Crazy Rich Asians

Crazy Rich Asians the movie, brought a horde of netizens screaming about the lack of minority representation in the movie - that among the super-rich in Singapore, only the Chinese are depicted. The online and offline press were abuzzed with such outcry, with the local tabloid, The New Paper, joining in the fray. See, "Crazy Rich Asians should have been called High SES Chinese" by columnist S.M. Ong (The New Paper, Sept 3).

The article hits a little 'below the belt' in some parts (see quote below), but then, hey it is a tabloid. What do you expect?

Quote:

Dear Kevin (the author),

….

Not everyone in Singapore is Chinese as depicted in the movie, they complain.

But that's not your fault.

Coming from old money yourself, you emigrated from Singapore at age 11 and evaded national service so you probably didn't get to interact much with other races here.

"As a child, you're cloistered in this world," you said in an interview.

"You don't know how other people live until you leave that world and realise not everyone has an airplane in their garage."...

Unquote.

While I respect the opinions of those crying out loud, I too have my views, so I wrote to them and was surprised to get it published.

Here:

(A rewrite of the print, in case display resolution is poor in small devices.)

No reason for Crazy Rich Asians to be like MediaCorp drama

I refer to the article "Crazy Rich Asians should have been called High SES Chinese" by columnist S.M. Ong (The New Paper, Sept 3).

I assume the article is written tongue-in-cheek and I should take it with a pinch of salt. Crazy Rich Asians in not a documentary. It is a film version of a book based on the author's observations of super-rich Chinese in East Asia. So let it be.

Minority inclusion in this instance and context is not necessary. I would hate to see it turn out like a MediaCorp drama with minority races artificially inserted. That is understandable for MediaCorp as it is a national broadcaster. 

But this movie has not such obligations or objectives. Neither should it set out to sterilise or pontificate. It is fiction. It is satire. Cut it some slack. 

Audiences don't want to watch real life. They want drama, art with creative licence to entertain.

For all movie reviews in this blog (including this post), click here.