take charge of your life

To avoid evil,
to do good
and to purify your mind.
This is the advice of the Buddha.

The teachings of the Buddha and the tranquil image of my Teacher constantly remind me that I can take full charge of my life and how I want it to turn out.

(11) Kevin Smith

Clerks (1994)

Kevin Smith is one of the many filmmakers I admire, mostly because he managed to find commercial success without taking the conventional route. Fed up that university does not equip him with the skills needed to become a filmmaker, Smith left school during sophomore year and took a portion of the money meant for his studies plus funds from elsewhere into making Clerks, his debut feature film. He worked as a store clerk in the day to make ends meet and then shoot the film within the store itself at night. The entire process went on for a good 21 days with Smith catching only an hour of sleep everyday. Talk about grit and determination. Clerks went on to win an award in Cannes and was picked up by Miramax. Heralding a young but talented filmmaker into indie filmmaking success in Hollywood.

On the whole, production values of Clerks may not match Tarantino's Reservior Dogs but considering that Smith shot everything within his means and limitations and using his friends and family members say a lot about the entrepreneurial spirit that can rarely be replicated elsewhere.

Clerks was made with a mere US$27, 575 but made over US$3 million. To quote SWL, no budget, no issue eh?

From Marcus Goh's production notes

"Have you watched Singapore short films? They’re mostly emo, angsty, and gay. Not that being gay is bad, but when about half of the short films are about homosexuality and a metaphor for finding your sexual identity, it gives the impression that we independent directors/videographers/whatever are mostly emo, angsty, and gay.

Heck, it makes us Singaporeans look like an emo, angsty, and gay nation. Which we are not. Come on, do you really see that much pain and suffering and misery in Singapore? Maybe whenever GST is raised or you go through an ERP gantry or you receive an IRAS letter. But in general, no.

I don’t think enough short films reflect the fun loving side of Singaporeans. There are some, but not enough of them.

Being Singaporean, and being proud that I am Singaporean, I wanted to make a Uniquely Singaporean (OK, outdated slogan, sorry) short film, a comedy, something about a road trip. Something to make you laugh and say yes, that’s what Singapore is like."

Coming soon... Marcus Goh's latest short film, Jalan Jalan to the West.

I don't know about you but in my opinion, there's a whole load of bull right in here. In their narrow-mindedness and personal political rant is the discrediting of Singapore and ordinary Singaporeans.

(10) Running on Karma (2003)

"Cultivate meritorious deeds."

Hatred never cease through hate.
Only through love does hatred ceases.
This is an eternal law.
- The Buddha.

If I could sum up Johnnie To's quirky Running on Karma, it would be the entire phrase above from the Buddha in the Dhammapada.

hardboiled detectives & gritty Kowloon streets

57: Stool Pigeon (2010)

58: Fire of Conscience (2010)

Dante Lam must be quite a busy man. I like all these low-budget gritty HK cop dramas. They are definitely in a world of their own. A somewhat revision of Italian Neorealism, with shaky handheld cameras, street shots and on-location lightings. But a starking difference would be the appearance of big names on a small budget that surely puts Hollywood's outrageous monies to shame.

The success of Infernal Affairs and Johnnie To finding a world cinema audience may have put the spotlight back into cop/gangster dramas in the last couple of years though on a whole still lack the hardboiled romanticism of the 90s.

Just before lunch break the law lecturer asked me what I'm doing here if I spent my university days learning how to make films. I said why not? I want to do my part, walk the talk and serve the country.

(9) Love Cuts

I worked on a couple of days on this one during the earlier part of the year. Realise that my parents are growing older by the day. Gave myself a resolution to spend more time with them. Brought them out to watch Love Cuts, directed and produced by my bosses back in GJ where I spent a memorable six months during the school's attachment programme.

Went on set to do second-unit camera but production schedule problems meant that I also did production assistant job. In the end we couldn't shoot the particular scene and there goes my contribution. But anyone sharp enough to spot me in a scene as an extra?

For one of those many product-endorsed local films following the trend set by Jack Neo, (this one sponsored by Health Promotion Board), I thought the film was made very tastefully without the usual in-your-face preaching. Maybe I'm bias but considering the budget constraints and the topic, the production values are almost flawless. 3 stars. And support local films please. Go watch.

On a side note, I'm amazed how effective the bosses were. Directing and producing three feature films and a couple of tv programmes all in one year.

Jalan Jalan to the West

From the writer for First Class, Police and Thief and Polo Boys comes Jalan Jalan to the West, an indie short film by Marcus Goh. A modern day Singaporean retelling of an ancient classic.

Definitely one of the more memorable film projects I have ever participated. Everyone is a volunteer on this guerrilla film set. Touching to see how many different generations of students from Wee Kim Wee School came together to help an alumni fulfill his filmmaking aspirations. You have seniors who have graduated as long as 4 years ago to current sophomores.

I have been most impressed with the drive and responsibility of the juniors, who despite taking on tougher and less glamorous roles, still gave their best to the film. Couldn't have done it without them. The shoot has been amazingly smooth and the spirits on set good. 2 more nights of principal photography. It's the last stretch now.

Ah Kong by Royston Tan

Reminds me of the nostalgic memories of accompanying my mother to the now demolished wet market along Foch Road, and afternoon adventures with my late grandfather and grand uncle, exploring Desker Road, Thieves Market and Rochor.

MM Lee's 87th Birthday

Happy Birthday to MM Lee Kuan Yew, the Father of modern day Singapore.

A most touching and intimate conversation with our founding father.

And a photograph by an alumni of our esteemed school.

Somehow I foresee, as cycle go, when my generation grows old, Singapore would be in some deep shit and we would be wishing we never changed LKY's model. - Thiam Peng

return of the bogeyman

Are we seeing a small return of Singapore, or more specifically, MM Lee, as the bogeyman? A flurry of discussions in Malaysia.

From UMNO's side,

Singapore the cause of Malaysia's racial problems, says Dr. Mahathir here and here.

Singapore-educated Khairy Jamaluddin, who hails from an elite family refutes MM Lee, here.

Selangor's Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim dismisses MM Lee's 'what if' statement, read more here.

And from the opposition camp,

Lee's remarks not inaccurate, says opposition leader, Syed Husin Ali, here.

DAP's Kok says, colour-blind, merit-based policies led to Singapore's success, here.

A man who gave his entire life into the building of a nation.

(7) Stool Pigeon

A Nutshell Review rates this film "a contender for one of the best films this year"

Shaolin monks and Tang Dynasty detectives

Tsui Hark's take on the legendary Di Renjie of Tang Dynasty. Seems a bit too mythical for my liking but would not wanna miss it.




This is the other one I'm looking forward to. Still in production apparenty.

The Oriental Show

From last week's Oriental Show screening at Sinema Old School. The thesis film, A Light in the Darkness, was part of the line up. Thoroughly enjoyed a night like this, watching a line up of local indie short films, catching up with old friends and meeting other filmmakers who are equally mad and passionate about this filmmaking craft.

I count myself lucky to be one of the few who love our job. To wake up every morning driven and excited about the day’s progress. Motivated to go to work. To identify with pride, the organisation’s vision and mission.

This maybe only be my 5th week into the job and the 2nd week in training but I’m confident that I’m gonna spend a long time here.

Skeptics may reckon otherwise but I believe I have had enough life experiences elsewhere to know what I want out of my life. What will be good for me and what is not.

Of course I’m still a filmmaker, or what I had very aptly described to someone in the industry last week as a ‘Sunday filmmaker’. A hobbyist. I don’t do golf, pubbing, KTV or Sunday football for leisure. I rather spend my free time pursuing this craft.

Filmmaking is my hobby and a serious one. It’s not a conventional path I’m taking. Some may say it’s not the way to succeed. But then there has never been only one singular path to Rome.

Johnnie To

Unsatisfied with the university's list of media companies, I drafted two long emails and sent them over to Hong Kong, hoping to land myself a self-sourced internship during my junior year. Nobody replied me of course. Kind of expected.

I'm the self-proclaimed No.1 Wong Kar-wai fanboy in Singapore but if I have to choose one filmmaker to be, my vote goes to Johnnie To.

The oldtimes triads and their archaic rules, the hardboiled cops, the tortured hitmen, the sentimental gangsters. Rundown coffeehouses. Gunfights not quite like John Woo's extravagant but with a tinge of arthouse aesthetics. The presence of an imminent end to an era; the then handover of Hong Kong to China.

Some of the favourite sequences:

The gunfight scene at the end of PTU:


Opening of Breaking News

Not the best longtake but evidence of a filmmaking fanboy at work.

Mall scene in The Mission

Shown during COM206 class during sophomore year, to the laughter of the entire lecture hall. And you wonder why.

Of course he had his misses. Yesterday Once More remains in the list of one of the worst film I have ever watched.

Presenting @ Platform and the Youth Olympic Games

"I think just by being involved, you get to feel the buzz and the pulse of the Games. No task was too small for our volunteers as they do so with pride and joy in knowing that such an event will not take place again in Singapore.

I had just wished that people who put down these Games would look at the joy on the faces of our youths and our local sportsmen at being given the chance to participate at such a global stage."

- Zakaria Zainal.

Read the full article and see some of his works here.