Create Film Festival

"Flight" is part of the Create Film Festival 2010, commssioned by the Economic Development Board (EDB) Singapore, to encourage youngsters to become engineers - now that too many of them are going the 'other way' as mass media professionals and bankers, ironically, once also advocated by the government. 

Directed by award winning director, Boo Junfeng.
Cast: Voo Ke Yang, Lin Coen Alistair, Michael Chua, Kong Yit Sim, Francis Chua, Michael Lee.

I think Voo Ke Yang, in his debut acting role, as Jeremy, performed splendidly.

I played the role of the father who didn't pass the Air Force pilot selection himself, and frustrated, pushed his son to become a pilot, much against the latter's ambition.

In real life, I had once rejected the Air Force pilot training programme. Subsequently, I graduated from college with an engineering degree, but did not get into practice. Instead, I became an information security specialist helping banks to outwit hackers. And now, I am an actor. Isn't fact stranger than fiction?

So there were moments of surreality in the film for me. Where what went on in my mind as an engineer examing the aircraft engine rotor blades would have been, the pondering over the material strength, the causes of material fatigue and other hard engineering sciences; I now (as an actor) focused instead on my physical positions, going through the important movements to demonstrate and favour camera angles, light and frame composition. Seemingly the same act, but very different thoughts. 

Here are the other two films:

"Building Dreams", directed by Anthony Chen.
Cast: Ian Pang

The great visionary scientist and philosopher Buckminster R Fuller once said that if we were to get rid of all the politicians in the world, the human race will continue to live, perhaps even prosper as some things may begin to function better. However, if we were to get rid of all the scientists and engineers, within months, there will be widespread chaos and starvation. That, I think is how important engineers are.

"Hi, I am an Engineer", directed by Melvyn Lim.
Cast: Teo Seng Loong, Onn Su An, Amanda Ling, Glory Ngim, Maggie Tan, Yilynn Tay, Priscilla Lim

This clip portray the stark reality of the dating game, in that somehow, engineers are not seen favorably by many women. Somehow, engineers are seen as geeks and those that lack social skills. For some reasons, engineers are not so good at packaging themselves, probably because they are too busy working and getting things done instead of dwelling on the superficial exterior. However, in some societies like Germany and Belgium, engineers are well respected. They are seen as very intelligent and reliable people.

So given the choices, what do you want to be? An engineer, lawyer, doctor, accountant,...  or an actor? :)


* LOL *

IAACA Gold Award

Corrupt Practice Investigation Bureau (CPIB), Singapore 
Anti-Corruption Public Service Announcement Video
Produced by Little Red Ants Creative Studio, Singapore.
Winner of Gold Award in the International Anti-Corruption Public Service Announcement Awards 2011, organised by the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA). 

This 30 second clip took us a whole day to shoot, starting from the wee hours of the morning at 2 am, at the wholesale fish market by the Port of Sembawang, north of Singapore. The fish market scene took us longer than we expected, as we were in a live, and often disruptive environment, amid the busy background of a fish market, where there were the ordered chaos of moving trolleys of fishes passing in between the camera and the actors; and the odd incident of large fishes violently slapped down in front of us without warning splattering the wet scales and fishy sprays all over!!

The fish market scene took us till 5am, and then we had a recess and were to resume at 9am at Republic Polytechnic. With barely a few hours in between, it was pointless for me to go home to get refreshed and rushed back to the set, so I chose to go to next location directly. There, I found a canteen bench, laid down for a few hours and then drifted into slumberland. In my dream then, I was on a soft bed in a Hollywood trailer.

The shoot resumed in a student training kitchen at Republic Polytechnic. It was neat and comfortable, complete with air-conditioning, we were comfortable compared to the commercial kitchen at Joo Chiat where it was hot and sticky. Therefore, I was quite surprised that we could display our winning and sleazy smiles  with the discomfort. It goes to prove that discomfort and sleaze are not mutually exclusive.

We had a long day and wrapped at 7pm. For the crew, they have to pack and lug their equipment up three floors to their charming, but rather impractical studio at Joo Chiat, which is without an elevator. Unfortunately, charms often don't come with efficiency.

I think the CPIB script is brave to challenge the acceptance of subtle corrupt practices disguised amid  traditional customs and goodwill during festive seasons.

The editing was excellent. It exudes the salient points with surgical precision - packing all the exciting bits in 30 seconds. Kudos to the Little Red Ants! Lastly, we actors must have done well and given enough good material for the editor to pick up and make a good job out of it right?  So, hip-hip-hurray to all!

Hentak Kaki

Hentak Kaki

A Puttnam School of Film, College of the Arts Production, Directed by James Khoo

Winner of the 24th Singapore International Film Festival (2011) 

Silver Screen Awards for the Best Short Film. 

With hindsight, "Hentak Kaki" exhibited the hallmarks of a winner from the beginning. I usually don't speak from hindsight, but as a newbie, I didn't know what to expect and couldn't do any better. Though, newbies do have their strength, in that they are perpetually curious and willing to try new things, not bounded by tradition, habits or conventional thinking.

This film was previously called, "When the Cold Wind Blows". I like the title as it gives a certain emotional undertone of what to expect. Subsequently, the title was changed to "Hentak Kaki", which literally, 'hentak' means 'shock' and 'kaki' means 'leg'. But together, "hentak kaki" does not compound to 'shock leg', but rather, "marching on the spot" - a metaphor that describes someone who has reached a stagnant point in his career. This is what happened when the lead character, Warrant Officer Lee Teck Hong, faced with his injured knee, was re-assigned to a desk job as a military counsellor, where he faced up with long time friend and then detainee Raj.

During audition, James felt that my spoken English was too polished to play the role of a warrant officer, since warrant officers are better known for their screaming out loud in clunky chunks rather than their crisp diction. While it is flattering to be complimented for good English, Jame's comment also felt like cold wind blown over my ears as I really wanted the role. Did I hear it right? "My English too polished?" It was akin to saying that I was not suited for a role because I was too good looking! :) Anyway, I managed to convince him that I will be able to fake it until I make it, and so we worked to clip and chip my pronunciations, added a few 'lahs' here and there, to create the accent of a seasoned warrant officer.

This adjustment in diction was mild in comparison to what was to come, which was the tedious crafting of the dialogue. We localised the English, went too far on that, then moderated it back, added some army speak, and then, finally we got it! An example of some of the transformations was:

Original sentence:  "I am very surprised!".

1st transformation: "I lagi surprise!"

Final transformation: "I lagi more surprise!"

Note: 'Lagi' means 'more' in Malay.

We ended up with a broken grammar and a tautology, but it sounded like music to our ears. I think I became so congenial with, that it took me a few days to get off the lingo and attitude. Besides the lingo, the physical aspects of the character stuck in me so much that curiously I felt the pain on my right knee for a few days after the shoot. Perhaps a kind of 'shock leg'?  :)

Another of Jame's hat trick was to arrange for Richard Muru (who played 'Raj')  and me to meet to check that there was chemistry. I learned later that this is something film schools teach, though it is a practice I rarely see executed. Eventually, it was this chemistry that played a big part in getting the story flowing. The scene of Raj so desperately sincere in seeking to help the distraught WO Lee to get his life together again, still gives me the chills each time I watch it. Without the splendid performance of Richard, I would not be able to respond likewise and will definitely not win the 3rd Singapore Short Film Awards, Best Performance Award subsequently.

In film production, there are always many urgent things that need doing, so it was commendable that James chose to have the important stuff out of the way right from the beginning. He even brought the editor, Alicia Lim, to watch our rehearsals to make sure that the scenes are eventually editable.

Here is the video on "Discover the Work Behind the Work: Hentak Kaki":



And the Official Trailer:

The film is well received in Singapore, judging from the response of the audience during the screenings. I think the audience resonates with the army lingo and witty dialogue. However, precisely because of its well crafted localisation, I suspect that the film may not be one that can travel well, as the audience need to understand the deeper sub-text in order to empathise fully. That said, there must be millions of 'Warrant Officer Lees' all over the world, having reached their point of career stagnation and fear the leaving of their comfort zones. This I believe, is a universal trait and a common situation for many people across national boundaries and cultures.

A friend of mine who re-trains older workers into new careers suggested that we sell this film to the work development authorities to encourage older workers in mid life crisis to get on with their life and follow their heart.

The final scene of Raj meeting up with WO Lee.

I tested the film with an American soldier by asking him to watch it with the subtitles. The result was surprising as  not only did he understand the story, but sufficiently so to be touched by it, as he had seen real life characters very alike WO Lee and Raj in the US Army.

Director James Khoo and myself at the premiere of "Hentak Kaki"

One criticism that I have of "Hentak Kaki" is that it would have been better if there was a 'curved ball' thrown in towards the end of the story. This will enable the story to leave with a bang and inspire the audience to ponder further, or rather it will make them, "lagi more surprise"! :)

The dusty and uncomfortable location of the disused CID building, though unintended,
helped in making the actors look so frustrated and angry. :)

Some quirks:

1. That Richard Muru who is of Indian descent actually speaks the Southern Chinese dialect of Hokkien better than James Khoo who is a Singaporean Chinese. This is a common trait among younger Singaporeans who now do not speak dialects.
2. That the army culture that Richard and I went through, is quite different from the one that James had gone through many years later. For instance, we had to remind James that in the army there is no 'please' and 'thank you', because everything is duty bound. But this is the old army culture.

Post Scriptum

You can now watch the full 12-minute film on vimeo. Click here.

3rd SSFA 2012, Best Performance Award

10th March 2012
At the Substation, Armenian Street, Singapore.
I was elated when the announcement was made at the 3rd Singapore Short Film Awards that I won the Best Performance Award in "Hentak Kaki", a Puttnam School of Film, Lasalle College of the Arts production, directed by James Khoo. 

I am very thankful to the crew and cast of "Hentak Kaki" and also to James Khoo for casting me as the lead character Warrant Officer Lee Teck Hong. In the script, WO Lee, an elite soldier from the Guard Unit, is highly frustrated with being assigned to a desk job after suffering a knee injury. This frustration all played out in the cleverly scripted dialogue between Lee and a detainee called Raj, during a counselling session. Much must be mentioned of Richard Muru, who played the role of Raj so well that it got me all fired up for a good battle. All ample material for me to get into character to impress the audience. I guess I did, or at least I did impress the jury, who feels that I have fleshed the character out very well.

The bottled up frustration, right knee pain and the well intended though irritating detainee character Raj in the script, did get into me after several long days of shoot. The day after, I really felt my right knee pain. It took me another few days to get out of character.

Photo from sindieonly.blogspot.com, used with permission.
With Jeremy Sing, author of SINdie, a blog on Singapore Independent Films

"But what takes the cake would be Michael Chua's performance, which again emphasizes just how important it is to have the right cast and lead, which will automatically be the battle half won since it makes it easy for an audience to identify and feel for the character. " 

- A Nutshell Review - AVANT Premiere! 6 Thesis Films From The Puttnam School of Film

Super Sexy HIV Awareness Video

"It's hard to concentrate with you girls slithering around me. Do you mind?!"

This video is not an award winner, well not yet anyway, but it garnered more than 100,000 hits, in less than one month, since it was uploaded in YouTube. There must be something  that the Orientals know better than Westerners about promoting HIV awareness with just the right titillation, adopting the Traditional Chinese Medicine philosophy of 'using poison to fight poison'. This one does that, by using sex to promote safe sex.

By award winning director Royston Tan.

The song is sung by the Baobei Sisters (Babes in the City) in the Southern Chinese dialect of Hokkien, the lingua-franca of the man in the street in Malaysia and Singapore, especially of those who frequent sleezy bars. It advocates the use of the 'rubber' to protect the body and not to neglect oneself out of mischievous novelty.

Call time for this shoot was especially early at 6.30am, just as the real karaoke girls were going home from the night's work. They didn't look very healthy in the open under bright lights, so I was glad when these gorgeous dancing girls  turned up to do their numbers for this clip.

Both myself and the co-actor were only given about 3 days to memorize the rap in Hokkien and then mime it during the shoot, followed by additional dialogue recording thereafter where we have to sing the rap.

In all, it was all great fun and all for a good cause. And besides the dancing girls, I really love the street culture kitsch! :)

Who Am I?

At last, I got around to create this blog, an actor's diary and my journey in the acting world. This after some persuasions from my manager, Ms Rochele Hirsch, in Los Angeles, because of my being busy and  also because of maintaining my other blog called, "Vacuum State", which I have started since  the year 2005.

I can't resist the temptation to make this picture my first post, as it is a comprehensive summary and a tongue-in-cheek poke at the myth that acting is all glamour, and that behind the scenes it can go down literally to the difficult and dirty.

But what we act in is fantasy. We do many things in life, but we are not the many things we do. In all, we live to experience and learn, and acting offers me to do that, which I feel privileged to be part of.

In the posts that follow, I will chronicle the journey in the films I have acted in: the story, the hard work, the funny bits and most of all the video clips, when they become available and permissible to include.

Watch this space!