41 years and still, mindless entertainment for the masses

for those outside SG thinking of doing negative things to SG,

national day can be no better an opportunity to just about take out the entire political leadership structure in Singapore. (not that it would be easy, but just pointing out that fact. Hmm... does even contemplating the possibility equate to sedition?)

anyway, negativity aside,

it was interesting to observe that the choice of movie for national day had all to do with guns, big explosions, unreal scripts, and the american way of life.

Bad Boys 2 was the choice of late night entertainment for NDP revellers.

One could point that its the free market that enabled the national TV station to program this kind of "entertainment" on a day of remembrance. That to put any kind of politically-themed movie would be to attempt to go one-better than North Korea in collectivism.

Then again, if art is all about exploring the un-mundane-ess of life, then, Bad boys 2 is a political statement in itself, in that it encourages individual initiative, disregard for rules, and general american "bad-assness' attitude towards the bad guys. (that the only thing criminals will understand is power through a gun barrel.)

However, remembrance is scary when its intepreted in the political light of the present.

NATIONAL DAY CEREMONY FOR SCHOOLS
- by MoE, 23 July 1998

Its scary. Programming from young, including a step-by-step guide.

How my school does it is it makes the emcees read out certain sections while our the rest of the students chant out certain key phrases. It’s a very surreal experience really. The first time I saw it happen, I was quite amazed. Can you imagine 1600 students chanting loudly phrases like: “Our happiness was not to be / Until our country could be free”.

and the late night movie post 12 midnight on "free"-to-air main channel?
(must pay annual license fee!)

"Army of Darkness"
ugh. maybe its a hint that the individual has to battle the darkness cast by the MiW?


E.o.M.