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mustardseed's review against another edition
3.0
3.5? idk ratings are not very representative of nuance in reading and diff aspects of writing anyway
very thought provoking; certainly very political, though also in some ways a lot of attempt at evoking the personal and creating empathy for the characters.
think i need to read this again, and slower, to fully grasp the themes. the premise feels absurd, but the particular characters used and their views was rather illuminating. at parts, characters feel like caricatures (mrs chua's long, almost hyperbolic expression of certain political views contrasted to her seeming empathy later are quite jarring, though that might be the intended effect) but there was also attempt to create empathy for the chatacters - whether it was mrs wong and her son, or mrs chua's frustration in her marriage, or melly's own dreams of family.
some ideas i thought were interesting: singapore founded by immigrants and yet hostile to immigrants; the tension between the kind of immigrant (chinese majority immigrant v migrant workers); ideas of power-political play and political-public (and rich-poor) divide were very interesting, but not entirely fleshed out - more of a thought provoker than a concrete answer/alternative perspective. also interesting was the exploration of singapore's move to close down the chinese speaking schools as well as accompanying policies then, and the effect that created. and the idea of meet the people sessions, and questioning the efficacy or even intent of them ("MP, do what? Say yes to everything the government want. Say no to everything the people ask. Meet the People. Every week Meet the People. F--- the people.").
as a screenplay it's a bit confusing with all the different languages and disorienting with where the characters are in relation to one another on the stage. overall, though the emotional effect wasn't that strong for me it, its exploration of various ideas and political comentary (albeit not particularly complete) was quite fascinating.
"This country has not been built on compassion. It has been built on power."
---
deviating from this play i'm thinking of the other singaporean playwright i read recently - faith ng - and the different approaches their plays take (more individual human based v more political, the different kinds of "political"). more specifically her play "wo(men)" which also examines three women, but in a family context - here the characters are from different contexts, introducing more of the "public/private" dichotomies, the direct discussion of politics and policy. but also the way that empathy is brought to the characters, the women without men (and the tensions of those relationships), the tensions and reconciliation, people who are tied by blood and those who are not. wld say that faith ng's plays had gave me more emotional damage though haha.
very thought provoking; certainly very political, though also in some ways a lot of attempt at evoking the personal and creating empathy for the characters.
think i need to read this again, and slower, to fully grasp the themes. the premise feels absurd, but the particular characters used and their views was rather illuminating. at parts, characters feel like caricatures (mrs chua's long, almost hyperbolic expression of certain political views contrasted to her seeming empathy later are quite jarring, though that might be the intended effect) but there was also attempt to create empathy for the chatacters - whether it was mrs wong and her son, or mrs chua's frustration in her marriage, or melly's own dreams of family.
some ideas i thought were interesting: singapore founded by immigrants and yet hostile to immigrants; the tension between the kind of immigrant (chinese majority immigrant v migrant workers); ideas of power-political play and political-public (and rich-poor) divide were very interesting, but not entirely fleshed out - more of a thought provoker than a concrete answer/alternative perspective. also interesting was the exploration of singapore's move to close down the chinese speaking schools as well as accompanying policies then, and the effect that created. and the idea of meet the people sessions, and questioning the efficacy or even intent of them ("MP, do what? Say yes to everything the government want. Say no to everything the people ask. Meet the People. Every week Meet the People. F--- the people.").
as a screenplay it's a bit confusing with all the different languages and disorienting with where the characters are in relation to one another on the stage. overall, though the emotional effect wasn't that strong for me it, its exploration of various ideas and political comentary (albeit not particularly complete) was quite fascinating.
"This country has not been built on compassion. It has been built on power."
---
deviating from this play i'm thinking of the other singaporean playwright i read recently - faith ng - and the different approaches their plays take (more individual human based v more political, the different kinds of "political"). more specifically her play "wo(men)" which also examines three women, but in a family context - here the characters are from different contexts, introducing more of the "public/private" dichotomies, the direct discussion of politics and policy. but also the way that empathy is brought to the characters, the women without men (and the tensions of those relationships), the tensions and reconciliation, people who are tied by blood and those who are not. wld say that faith ng's plays had gave me more emotional damage though haha.
vanillaicecream's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
maybe i didn't understand it enough but the pacing of this threw me off entirely. idk if it's experimental or what but the constant switch of scenes made it almost impossible for me to get a sense of the character, to dive into what they go through. i guess reading a play will be different from experiencing it but idk why i just didn't like this play. not to mention the chinese scripts that were written felt abnormally formal and forced. like formal chinese... no one who speaks chinese speaks like that here. i cant comment on the malay or hokkien bc i don't speak those but that aspect threw me off i just started reading the eng translations.
maybe this is a piece of art but it's not one id buy.
maybe this is a piece of art but it's not one id buy.
aliciatay88's review
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
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