carrying education reforms and women empowerment movements at the local and national levels.

This 5-part miniseries brings its viewers through a nostalgic journey into the past. Using the spruced-up colonial buildings of Singapore, the rubber estates in Malaysia and the jungles of Thailand as backdrops, the director managed to narrate the genesis of INA. Starting with prisoners-of-war of Indian descent serving the British Indian Army, the Japanese riled up patriotism to recruit more volunteers to serve at the Burmese-Indian border in their encounter with the British.

Using characters with names of known figures who had participated in the mission, the storyteller managed to create a love drama of soldiers as they scaled the treacherous terrains of the Arakan and the perilous battles in Manipur. 

Janaki is the story refers to Janaki Athi Nahappan who went on to establish Malayan Indian Congress with John Thivy. She continued her social work until her demise in 2014. 

Rasammah Naomi Navarednam

Rasamma here refers to Mrs FR Bhuphalan, a Malaysian educationist and social activist, the 95-years lady of steel who appears in the media annually during the Merdeka month. The character Lakshmi denotes Dr Lakshmi Swaminathan @ Lakshmi Sahgal @ Captain Lakshmi, who gave up her medical practice in Singapore to join INA in the Azadi movement. She later became a Minister in the defunct Azad Hind Government. After the war, she settled in Kanpur, continued her medical practice, entered politics under the Communist Party banners and passed away at the ripe age of 97 in 2012.

A lovely miniseries that educates the ignoramus on the side of history as narrated by the fallen. Excellent cinematography and prudent use of computer graphic imaging (CGI) to recreate the feel of a real war and fairly credible combat scenes. We are relieved of the typical gravity-defying acrobatic battle encounters typified by Bollywood. Worth the watch.

The plaque erected by the
National Heritage Board at Esplanade Park,
marking the INA Monument site in Singapore.

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Why we take pictures?

Shirkers (2018)

Producer and Director: Sandi Tan

Imagine our life is like a giant boulder rolling down slowly the street without stopping. All along its path, it would be collecting grime and shedding filth at the same time. Some of the dirt that it picks up sticks for a good while others may leave as quickly as it is get attached. In our passage of life, every encounter is an event. Some contacts stay to build an everlasting bond and others may just be mere passing memories. Sometimes, we cling on to these flitting moments. We yearn to relive those moments as we feel we could have achieved more if we had followed a different trajectory or at least gasped to that speckle a little longer.

That must be the reason why old photographs and footages evoke the kind of emotion that questions our existence. Spiralling our memories to a specific time and space could stir the avalanche of sensation that could make us wonder if our lives would have different if we had taken a different path. 

This documentary made by a Singaporean is a trip down memory lane of sorts. Three teenage girls got together with a filmmaker teacher to make a simple movie depicting the ordinary lives of people around the streets of Singapore. In spite of the teacher’s promise to do the post-production finishing touches on it and its subsequent release, it never came to fruition. The teacher went missing.

20 years on, after sailing the rough seas of life, the brain behind the venture, Sandi, decide to delve into this missing time capsule; especially after receiving an email from the teacher’s ex-wife from another corner of the world to take reels of film that belonged to Sandi as she was about to dispose of them.

This journey into exorcising the ghost had haunted her whole life also opened the can of worms that covered her teacher’s colourful life. 

An exciting watch from our southern neighbours. It managed to snatch many international accolades. 

Point to ponder: We all agree that we capture that special moment for us to savour on in our lives. But surely, clicking at every angle and being the centre of every picture is not normal. We should appreciate the beauty of a natural landscape, not be the main subject every time while the landscape as the backdrop always. 

https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

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https://www.facebook.com/groups/riflerangeboy/

Comics: No kid stuff

The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (2015)

Author: Sonny Liew

In the 70s, when our minds were being moulded from a lump of mush into something of a semblance of intelligence, comics earned the unfortunate name of making delinquents out of youths. Anyone found in possession of even a page of a comic book would have to 'savour' the sweet-stinging taste of the headmaster's cane on his posterior. Such was a crime to hold a comic in school that it was only second to playing truant. It looked like the whole school administration was against pupil's having pleasure. I can understand comics can be fun but why being purposely absent from classes is equated to playing beguiles my simple brain. 

Fast forward to the future, now we have history books for secondary schools written in a comic form. As if to distance itself from its not-so-pleasant past and to cater for the short attention spanned younger generation, it is now labelled graphic novel, as if to give to give a unique aura to its name.

Herein lies the hidden philosophy. Drawing and appreciating art is somewhat as natural to us as ordinary as breathing. Before we started writing and reading, even before stringing proper sentences, we all had our hands at drawing. Scribbling, scratching, scrawling, whatever one calls it, on paper, walls or sofa, we had our hands in trying to mimic Picasso. Slowly with time, this innate desire was squashed to give way to reading and writing. Graphic representations were then expressed metaphorically, in words, not as it was in real life.

The Cover of a Secondary School Reading material.

Comic artists have the uncanny ability to look at people's faces and situation from an entirely different lens as compared to an average man. I suppose this is called 'creative juices' and viewing as a keen and a non-committal observer. People like stories, especially one with suspense and a happy ending. With this in mind, the comic artist plays his role as a stirrer of emotions and making a heavy and a potentially controversial subject to a rib-tickling situation. Lat and Zunar have mastered this art.

In this multiple award-winning book, the author tells the story of an under-appreciated comic artist who held steadfast in his belief that his way of telling stories was the way to go. He narrates the tale of an unknown Singaporean comic artist, Charlie Chan Hock Chye,  whose gem of unpublished work is of extremely high quality. He never really made it big by Singapore standards, but he did try his level best to continue to keep up with the world's best. Trusting in comics as the communication of the future he laboured on with his work, with an eye for details, he drew events of the history of Singapore in her trying years.

As the government ruled with a sort of iron fists, he had to be subtle in his representation. In one series, he depicted leaders as animals (in a Japanese era caricature, he portrayed locals as cats, Japanese as dogs, British as dogs etc.). In a sci-fi flick, two Captains with reference to Lim Chin Siong and Lee Kuan Yew fight the invincible alien invaders, denoting British.

When the rage of superheroes hit the market, Charlie introduced Roachman, a lowly nightsoil collector who obtained supernatural powers after being bitten by a cockroach. Roachman went on to champion for the little men.

The turbulent years after Malayan Independence and the uncertain era of integration with Malaya, separation from Malaysia, the left wing threat, English vs Chinese languages debate and the almost dictatorial rule of LKY over Singapore provided fertile grounds for Charlie's cartoon. 

All through the story, we can see the image of a rather sad and lonely Charlie Chan, the artist. An interesting read.

https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

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Animals with ambitions?

Tweet (2016)
Isa Kamari

We, human beings, like to think that we are unique; that everything that happens around us revolves for us and is about us. Maybe, just maybe, animals just like us, do indeed have a consciousness to aspire things in life. They, like us, have hierarchy and order in life. On top that that, they may want to have big dreams and long to be in an imagined place of bliss.

'Tweet' is a thin book which looks sarcastically at the goings-on at a bird park in Singapore. Concurrently, the story tells the conversation between a grandfather and grandson as well a purported communication among and between species of birds in the park.

At face value, the man-boy conversation may seem simple, it is laced with symbolism and philosophy of life. The birds too feel trapped in an environment so alien to their natural habitat. Even though the park promises to be right and fair to its inmates, the whole idea is just to create an aesthetically pleasing surrounding filling it up with pretty birds. Colourful birds are feted while man-defined 'ugly' and plain birds like the crows are shot down. Even though Nature has everything, the good, bad and ugly, people only want to see the watered-down version, minus warts and all; delightful to our visual gratification. 

It is not that Man is doing a service to our avian friends. They have to sing for their supper, do stunts and things beyond what an average bird ever need to do in its lifetime. They say birds are free to fly in the park but why the enclosure. Do birds get emotional pressures that make them think that life is not worth living? Do birds actually think of paradise and harbours hopes of their Maker extraordinaire, like Simuk, in this story? 

An enjoyable and fresh story that makes one think.

 https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

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Time to let your mind go asunder!

Kafka in Ayodhya and other stories (2015, 2018)

Author: Zafar Anjum

Perhaps not many would appreciate the significance of the illustration of the insect to the title of this book. Of course, it is related to Franz Kafka's 1915 original novella 'Metamorphosis' where the protagonist transforms into a beetle-like insect overnight. It is a strange tale with many concealed messages and has been hailed one of the most fabulous fictions of the 20th century. It questions the purpose of our existence and our relationship with the people around us.

This potpourri of short stories immerses our thoughts into the daily lives of the characters in their contemporary Asian lives. From a journalist, Herr Kafka, who turns up around the time of the court's announcement of Ayodhya's 'Ram Mandhir- Babri Masjid' legal wrangle to a name-dropping self-proclaimed broke 'writer', there many more chronicles in this book to let your mind to go wild.

Another interesting short story is the tale of a grumpy salary earner as he goes through his routine of getting ready for work. He discovers that a rat is menacing his household. Unknown to him, the rat also has other plans. One more is a sad tale about a lonely and grouchy mother who is left behind to fend for herself as her adopted-daughter and her son stays overseas. There is also a dark tale of a soon-to-be-married Hanuman devotee who suffers from erectile dysfunction. Imagine the words that you write revolt against the writer for scripting them in a bad light.
Two other narrations bring experiences outside India. A sister cannot accept the death of her brother after being gunned down by an Israeli soldier. The grand finale tells about an Indian businessman who comes to Singapore for a weekend rendezvous ends up heartbroken as his confession of love to an immigrant social escort is rejected!

An excellent and easy read. In this world where communicating with fellow human beings becomes increasingly more difficult where political correctness and care not to offend has reached absurd levels, fictions remain a safe, harmless outlet. One can create his own world where his heroes can comprise of himself and the people he likes, and the evil demons can be all the annoying species that he meets in his worldly life!

 https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Your job, your God?

I grew up in an environment where it was ingrained in us that a man can be a man only if he is productive. He has been sent to Earth on a mission and that purpose is to do his age-appropriate duties.

Amma used to remind us to keep a keen eye on the task at hand and not to be swayed by idle banter and purposeless chats. Her favourite Tamil proverb drove home her point - 'A talking dog is no use for hunting'! Appa, being the non-verbal one, asserted his teaching through his actions. In his 42 years' career, he never once called in sick, barring the times our family were stuck in floods when we were stuck in a relative's house when we visited them on a Sunday and the time he was admitted for diabetes.

So, these thoughts came to my mind as I was passing through Singapore airport. If one had been to Singapore, he would not fail to notice the high numbers of members of the geriatric population still engaged in economic activities namely the service industry. In a food court, I could not keep my eyes off a severely kyphotic uniformed lady in her late sixties, probably, with a weak left upper limb dragging herself religiously clearing up the utensils and crumbs left by the patrons. She was working with such dexterity that would put an average adult to shame. When a looked around, I saw that everybody was working individually, focused on the job at hand. Nobody had time for small talks. It was just performance and the aim to have their tasks done. They were not robotic in that sense as they were just as forthcoming with pleasantries to the customer when warranted. The Japanese work ethics that our ex-Prime Minister was coaxing our population to emulate must have spilt over to our neighbours, never actually embraced by Malaysians. The river had flown leaving the source dry.

A one-kilometre channel that separates these two countries seem to demarcate them worlds apart. A one-hour flight later at the luggage collection belt, what do I witness? Three able-bodied adults assigned to supervise the placing of luggage on the belt; one to adjust the placing, another to supervise him and yet another to supervise the other but more engaged in talking grandmother stories!

Are we any different?

Scorpion Orchid (2001)

Lloyd Fernando

Everybody has their perception of what is right and what is wrong. People feel that their point of view is correct and they cannot fathom why the other cannot appreciate what is as simple as night and day. Why are they so dumb? Why do they do what they do?

This book which is set in the 1950s Singapore in the midst of social unrest. The country, which started as a confluence of races had prospered significantly. Every race had their idea of what success is. As long as each other had the liberty to do their thing, everyone was happy. The precarious balance just needs a slight jolt for the status quo to be tilted. This tipping is what happened in this historical tale.

Four young men, Santhi, Guan Kheng, Sabran and Peter, friends from Sixth Form find themselves in the middle of a riot. There is widespread turmoil in the city-state. Singaporeans state their dissatisfactions to the colonial masters, the British, for their control of the economy. The natives were demonstrating against a colonial company. The strikes progressed into a full-fledged mob situation, and the whole city is under siege. Locals attack whites and anyone who appear Caucasian, including those of mixed parentage. Peter is of Portuguese ancestry.

In the midst of this turmoil, four friends and another common friend, Sally @ Salmah, try to understand what it means for people of different backgrounds and origins with different cultures to live together under a falsehood of nationhood. Are we just putting up a front of cooperation and mutual respect when the going is good? Can this understanding withstand the test of time or the turn of tides? Are we quick to blame the bogeyman or blame an outside element for our shortcomings just to ignore our faults?

On the other hand, are we so different from each other? When you remove the particular item that stereotypes us, it may be difficult to tell us apart, as in the case of Sally who was actually Salmah with a checkered past. It also shows us how different people deal with a threat to their motherland. Some have one foot on their new found homeland and the other on the place of origin. At the slight hint of upheaval, they are the first to scoot off. Then they are those who know no other place to call home. They would go the whole nine yards, putting their life and future on the line, for the glory of the only country they know as home. Which one are you?

All we hear is...

Singapore GaGa (2015)
Director: Tan Pin Pin


I would not have given a second look at this hour-long experimental show that was due to be screened in Kuala Lumpur as part of bilateral cultural exchange.

Unfortunately, the Malaysian censor board felt that one of the words uttered was deemed confusing. The committee decided that that part of the speech must be blanked to avert apparent confusions at the level of infantile minded audiences. The director refused, and the presentation was withdrawn.

The director had performed to sell-out crowds in Singapore and at various international film festivals just for the records.

The presentation is a collection of sounds in the daily lives of an average Singaporean as he travels the MRT, walks on the streets and his HDB flats. The familiar sounds are the basking at the stations, the loud succinct sounds of news read in local dialects and the public's murmur against their daily activities.

A senior citizen spends more of his daytime in the premises of an MRT station performing a one-man show of simultaneously blowing the harmonica with one hand, juggling two balls with the other while tap-dancing wearing a pair of clogs. He seems to have the delusion of grandiose that he is a national treasure.

Another lady who uses a wheelchair gets on by selling tissue papers for a dollar while breaking into a song quite so often. She is pretty contented that she has found Christ and has no qualms expressing her faith in public.

An interview with a 60-year-old harmonica player-teacher and another guitar player highlights the merits of learning the harmonica in school instead of recorders. A Singapore performer who performed in New York to rave newspaper reviews shows her mantel by playing a miniature piano alternating with a percussion. The percussion, a pair of bamboo canes, reminds her of the Tok-Tok Mee man of her childhood.

The 'controversial' part of the show is by a ventriloquist performing at a school function. The puppet 'Charlee' shows his language skills by translating words of his master - to the word 'kawan', he says 'binatang' (animal). I fail to see the controversy. Perhaps, I am just too thick!

Another scene that does not fit into the equation, perhaps the very reason it was included, is a sports day event at an Arabic school in Singapore. Even though their allegiance is to Singapore, singing the national anthem and patriotic songs, the lingua franca is Arabic!

What is the point of the presentation, you may ask? The way I see it, it is to showcase that even though Singapore showcases itself as a sovereign and unified state, it is divided with various identities deep inside. The old and the little people have been forgotten and lagged in the nation's race to reach first world nation status.

Once Upon a Time in Singapore

http://foreignpolicy.com/slideshow/once-upon-a-time-in-singapore-lee-kuan-yew/

LKY's Singapore: Dream materialised. Mission accomplished. Bon Voyage. Sleep tight...!