Singapore’s culture is in a constant state of flux, influencing and being influenced by other cultures. Its culture therefore reflects its history, attitudes, social movements and the configurations of political power. It is dynamic and continually evolving (Yu, 2008). Being a multiethnic country, the government is vigilant on the risks of cultural conflicts.
Singaporeans adapt well to changes, live in harmony and respects each other’s culture. However, it is often criticized as it lacks real creativity due to the dominance of the government in shaping the arts scene in Singapore. As Yu (2008) puts it, perhaps it would be a good idea for the government to take a less active role in determining what art forms should evolve in Singapore, and let the market forces shape the creative landscape in the country.
Keeping that in mind, Singapore’s Producers and Current Trends will discuss a case study between two of Singapore’s most well known directors and how both directors, albeit taken vastly different paths, define Singapore’s identity through their films. Also, we will look into the near future and gain insight to Singapore’s plans for the future of local cinema. Finally, this portion of this report will give biographical insight to other well known local directors who have also paved the path to creating Singapore’s national identity.
Case Study: Eric Khoo versus Jack Neo
Eric Khoo and Jack Neo are two directors that are widely known locally and internationally for their different approaches towards filmmaking. The works of Eric Khoo such as Mee Pok Man (1995), 12 Storeys (1997), Be With Me (2005), and My Magic (2008) are internationally critically acclaimed art films of Khoo that have been screened at film festivals all over the world; Cannes Film Festival would be considered as the most recognised. While on the other hand, Jack Neo is known for his commercial success locally and in mainly the Southeast Asian region for his heartland productions such as Money No Enough (1998), I Not Stupid (2002), I Not Stupid Too (2006), Just Follow Law (2007).
According to Eric Khoo, by Chua & Yeo (2010), he reveals that ever since the beginning of his career in filmmaking, he was very “self-conscious about where his art should be placed, or rather, of its displacement in the Singaporean Mainstream” (p117). His films present a sense of the kind of director Khoo sets out to be, which is not mainstream, highly unconventional, and un-commercialised (Chua & Yeo, 2010, p117). Khoo’s filmic styles provide a more ‘nitty-gritty’ feel with its overly or under saturated colours, long takes, lack of dialogue, choice of music, etc. His art films dice into the deeper issues and stories of Singapore but often always seen from the outside. Chua & Yeo (2010) describe “the subjects in his films share the predicament of marginality with their director. That is even when their experiences seem extraordinary, the films in which these are represented leave the audience in no doubt that the characters and their lives belong to the fringe of society’s concerns” (p117-8). His main characters are predominantly socially misunderstood or rejected (Chua & Yeo, 2010, p118).
While Medium Rare (1991) was considerably a flop, the seeds planted for the future of Singapore films were not in vain. Mee Pok Man (1995), Eric Khoo’s first breakthrough feature film, set Singapore’s film industry on the world map when it gained critical acclaim through film festival screenings. This film also paved the way for future independent filmmakers. In Mee Pok Man, its main protagonist, is a “slow-witted man who sells noodle-soup at a coffee shop frequented in the late hours of the night by prostitutes, their pimps, and the thugs who work for the pimps” (Tan, 2008, p194) This film was largely set in Geylang, a red light district neighbourhood, located east of Singapore’s Central Business District (CBD). Bunny, the prostitute in Khoo’s film, gets hit by a car, eventually rescued by the Mee Pok Man, who nurses her back to health in his home. “He treats her as if she were his wide, even after she dies and her body decays” (Tan, 2008, p194)
The world portrayed through the protagonist’s eyes largely contrasts to how the rest of the world perceives Singapore as; a first world cosmopolitan vibrant nation. The Mee Pok Man’s world presents a totally different perspective to the impression, which is “rundown, its nightlife defined by old coffee shops, prostitution, dugs, gambling, karaoke lounges, and taxi-drivers who insist on taking couples to sleazy hotels” (Tan, 2008, p195). Khoo’s films draw rational uneasy representations of common Singaporean situations that for Singaporeans, it is often unpleasant to watch (Chua & Yeo, 2010, p120). To quote Chua & Yeo (2010), “This director’s treatment of his subject seems more voyeuristic than sympathetic…frame after frame, it delivers surface upon surface of impressions, showing nothing beyond the characters’ manifest behaviours. Their stories are not told from the inside but represented in the most superficial ethnography” (p119) Eric Khoo’s harrowing depictions of the working class differs immensely in comparison towards Jack Neo’s “comically anarchic and seriously didactic portrayals of the heartlands” (Tan, 2008, p186).
In vast contrast, Jack Neo films focused his attention to the quintessential Singaporean Dream, which is to “make it into the world of wealth and status that is the nation’s economic success” (Chua & Yeo, 2010, p120) His films, unlike Eric Khoo’s independent films, took the path to becoming part of Singapore’s commercialised culture. Jack Neo started out as a comedy actor back in the 1980s. He gained his popularity through his humorous roles as ‘Liang-Po-Po (Granny Liang). His filmic career sprouted with his debut feature film That One No Enough (1999), gaining much laughter as he always did. Straits Times film correspondent Ong Sor Fern mentions that “while he is a competent filmmaker and has proven himself commercially, there is still much room for improvement where technical and aesthetic abilities are concerned, and his films have not had enough time to prove themselves as works of art (Ong, 2005, p5). This is in relation to his great experiences in televised skits of humour and immense melodrama. Ong further elaborates that his films are predictable, with an often-abrupt impractical happy ending (Ong, 2006, p.L8).
More often than not, you tend to hear ‘Singlish’ [a vernacular form of ungrammatical English mixed with Malay and Chinese Dialect (Chua & Yeo, 2010, p120)] in most Jack Neo films, along with such “ribald and irreverent humour peppered with puns” appeals greatly to the Chinese-speaking audience (Tan, 2008, p146). In his films, his characters strive to be part of the Singapore dream. Much rather that going through the motions of, the depicted, ‘failed lives, his audience are immersed into not only the “life-as-lived experiences of the marginalized in Singapore, but also the obstacles that are in their way as a result of explicit government policies” (Chua & Yeo, 2010, p120).
I Not Stupid (2002), a highly commercialised film with all traits of Jack Neo’s film styles, was very well received in the local circuit. I Not Stupid tells a story about three Chinese (speaking) schoolboys who have been streamed into EM3 in primary school, considered as the lowest tier in Singapore’s highly competitive education system. “These three boys struggle with schoolwork and suffer the stigma of being in a class for the less academically able; their parents find themselves worried about not only their children’s school grades, but also their own livelihoods in a period of economic uncertainty” (Uhde & Uhde, 2010, p109). Using “humour with a social conscience” as the key ingredient in Jack Neo films, Neo hopes to personify social issues of the Singaporean everyday life (Chua & Yeo, 2010, p120-1). Neo’s form of comedy strikes hard with many locals as highly relatable content coveted with raw slapstick. Based on Uhde & Uhde (2010), “after playing about four-months on some thirty screens, the movie took in $3.8 million at the box office,” moreover, “a virtually unanimous critical success”(p109).
Jack Neo and Eric Khoo are two of Singapore’s powerhouse directors, both stylistically different, yet highly renowned. The Jack Neo style uses comedy to create bonds amongst Singaporean Audiences, while Eric Khoo filmic styles dive into a grittier, more voyeuristic approach to promote the underlying issues of Singapore politics and economy.
Transnational Cinema
Since the dawn of Singapore’s independence, the concept of international cooperation has always been present. Although the 1970s did see a decline in the Singapore film industry, this was still an interesting period for this fairly new, back then, mode of production. Uhde & Uhde (2010) describe that “English-language regional co-production, represented by films such as Dynamite Johnson and They Call Her Cleopatra Wong, both made in 1978 by the short-lived, Philippine-Singapore venture BAS film international Pte Ltd” (p8). This was one of the first looks Singapore had to transnational productions long before the age of globalisation.
Transnational cinema, once again, would very much be the up and coming trend that follows Singapore cinema. The adjective, transnational, is defined as “extending beyond the boundaries, interests, etc., of a single nation (Collins English Dictionary, 2003). In the recent decade, Singapore Cinema has extended its reach out to global cinema for collaborative productions. Countries namely, – Hong Kong, Australia, China, etc., have “encouraged the production of less Singapore-centric, more universally popular box office genres such as horror and romance”.
The incentives for co-productions are usually made by an economical choice. Uhde & Uhde (2010) expand on this – “[1] joint ventures widen the financial base, making a production possible and divide the investment risks involved; [2] they facilitate larger-budget films expected to attract audiences; [3] they secure wider distribution in the international marketplace” (p5).
Since 2003, Raintree Pictures – Singapore’s major production company, invested in a variety of Hong Kong productions that range from: “award-winning romance films (Turn Left Turn Right, 2003), thrillers (Infernal Affairs, 2003) and horror movies (The Eye, 2002; The Eye 2, 2004)” (Aquilia, 2006, p434). This has been truly an attempt to make Singapore international and borderless movies that could extend its name beyond Asia (Aquila, 2006, p434).
Written By: Benjamin Yoon
Directors Biography.
(EDITED BY Benjamin yoon. FOOTAGE FROM THE FILMS SEEN IN THE VIDEO BELONG TO THE INDIVIDUAL COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND ARE PRESENTED HERE FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES.)
Eric Khoo
Born in 1965 to a well-to-do family. Khoo had been a cinephile since the tender young age of two. Khoo studied cinematography at the City Art Institute in Sydney, Australia. Before making venturing into feature filmmaking, he started off with making award winning short films such as Barbie Digs Joe (1990).
Feature Films (Director)
- My Magic (2008)
- Be with me (2005)
- 12 Stories (1997)
- Mee Pok Man (1995)
Short Films (Director)
- No Day off (2006)
- Home vdo (2000)
- Pain (1994)
- Symphony 92.4 (1993)
- The watchman (1993)
- The Punk Rocker and … (1992)
- Carcass (1992)
- August (1991)
- Barbie Digs Joe (1990
Royston Tan
Graduated from Temasek Polytechnic, Royston Tan is one of Singapore’s promising young filmmakers. Royston Tan’s first feature film, 15, based on his critically acclaimed short, is about three teenage delinquents on the margins of Singapore society, brought him international attention.
Feature Film (Director)
- 12 Lotus (2008)
- 881 (2007)
- 4:30 (2006)
- 15 (2003)
Short Films (Director)
- Little Note (2010)
- My SARS Lover (2008)
- After the Rain (2007)
- Sin Sai Hong (2006)
- Careless Whisper (2005)
- New York Girl (2005)
- Monkeylove (2005)
- The Absentee (2004)
- Blind (2004)
- Capitol Cinema (2004)
- Cut (2004)
- Old Parliament House (2004)
- 17755 (2003)
- The Old Man and the River (2003)
- 15 (2002)
- 24 Hours (2002)
- 48 on Aids (2002)
- Mother (2002)
- Hock Hiap Leong (2001)
- Sons (2000)
- Jesses (1999)
- Kisses (1998)
- Adam, Eve, Steve (1997)
- Erase (1996)
- Remain (1995)
Kelvin Tong
Kelvin Tong started his film career in 1995 with Moveable Feast, an unorthodox short film about a man’s obsession for food. This short film was screened in festival around the world. In 1999, Kelvin Tong directed his first feature, Eating Air (1999), winning the Young Cinema Award at the 2000 Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF)
Feature Films (Director)
- Tua She Kai (2011)
- Kidnapper (2010)
- Rule #1 (2008)
- Men in White (2007)
- Love Story (2006)
- The Maid (2005)
- 1942 (2005)
- Eating Air (1999)
Short Films (Director)
- Moveable Feast (1996)
Jack Neo
Jack Neo began his career in the entertainment business starting off as a comedian for the local broadcasting channels. Initially cast in small roles, he hit television success with his flair for lowbrow comedy skits, such as ‘Liang Po Po’, a stuttering grandmother, and a fussy middle-aged woman, ‘Liang Ximei’. His directorial debut emerged with his first feature film, Money No Enough (1999). He first big break as a director was through his critically commercially successful feature, I Not Stupid (2002), which raked in a whopping $3.8 million in the box office.
Feature Films (Director)
- We Not Naughty (2012)
- Being Human (2010)
- Where Got Ghosts (2009)
- Love Matters (2009)
- Money No Enough 2 (2008)
- Ah Long Pte Ltd (2008)
- Just Follow Law (2007)
- I Not Stupid Too (2006)
- One More Chance (2005)
- I Do, I Do (2005)
- The Best Bet (2004)
- Homerun (2003)
- I Not Stupid (2002)
- That One No Enough (1999)
- Hitman in the City (1998)
The Australian & Singapore Film Industries 