The film was called Shirkers and was shot in Singapore in 1992. It was written by Sandi Tan, who also acted in the lead role.
Shirkers was never released.
Until now.
Sort of.
What was originally conceived as a road movie is now a documentary about why the film was never released.
And this version premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, USA, on Sunday to some positive notices.
The Guardian gave it five stars, calling it “a magical documentary about an unrealised film project that celebrates the power of youth and friendship”.
“Shirkers” has the handmade delicacy of a scrapbook come to life, blending ample footage from the original production with candid modern-day interviews and photography. Equal parts travelogue and archival rescue mission, the ensuing drama becomes a microcosm of broader themes.
The Hollywood Reporter called it “An alluring mystery spun from the joys and perils of collaboration” and said:
The film is also a fascinating rebel's-eye view of an authoritarian culture. Under Singapore's single-party regime, the country was a safe but boring place for a teenager in the '80s. Chewing gum was banned and, as Tan's voiceover narration notes, with a lingering sense of insurgency, family and the state were "in your face."
LA Times called it “a smart, idiosyncratic, one of a kind examination of the vicissitudes of cinema, and of life”.
The New Yorker called the film "gloriously, gleefully idiosyncratic".
I'm happy for Sandi.
Before she moved to California, where she now lives, she was a movie reviewer for The Straits Times for a while.
Tan, who is out of breath and animated behind the podium: “I wish I had something to read but I guess I have to improvise.
"Making a film is like keeping a secret for a very long time. For me it was 25 years. I’m whispering in your ear 25 years later and it’s magic.
"Making this film is me finding collaborators from around the world. Two years ago I was here and [Sundance Documentary Film Program team members] Tabitha Jackson and Kristin Feeley believed in me from the start and here I am with the finished project. Cinereach believe in crazy stories and people. "
"Thank you my Shirkers family. We pieced this movie together and put them up in a condo and they love each other and it’s fabulous. We’re all here for this crazy movie.
I think cinema is magic and you just have to keep believing in it.”
Tan tries to run off and grab her prize at the same time, creating a charming in-between moment, not knowing where to go.
There’s even a Budget 2018 logo with this overbaked design write-up:
“The warm shade of salmon pink represents our pursuit of a caring and inclusive society, where Singaporeans are free to pursue their dreams and aspirations.
“The four hearts come together to form the logo that symbolises a united Singapore, undivided by our differences and bonded by a common determination to overcome challenges ahead.
“The family at the centre reminds us that our families and friends will always be at the heart of what we do, no matter how far we progress as a nation.”
I think Budget 2018 may have too much budget.
What next? A Funko Pop figure of Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat?
Influencers could just be the beginning.
According to The Straits Times article:
“In an effort to reach out to younger Singaporeans, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) has paid for over 50 social media ‘influencers’ to post on Instagram to promote the Budget process.”
Notice the subtle shade ST threw on the influencers by putting quote marks around the word “influencers”. Burn!
The ST report continued:
“At least 30 posts by these young social media users have popped up since December last year, asking viewers to visit the Budget website to learn more about the Budget, or to share their feedback with government feedback unit Reach on its website and at its physical ‘listening posts’ this month.”
Ohhh, so it’s not to promote the Budget per se, but to get younger Singaporeans to participate in the Budget process. Now I understand.
Did MOF get local social media stars like Xiaxue and Mr Brown?
No, MOF got such influencers as Shanel Lim, Chelsea Teng and Royce Lee.
Who the hell are Shanel Lim, Chelsea Teng and Royce Lee?
The reason I’ve never heard of them is probably the same reason MOF chose them — I’m not one of the younger Singaporeans MOF wants to reach.
I’m too old.
Talk about ageism.
Doesn’t MOF want not-so-young Singaporeans to participate in the Budget process too?
What has MOF done to reach middle-aged taxpayers like me?
Was there a TV commercial? I don’t know. Millennials aren’t the only ones who stopped watching television on television, if you know what I mean.
Ironically, it’s the debate over the effectiveness of MOF using influencers to promote the Budget that made an old fart like me aware that the Government wants feedback for the Budget.
So whatever amount MOF paid the “influencers”, the ministry certainly got its money’s worth in terms of publicity.
It even makes me feel like Japanese food for lunch.
Yesterday, I received this message from someone I don't know via Instagram (of all things):
Hi there sir. Forgive me i am super desperate to find out what happened to the ending of the tv series "maggie and me" haha ... can i have an explanation for it please ?
So apparently, this person watched this old Channel 5 comedy series Maggi & Me starring Fiona Xie and Adrian Pang (probably on Toggle), got really into it but was stumped by the series finale, saw my name under Executive Producer in the credits, found my Instagram account and here we are.
I didn’t reply because I honestly don’t remember much of the show.
I mean, the final episode aired almost 10 years ago in February 2008 and most people nowadays probably don't even know the show even existed.
But like Xie’s eponymous ghost character in the show, Maggi & Me has returned to haunt me.
And that wasn't the only one of my old shows that came back from the dead recently.
Anyone remember Ah Girl?
The sitcom ran for three seasons starting in 2001 on TVWorks, which later became Channel i, which later became defunct.
I created the show but quit the production after writing a few episodes.
Then last August, I got an email from the star of Ah Girl herself, Cynthia Lee MacQuarrie:
Hi SM,
How have you been? It's Cynthia, aka Ah Girl. I thought you left the country and I tried looking for you on Facebook and voila, someone told me where to find you! I am writing because someone is interested in producing Ah Girl the movie and wondering if you would be interested to be part of it by writing it please? If the rights is still owned, then we would use a different name/title.
What say you? Let me know your thoughts please? We could meet up and have a chat about it.
OK, there's a lot to unpack here.
SURPRISE 1
I haven't seen or spoken to Cynthia since the early 2000s and I'm shocked she even remembers me.
SURPRISE 2
She thought I left the country? Am I so low-key? I thought I was this semi-famous newspaper columnist. Well, that was humbling.
SURPRISE 3
She tried looking for me on Facebook and someone had to tell her where to find me. Really? She could just Google my name and be directed to this blog with all my social media links. I mean, even the Maggi & Me person found me on Instagram.
SURPRISE 4
Someone is interested in producing Ah Girl the movie? I would be less shocked if someone wanted to do a Maggi & Me movie.
Anyway, because of my bad experience with the Phua Chu Kang movie, I was reluctant to write another movie based on a sitcom and I told her so in my reply to her.
But she sorta insisted I should be involved and so I agreed to meet the producer and give my input - and I haven't heard from Cynthia since.
Which is just as well.
Another old Channel 5 show that I worked on years ago that seems to be having some sort of after-life is Shiver. I was surprised to come across these two Reddit threads on the 1997 anthology series recently:
I remember people hated Shiver (for which I wrote eight episodes) when it first aired, but now there appears to be some weird nostalgia for it, thanks to kids who saw it back then and are now grown up.
Yeah, that makes me feel old.
Ironically, Shiver may be older than Maggi & Me and Ah Girl, but it's the better remembered show.
I guess it could be because more people watched TV in the earlier days.
Someone has yet to send me an Instagram message about that lift episode, though.
2017 did not end with the glorious New Year’s Eve countdown show I had hoped.
Singer Aisyah Aziz covered Symphony by Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson, but she was so pitchy that homeviewers probably wished someone covered her with a blanket instead.
Even though the weather is wet and gloomy, university students are wearing slippers, shorts and T-shirts to class, much to the disapproval of at least one Straits Times forum letter writer.
“We do not see our MPs and ministers wearing slippers, shorts and T-shirts in Parliament,” said the letter writer.
Who knows? Perhaps Mediacorp edited the parliamentary videos with certain bits removed so that we do not see our MPs and ministers wearing slippers, shorts and T-shirts in Parliament.
Still, let us usher in the new year with optimism and sunshine smiles despite an MRT breakdown between the Tanah Merah and Changi Airport stations on the first work day of the new year.
We need to be in good spirits to tackle the pressing and longer term challenges for Singapore besides faulty trains and glitchy video servers.
One urgent challenge I would like to see settled is who our next Queen of Caldecott Hill will be.
The current Queen of Caldecott Hill, Zoe Tay, will be celebrating her 50th birthday (or ZT50 for short) on Wednesday.
Yes, the Mediacorp actress had a birthday party last week at Suntec City (to which I wasn’t invited), but her birthday is actually on Jan 10.
Like SG50, ZT50 is not just a one-day affair. All that’s missing is a new Dick Lee song that everyone hates because it’s not as good as (and can never be as good as) Home.
In five short years, Tay will be eligible to withdraw from CPF. Not that I think she is over the hill — even if that hill is Caldecott.
Tay has been the Queen of Caldecott Hill for so long that there is no Caldecott Hill any more. Actually, Caldecott Hill is still there, but Mediacorp completed its move to Buona Vista last year.
So technically, Tay is now the Queen of Buona Vista, which, admittedly, doesn’t quite have the same ring.
Buona Vista is also home to many other organisations, such as the Ministry of Education and shipping company NOL, which may have their own queens with claims to the Buona Vista crown.
This could be like Game Of Thrones but without the incest (one hopes).
It could be just easier to call Tay the Queen of Mediacorp.
But then the new Mediacorp chief executive officer, Ms Tham Loke Kheng, might have something to say about that.
To avoid such complications (and icky sibling sex scenes), let’s just stick to Queen of Caldecott Hill for now.
So who can succeed Tay as Queen of Caldecott Hill?
What about Fann Wong? After all, isn’t she already like the Deputy Queen (DQ) of Caldecott Hill?
The bad news is that just as Deputy Prime Ministers Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam don’t seem to be in the running to be Singapore’s next prime minister, DQ Wong (who will be turning 47 later this month) appears unlikely to be the next Queen.
Last week, the TV host-actress-executive announced that she is leaving Mediacorp after 22 years.
Remember when she acted as Mrs Lee Kuan Yew in The LKY Musical in 2015? That was after she played a supporting role to another politician in real life.
During the 2011 presidential election, she spoke at a rally for then-candidate Tony Tan Keng Yam.
And he won.
At this rate, Au is likelier to be the next Prime Minister of Singapore than the next Queen of Caldecott Hill.
