Nostalgic Chinese Cinema Review Series: 1970s Kungfu, Bruce Lee, and Action Cinema..70年代功夫动作片当道

The 1970s brought with it along the rise of Bruce Lee and Kungfu/Action Masculine films. If the 50s and 60s were dominated by female actors, the 1970s saw the rise of male actors such as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.

The start of the decade witnessed a trend of explicit sexual content films with many soft-porn 'sex and violence' films produced which continued throughout the 70s and 80s. The infamous Lesbian flick 'Intimate Confessions of a Courtesan' came out in 1972 followed by a slew of similarly tiltillating sexual films such as 'Mask' in 1974 and 'Women's POW Camp' in 1973. They pushed the boundaries of Chinese/HK cinema and were the only Chinese movies allowed such daring scenes of homosexual gay love in 'Mask', lesbian torture in 'Women's POW Camp',etc which were possible under British controlled Hong Kong and would definitely have been banned in Taiwan, China, and quite likely other Chinese speaking areas such as Singapore.

Bruce Lee shot to fame in 1971 with The Big Boss/Fist of Fury. He acted in only a handful of films before dying of unknown causes.

The 1970s also saw the rise of Taiwan's melodramatic films based on Qiong Yao (a famous romance novelist) novels. These films were extremely popular amongst the youths of Taiwan and South East Asian Chinese throughout the 1970s as well as into the 1980s. They produced many famous Taiwanese moviestars such as Gui Ya Lei, Ke Jun Xiong, Jen Jen, Chin Han, Chin Hsiang Lin, Lin Feng Jiao, and the most famous of all, Brigette Lin Hsin Hsia. My mom was a fan of them, and a big reason for her decision to move to Taipei to study university apparently!

The 1970s also saw a rise of nationalist cinema in Taiwan due to the political international situation it saw itself. In 1971, Taiwan was kicked out and replaced by China in the United Nations. 1972 saw the breaking off of diplomatic relations between Japan and Taiwan and many other nations followed suit in the interminent years. Seiged by a sense of deep insecurity, Taiwan's government commissioned and encouraged many nationalistic films. A few of these involved anti-Japanese themes which were hereto discouraged due to cold war reasons. Now that Japan had switched diplomatic recognition to China, and it being the No.2 economy even then, Taiwanese cinema was in full force with a couple of very famous anti-Japanese war films. One of the most famous of these was 'Victory' (Chinese title: 梅花）by 刘家昌which was about the Taiwanese people's resistance to Japanese occupation during WW2. The theme song spread like wildfire and even went as far as Malaysia/Singapore amongst the overseas Chinese. Listening to the song kinda makes me emotional about being Chinese too as the Chinese title means 'Plum Blossom' which is the national flower of the Republic of China and amongst the backdrop of the anti-Japanese storyline, can be very emotive and evoking one's sense of pride in being Chinese.

Links:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j8MG3LUsGw
One of Qiong Yao's Romantic Movies with full Eng subs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfMYFh23cyk&feature=related
'Victory' (1975) theme song:

1980s coming up...

Nostalgic Chinese Cinema Review Series: 1960s Swinging Era of Change..60年代的脱变新风潮

Above: Linda Lin.

The 1960s started conventionally enough, with many stars from the 1950s continuing to be famous well into the 1960s. The Biggest Studios of the era were no doubt Shaw Brothers, which had a huge production set and a Star Casting system mirroring the United States as well as Mp&Gi later renamed Cathay, which produced contemporary 1950s/60s family and romance films mainly.

In the 1960s, Linda Lin Dai acted in her famous 'Love Without End' (1961) and sang the theme song which has continued to be popular to this day.

Lucilla You Min also continued well into the 1960s until her marriage into a wealthy family in 1964 upon which she retired from acting. Starting from the early 1960s, she acted in a trio of HK-Japan productions in love stories involving a Japanese man and a Chinese woman. These films were similar to the Chinese-Japanese love stories mentioned in my 1940s post on Li Xiang Lan propaganda wartime romance films except that there was no longer any propaganda and there was only pure romance involved in the films.

Above: You Min in a HK-Japan co-production.

Grace Chang acted in the seminal 'Wild, Wild, Rose' (1961) and sang many famous songs in the film. I had a chance to see the entire film and it was great...

Another famous actress of this era was Betty Loh Ti. She was called the 'Classical Beauty' for having beautiful classical features and often appeared in both classical setting as well as modern contemporary setting films.

Above: Betty Loh Ti in a pink cheongsam.

Of course, mentioning Betty Loh Ti would require mentioning Ivy Ling Po whom she acted together in the infamous Huangmei Opera Style movie 'Butterfly Lovers'. This was a hit in Taiwan and South East Asia and shot Ivy Ling Po to fame. Ivy Ling cross-dressed as a man in the film which won her rav reviews. In fact, many female actresses cross-dressed as men during the 1960s which won them huge fans, ironic, given the conservative nature of the times. Another famous pair would be the Cantonese opera duo Bak Shuet Shin and Yam Kin Fai, one always dressing up as a man, and later on Brigette Lin would cross-dress very often in her films.

There were various famous stars of this era, too many for me to name...Carrie Koo, Diana Chang, Ding Hao, Lily Ho, Jenny Hu, Lydia Shum, Tse Yin, Lam Fung, Ka Ling, Josephine Siao, Connie Chan,,etc...the later two being the big names of Cantonese teen idol of the late 1960s with the rise of hippy and swing culture.

In the early 1960s, there was a trio of films dealing with the tensions and conflict between the Mandarin-speaking new immigrants to Hong Kong from the mainland and the Cantonese-speaking majority population of Hong Kong. I've seen one of these films called 'Nanbei YiJia Qing' and its extremely rare to see in a film, both Mandarin and Cantonese spoken and without dubbing into either language. I've included a link below!

By the Late 1960s, there rose a wave of teen idol Cantonese films with Cantonese stars Josephine and Connie as well as many films with sexual content, mirroring the development in the West with the sexual revolution in full swing there.

The end of the decade also saw the suicides of two of Hong Kong's top actresses. One was Linda Lin Dai in 1964 and another Betty Loh Ti in 1968. Both did not pass age 30 when they died. It seems like there was a pattern of top female stars committing suicide throughout the 1930s-1980s with Ruan Ling Yu in the 1930s, Zhou Xuan in the 1950s, Linda and Betty in the 1960s and many other actresses throughout the 60s and 70s.

Almost all reportedly either because of emotional/marriage problems or fall from the limelight.

Mandarin Cinema also started to decline in Hong Kong starting from the late 1960s and continued to decline throughout the 1970s such that by 1980, most film companies in Hong Kong no longer produced separate Cantonese and Mandarin language cinemas and simply made Cantonese films with Mandarin dubbing when necessary.

PS: As there are too many stars of the 1960s whom i haven't covered worth covering, I may do a continuing 1960s retro series of posts on 1960s movie stars later on throughout the year, but this is only tentative, dependent on my spare time..

Links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCOLMoW_skY (Linda Lin Dai's 'Love Without End' 1961)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrPPd_1FtN4 (Betty's 'Dream of the Red Mansion', 1962)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYv3buYaemY&feature=related (Betty's 'Butterfly Lovers', 1964 based on the immortal Chinese folk romance.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJbaQKBy-TA&feature=PlayList&p=205315CF82316121&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=87
(Betty's 'Darling, Stay At Home', 1968 one of my fav films as its a moralistic feminist story on allowing women to work outside of the home and appreciating one's wife. Also one of Betty's last films before her suicide.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sYzjOF9TUo&feature=related (Betty's 'The Dancing Millionaress' 1964 with her then husband Peter Ho whom she divorced later. This divorce is rumoured to have caused her suicide in 1968.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nefqgiBynmE( 1962 Cantonese-Mandarin Nanbei Yijia Qing so funny!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo_yz4ftqTg&feature=PlayList&p=217C47A3F31495DB&index=45 (An English song by Josephine Siao)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=478b4fdZ-ys&feature=related (Josephine Siao 1960s movie)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8CCC4pI2j4&feature=related (Another Josephine Siao 1960s Cantonese film)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9Ywq4QyoNg&feature=related (Josephine Siao at an awards ceremony in 2008.)

1970s coming up...Kungfu fighting, Rise of Masculine Cinema, and Taiwanese Qiong Yao Romances..

Nostalgic Chinese Cinema Review Series: 1950s Hong Kong Grace+Lucilla+Linda..50年代千娇百媚...

Above: You Min and Linda on cover of 1960s/50s mag.

When the Communist took over mainland China in 1949, so did the Chinese film industry change on the mainland. For the next 4 decades, the mainland Chinese film industry became closed to outside influences and followed a socialist pattern. The mainland Chinese film industry shall thus not be the subject of my series of nostalgic cinema review post-1949 movies. In my 1950s review post, I shall be concentrating on Mandarin cinema in Hong Kong.

By the 1950s, Hong Kong cinema had recovered from the complete shutdown experienced during the Japanese occupation years when many film stars/directors escaped into the interior. By the 1950s, there were two/three movie industries operating in Hong Kong. One was the small Amoy dialect movie industry producing Hokkien language films for the Chinese diaspora in South East Asia and Taiwan. Another one was the better budgeted Cantonese language film industry producing films for Hong Kong residents and also for the overseas Chinese population. But by far the biggest budgeted and star system one was the Mandarin language film industry in Hong Kong which had the best stars, quality, and budgets. These produced movies in Mandarin but often set in contemporary 1950s hong kong giving way to a strange/ironic situation whereby the characters all speak Mandarin in overwhelmingly Cantonese Hong Kong!!!

The Mandarin industry was made up mostly of Shanghainese refugees whom had fled from Communist rule in mainland China and shanghai.

The most famous stars of the era were predominantly female and the most famous star of that era was arguably Linda Lin-Dai. She won Best Actress four times in her career span and acted in many representative films of that era, three of her most famous works being 'The Kingdom and the Beauty' (1957) , 'Bu Liao Qing' (1961), and 'The Blue and the Black' (1966). Thus, she was famous throughout the 50s and well into the 1960s until her suicide in 1964. Her last film 'The Blue and the Black' was not finished at the time of her suicide and they had to get a replacement (with plastic surgery) to finish the leftover scenes.

Grace Chang was another very famous 1950s star. She appeared in many contemporary 1950s setting films as the vivacious bright modern girl with contemporary issues always found in many of her films such as modern love, taking the aeroplane, going travelling, and buying a car, all 'modern' luxuries sought and aspired to by the middle class in Hong Kong of the 1950s.

Her films give a very good representation of what kind of life was aspired to in Hong Kong of the 1950s but definitely do not show accurately what Hong Kong residents lived like back then!

Above: Grace Chang.

And Finally, one of my favourite stars, Lucilla You Min. She was well-known for being the graceful feminine star with a pure 'Jade Girl' image. I really like her alot and she appeared in three (or four) Japanese films in the 1960s in a series of HK-Japan collaborations. More on that in my 1960s post.

Above: Lucilla You Min.

Links (Do have a look! They're priceless scenes, giving a glimpse of HK society then) :

Linda Lin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAfpZd_wWHw (Linda's 'Love is a Battlefield' movie)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T62nSa1GvQ ('The Kingdom and the Beauty' full movie with Eng subs! A great opportunity for those of you to see for the first time a 1950s Chinese film!)

Grace Chang:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XMAIOvJgQ (Grace doing the Cha-Cha!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdNuAKuCMdw&feature=related (One of my FAV of Grace Chang in America circa 1959)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHEzpdyhcI4&feature=related (Grace Chang in 'Air Hostess' I've seen this movie, it shows priceless scenes of H.k.,Bangkok, Taipei, Singapore of the 50s in it!)

Lucilla You Min:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UfY-Z_98WQ (From the Famous 'Star, Moon, Sun' 1961)

Although i don't really enjoy watching 1930/40s Chinese movies (I've even seen the silent film 'The Goddess' by Ruan Ling Yu!) as they're way too far away in history for me to enjoy, I love 1950s/60s films as they have three attractions for me:

1) the cheongsam, where else can you see exquisite authentic ala 1950/60s style tight body hugging cheongsams on full display?!

2) the role of women in society back then and aspirations/role models

3)societal attitudes and norms back then as well as scenic scenes of Hong Kong and Asia in the 50s/60s, priceless shots!

PS: All photos come from the internet and particularly from the websites under my 'Chinese Cinema' section on the right hand bar. Do check out those websites for more indepth details!:-)

Hope you like them too!...1960s, my favourite retro decade coming on up!..stay tuned..

Nostalgic Chinese Cinema Review Series: 1940s Wartime Cinema..1940年代的日本军策电影

Above: Third from left Zhou Xuan 'Golden Voice', Li Xiang Lan, Bai Guang (second from right).


The 1940s marked the start of the heyday of Japanese Military Propaganda films in Chinese cinema. Alittle history is necessary here...Japan invaded China in 1937 at a hurricane speed spreading from Beijing to Nanjing to Wuhan, Guangzhou,etc such that by 1940, most of the populated Eastern Coastal area of China was under Japanese occupation and the majority of China's cities and population were under Japanese military control.

Shanghai was split into different areas, with the Chinese controlled parts of the city being over 70% of the city and the French and International Concession area making up the most prosperous part of the city and roughly 25% of the city area. There was also a small japanese concession area pre-war. The Chinese area of Shanghai fell to the Japanese in 1937 after three mths of heavy casualty fighting and thus many filmmakers went into the unoccupied French/International Concession area of Shanghai in hiding. This area unoccupied by Japanese Army (Japan only declared war on the Allies in 1941) was a safehaven for Chinese intellectuals,etc but its safety was always at the mercy of the Japanese Army since the surrounding areas and most of Shanghai were already under Japanese military control.


This period in history is called 'Orphan Island Shanghai' referring to the 'island oasis' parts of Shanghai unoccupied by Japan until Pearl Harbor and the subsequent moving in of Japanese troops and interning of Allied citizens of the French/International Concession area of Shanghai as well in 1941.


During the anti-Japanese war 1937-1945, as the Japanese speed of invasion was so unprecedented, there was very little facilities/equipments to make films given that almost all the cities of China were under Japanese occupation. In the occupied territories, the Japanese Army forced filmmakers and companies to collaborate by setting up Chinese film production companies nominally under Chinese control but in effect managed and censored by the Japanese occupation army. These film companies were to produce films in line with Japan's Greater East Asia War and military policy to promote the invasion/occupation of China as somehow necessary and justified. During this wartime period, one star stood out. She became the most famous actress/singer arguably during the wartime period and can be said to have become famous directly as a result of the Japanese wartime propaganda policy which sought to create the ideal 'propaganda wartime star' to pacify the Chinese resistance as well as garner support from the homefront in Japan for the war in China.


Her name was Li Xiang Lan (李香蘭). Until now, this name is still well-known amongst many Chinese ppl and her songs are still popular amongst segments of the older generation. She was part of the ManEi Film Production Company set up by the Puppet Government of Manchuria to assist Japan in its wartime propaganda. What many ppl didn't know then, and many still do not know now (besides Japanese ppl and the avid historians like me!) is that Li Xiang Lan was actually a Japanese woman born and bred in Manchuria (now, NorthEastern China). Her grandfather was a keen fan of Chinese history/studies and moved the family to Manchuria in the early 20th Century. She was born in a place called Fushun, China and grew up speaking Japanese at home, Chinese in school and socially, and also taking English lessons at a very young age.

The Japanese military felt that it would be good to 'create' an ideal wartime propaganda idol and actively promoted her as a Manchurian-born Chinese girl whom spoke fluent Japanese and Chinese and represented the goodwill of China and Japan. She appeared in many wartime propaganda movies which emphasized the positive role model of Japan and the backwards nature of China. Her characters can be read to represent 'China' and the male lead 'Japan' and the Japanese male is always shown as modern, bright, and leading whilst her Chinese character as mystical, oriental, backwards, and in need of salvation (read: China needs Japan's guidance and occupation).

After the war, she was tried for being a traitor to China for having appeared in such propaganda films but was deported to Japan after authorities realised her Japanese ethnicity and nationality. She later wrote in her memoir (i've read it, in Japanese no less! very challenging read for my Japanese skills.) how she regretted appearing in such wartime movies which were propaganda and hurt the Chinese ppl, and China, which she regards as her second home. After the war, she reverted back to her real Japanese name Yamaguchi Yoshiko and appeared in many Japanese films speaking Japanese as well as a few Mandarin language Hong Kong films in the 1950s. She even appeared in Hollywood films speaking English due to her early English classes.

Another star famous in the 1940s was Chen Yun Shang. She appeared in many films and was one of the few to participate in a Japanese-backed film in the early 1940s when many actors/actresses/directors refused to colloborate with the Japanese. After the war, she was tried for treason for having appeared in the film but it seems she was granted a pardon. The film in question was an ancient costume one and did not have any direct propaganda link with the war going on. It was more of an entertainment film produced by the Japanese.

And of cos, by the late 1940s, there was one sexy siren in Shanghai renowned for her sexy image. It was said she was the most sexy symbol at the time and her name was Bai Guang (白光). She appeared in movies as the sultry prostitute or mistress, and was the sex object of every Chinese man it seemed. One of her most famous films was made just before the takeover of Shanghai by the Communist in 1949 called 'a Loose Woman's Heart'( 荡妇心)

Links (Have a Look! These are the important bits of this series of posts):

1)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGQblCBvOBU (Bai Guang's a 'Loose Woman's Heart')

2)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahUr1fF7ISo ('China Nites' 1940 One of Li Xiang Lan's Most Famous Films)

3)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk79hTJe0jo&feature=related (Li Xiang Lan's famous song 'He Ri Jun Zai Lai')

4) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItjQVSBCFRc&feature=fvw(Li Xiang Lan in US Movie 'Bamboo House' 1955)

5)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1CZDgwXgnI&feature=related (One of my fav's Li Xiang Lan's rendition of Ye Lai Xiang at her final show announcing her retirement from film.)

This is simply a summary of the films of that era, and like all posts in this series, Chinese cinema of each decade is simply too vast and rich for me to comprehensively deal with so i shall only be summarising the stars/movies which i think speak to me personally or are representative of the era...going on to 1950s in the next post...

Nostalgic Chinese Cinema Review Series: 1930s 'Butterfly' and 'Golden Nightingale'...怀旧老电影：30年代的默片，蝴蝶和周旋

This year shall be the 'Year of China' for my blog. This is to coincide with the rapid ascension of China on the world economic and diplomatic stage as China's economy continues to rise on a bullet train speed whilst the West and Japan's economy continue to be mirred in recession and faltering from the effects of the Great Financial Crisis. It also coincides with the World Expo to be held in May in Shanghai, it's 'coming out' party so to speak, as the Olympics was to Beijing.

To start off my Year of China theme (one would realise i actually blog very little on China itself, the nation and especially on China post 1949 despite my blog name and strong Chinese interest in this blog!!), I shall do alittle review and introduction of Nostalgic Chinese film stars and movies starting from the silent film era of the early 1930s to HK, Taiwan, and China's filmstars/movies ending in the 1980s. Anything 90s I have already done a review of it (well just 1990s HK Cinema) over here:
http://chinesechic.blogspot.com/2006/07/hong-kong-films-nolstalgia-1.html
http://chinesechic.blogspot.com/2006/07/hong-kong-films-nolstalgia-2.html
http://chinesechic.blogspot.com/2006/07/hong-kong-films-nolstalgia-3.html

This post shall be about the famous Stars of the 1930s and when Chinese cinema first boomed and blossomed. The early years saw Ruan Lingyu, a Canton girl who made it big in Shanghai, become the most famous star of Chinese silent film cinema. She was the divine 'Goddess of Shanghai' of the silent film era along with HuDie. She appeared in several films which were socialist and realistic for their portrayal of the time and how Chinese women had no power or say in their own lives. Her most famous work could arguably be 'The Goddess' where she depicted a prostitute who had to raise her child tirelessly and yet be the victim of societal prejudice and obstacles in 1934. Other notable works include 'New Women' and 'Three Modern Women'. She is often well known for her suicide more than just her movies. She committed suicide in 1935 at the age of 24 after rumors and unrelenting tabloid attacks on her moral character as she was in a lawsuit with her first husband and apparently in a relationship with a prominent married man. Apparently, in her suicide note left, there was the following passage which has been so famous that even now, ask any Chinese person, and they'll know this saying:人言可畏 'Rumours/Gossip can be Lethal'.
In 1992, Maggie Cheung won the Berlin Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Ruan's life in 'Centrestage'. This is also heralded as the turning point in Maggie's career and shot her to A-list status. Trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSFsvBVvfz0

Hudie (Butterfly) was also one of the top silent film actresses of the1930s although her career spanned until the 1960s into the sound era. She was also apparently the 1st Chinese actress to have received an award overseas (in Europe) i think. She continued acting until the 1960s with her last film being in the early 60s as a mother role. She was so famous that when the Japanese invaded in 1937 she fled to Hong Kong. Later on, when the Japanese occupied Hong Kong as well in 1941, she went into hiding and with the help of Resistance forces, escaping into unoccupied China in Chungking (China's wartime capital) as the Japanese had a policy of forcing famous moviestars to collaborate with the Japanese military occupation in appearing in pro-Japanese propaganda films to brainwash the Chinese masses into accepting the Japanese occupation. Hudie, like most Chinese stars of the era, refused to colloborate and managed to escape to Chungking and the interior.

Another famous top star of the 30s/40s was Zhou Xuan, often hailed as having a 'Golden Voice' like the golden nightingale. She sang in many movies and most of her songs are very popular. She also killed herself (i think) in the 1950s after suffering from recurring bouts of depression.
Trailer of one of her most famous song in the Movie: Street Angel (1937):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxu8Kxuf-Sg&feature=PlayList&p=B7D9C187D32EA475&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2

Going on to the 1940s, in my next post, which shall continue the Nostalgic Chinese Cinema Review Series...

Happy 2010!!!!~~~

Above: Sydney Opera House Fireworks@12am

Above: Darling Harbour Fireworks@9pm

Happy 2010!!!! I spent it catching TWO fireworks display, one at 9pm at Darling Harbour and the second one, the main fireworks display extravaganza at the Sydney Harbour Bridge...was simply amazing!!! And my very first time celebrating the NYE at Sydney Harbour Bridge too!:-) We went very late like 8 15pm arrival at Darling Harbour for the 9pm fireworks and 10 30pm to the spot at Milsons Point for the main Midnight Fireworks but even with 10 ppl we could still get quite a good spot!! Yeah, in the end we did break up into smaller groups cos it got more and more crowded closer to the time.

Above: George Street (Main street thru Sydney CBD) closed off to traffic at nite!

More photos@online photo album.

So How did everyone else spend their NYE? Do tell me!

Merry Christmas 2009~~圣诞快乐2009年~~メーリークリスマス２００９~~

Have a Very Merry Christmas Everybody!:-)

I went to the Annual Woolworths Carols in the Domain on 19th December 2009..it is the biggest free Christmas concert gala in Australia...there were over a hundred thousand ppl there i think..it was fantastic and it was my second time there since my first time last year with colleagues(2008), but last yr we couldn't see the stage properly as we had just walked in halfway and stayed for a few mins...but this yr i managed to get a good spot with the stage in full view and stayed till the end...took some videos too...it ended with a short 10 sec fireworks display!
Website here: http://www.carolsinthedomain.com/

Above: So artistic right...the tree above within the crowds..

Above n Below: My Second time seeing the Annual Macquarie Street Nightlights Display held around Christmas time every year....

Above: Discovered along an alleyway in Surry Hills area..i love the flowers and fauna on display in Sydney around Autumn/Winter time..

Above n Below: Christmas Lighting Displays around Circular Quay, Central Business District Sydney.

Queer Cinema in Asia Recommendations II..亚洲同志电影推介(II)..アジアゲイ映画お勧め(II)

This is a follow-up post to this post:

http://chinesechic.blogspot.com/2009/10/queer-cinema-in-asia-recommendations.html

I read through some of the reader comments and would like to comment further on the issue. I intended for the post to be about Asian films with gay themes for 2009 and did not intend to go through the entire rich history of Gay Asian Cinematic history..too big for me to deal with!!

However, a reader mentioned 'He's a Woman, She's a Man' which is one of my fav HK films and coincidentally it had a gay-affirming theme in it. Released in 1994 and a blockbuster hit, it was one of the earliest Chinese films to deal with homosexuality not only in a positive affirming way, but also in a light-hearted comedy. It stars Leslie Cheung (the film mirrors his own life at that time, he came out in 2001 i think saying he was a 'bisexual'. But i think he was really gay but its just easier to say you're bi...i mean the guy was with his boyfriend for over 10 yrs by that time!) and my all-time fav HK actress, Anita Yuen (love her!). A follow sequel came out in 1996 with Anita Mui in it too. Both full films with Eng subs available on youtube online:

He's a Woman, She's a Man (1994): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWbY-keudJk

1996 Sequel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MFVM-27twg

The theme song and opening song sequences are so memorable for me...the movie theme song 追 by Leslie Cheung always brings tears to my eyes whenever I hear it as it reminds me of him after his suicide in 2003, and i always sing it in KTV as the lyrics are so meaningful...if you want me to translate the meaning into English I will. Just leave a comment.

Chinese cinema has always been ahead of Western cinema/American cinema when it came to the homosexual theme. Although Western cinema started earlier in exploring the issue, with British film 'Victim' in 1961 being a breakthrough for its usage of the word 'homosexual' and a sympathetic portrayal of gay men at a time when homosexuality was still a crime in Britain, Asia caught up and sped ahead by the 80s and 90s and are still ahead now. It took a Taiwanese director, Ang Lee, to make the independent hit 'Brokeback Mountain' and no Western mainstream hit has yet been made dealing with gay romance without someone dying or some kind of tragedy like that which has happened in 'Brokeback' and 'Philadelphia'. Almost all Hollywood films which do deal with it in a light-hearted comedy always inevitably shy away from gay romance and focus on the comedic side such as 'The Birdcage' and 'Next Best Thing'. However, i would say despite the shying away from gay romance in gay-themed mainstream hollywood films to date, there are still 2 Hollywood films which i love and which are classics to me. They are 1) In & Out by Kevin Kline 2) The Object of My Affection by Jennifer Aniston.

Trailers here, watch 'em if you can!:

In & Out:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tiTWGVwHp8

The Object of My Affection: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_lNnxTPB9A

But of course, our Chinese cinema have always been more daring and ahead of American cinema in frank and positive portrayals of gays and lesbians. For instance, besides 'The Wedding Banquet' waaaay back in 1993 which was a mainstream success with its onscreen kisses and bed scenes of the gay interracial couple, in 1997, Wong Kar Wai made 'Happy Together' with Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung, two of Hong Kong's most well-known actors then with a daring sex scene in the opening mins of the film. No top Hollywood actors have ever attempted such a scene even now in 2009, i mean it'd be like Brad Pitt and Tom Hanks in a raw gay sex scene bck in 1997. We Chinese did it, and I'm proud of that.:-）Then came 'Bishonen' in 1998 with two of HK's hottest new actors then, now very famous, being Daniel Wu and Stephen Fung. Then came 'Lan Yu' which was the first mainland Chinese-HK film to win multiple awards and mainstream success in 2001. Even anti-gay severely homophobic Singapore's govt allowed the production by Jackie Chan's production company of a gay-themed comedy set in Singapore in 2004 called 'Hainan Chicken Rice'.

Trailers for them here:

'The Wedding Banquet':http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-4u3C7CJbI

'Happy Together':http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaGkilBbiyc

'Bishonen' MV:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAk0MB6r6dY

'Lan Yu' MV:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvyAfun7b7w&feature=related

'Hainan Chicken Rice':http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYVrZ0FprWg&feature=related

There are many many more films which i've mentioned in previous post on gay cinema in Asia and so just check out my previous archives.

Two important last notes, remember I mentioned about 'Blue Gate Crossing' as one of my favourite Taiwanese film of ALL time before? The whole movie WITH eng subs is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfUufYr5XBA

Also bless the person whom uploaded the Discovery Channel program on Taiwan's LGBT movement in recent years just one day after it was broadcast:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3L1AnNWj9s (Mandarin language)

Some recent Taiwanese Entertainment Programs with gay interest topics (read: either discussion of gay topics or invitation of gay men to choose their ideal idol !):

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGS5UXJhKbY (new film promo by out gay director of Bishonen, Yon Fan, new film 'Prince of Tears')

2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i-ErG_dapQ&feature=PlayList&p=800A9DEC7634FEA4&index=0 (i really like Guo Yan Jun in here..he's the first guy to take down the mask..he discusses his experiences with being chased by gay men, he's straight by the way i think)

3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFwYlEycPl8 (Guo Yan Jun in here, he's such a hunk! It's obvious that his good friend Lin Ke is gay..i can tell from what he's saying and also he's secretly in love with Guo..it's like SO obvious..those whom understand mandarin, have a look, it's obvious rite? Lin Ke obviously stole his worn underwear :-) )

Also, I just discovered a Malaysian tv drama "逆风18", it's so good! Rem my previous post on how good malaysian chinese dramas have become recent yrs? Well, this is another one, and its got a gay theme too! (wow! malaysia is becoming more n more open, i'm surprised the sponsors and management allowed the gay plot to be so central to the storyline). Set in Taiwan with a cast of malaysian chinese, thai, taiwanese ..it is a short 13 epi drama about a straight 18 yr old american-taiwanese whom returns for a summer vacation to Taipei after the death of his mom to visit his long-lost grandma. He meets and falls in love with a girl (taiwanese) whom in turn loves her childhood gay friend (malaysian) whom loves the straight guy...so it's a gay/straight love triangle about pure teen love and family relations, love it, love the song too with trailer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grpjLbe7q5Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkd-KGBAPMM&feature=related

Last but not least, rem how i said i went to see the hugely fantastic Spanish film 'Chef's Special' at the Sydney Spanish Film Festival earlier this yr? Well, apparently, its a big hit and was shown in Taiwan and S.Korea as well..trailer here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIG3dXMuuuQ

Previous Post on Homosexuality in Asia:

http://chinesechic.blogspot.com/2009/06/gay-pride-month40-yrs-from.html

http://chinesechic.blogspot.com/search?q=homosexuality+in+asia

Sad and Heartwarming Stories...酒肝袒卖无与慰安妇阿嫲的一日空姐记...元慰安婦エアホステスの一日..

No, this post is not about current affairs..it's about some sad stories which occured in the past. One from a movie, the other in real life.

Now, the movie is called' Papa, Can you hear me Sing?' which was a famous Taiwanese tearjerker film which came out in 1983 (the yr I was born).
This movie was one of the first movies from Taiwan to have substantial Minnan/Hokkien dialect dialogue in it as Hokkien dialect was banned or restricted severely since the 50s in Taiwan until 1987 when it was allowed on airwaves,tv, movies, and songs. The theme song has since become one of the most famous Taiwanese Hokkien songs of all time, and I finally managed to watch this movie on Youtube recently, (given that it was screened in the exact year I was born in!)and of course I cried..haha..its a pretty corny story with tragedy after tragedy but it was still sad nevertheless..full movie here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJw2O4ayBvs

Another tragedy is that of the real life 'comfort women',Asian occupied territories women taken by the Japanese during and before WW2 to become sex slaves for Japanese troops during the war. However, this time, it is a heartwarming story as it involves a Taiwanese comfort woman named 'Xiu Mei' (whom i met and spoke to during an organised NGO visit by 3 comfort women to Sydney in 2007! I could actually speak to her as I understood Taiwanese hokkien and she had a translator for Mandarin/English into Hokkien for her). It was always her wish to become a flight attendant later on in her life and NGOs helped her to become one for a day with professional make-up, a wig, as well as the well-known China Airlines uniform on the plane! How touching!
Newsclip here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4JmIt3HeRo

A Heartwarming and Tear Jerker of a post ain't it?

Male Hunks I Like in 2009/10 ...喜爱的男明星在09/10年....最近気になるの男優...

Update: Please leave me comments readers, this post has illicited too little comments!! Hey, its one of my rare posts on hunks actually....hehe..so leave a comment on YOUR favourite actors"-)

I am dedicating this post to male celebrities i've come to like recently. Of course, given that I only idolise and follow the Asian entertainment industry (and don't give a rat's ass about Hollywood) this post shall only be about Asian, and more specifically the Chinese entertainment industry (which includes China, Taiwan, HK, Singapore, and Malaysia).

I thought I 'd do this post to counter my other post on my fav HK female actresses.

As an aside, I do follow Hollywood entertainment very randomly, and some of my fav actors/actresses include Sandra Bullock, Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon, Bette Midler, Whoopi Goldberg, Adam Sandler, and some others.

As for Asian ones, there are too many that I like such as Kang Dong Won (Korean), Jang dong Gun (Korean), Won Bin (Korean), Tsumabuki Satoshi (Japanese), Jo Hyun Jae (Korean), etc..too many for me to list out here...


As for Chinese ones, it'd be Leo Ku for his boy-next-door looks as well as Leslie Cheung for his genderless appeal, Daniel Wu (cos he's everyone's favourite list), and more recently, I've fallen in love with Guo Yan Jun (of 2moro fame) from Taiwan as well as Leon Jay Williams, a mixed-blood Singaporean model-turn-actor whom is prob the next big thing in the Chinese entertainment circle. He was a model in Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong before becoming an actor/singer in Taiwan and has now crossed over to the China market.



I noticed Leon Jay Williams again via the new Stephen Chow movie 'Jump' which was recently released. I had checked up on this movie becos I love Kitty Zhang Yu Qi (ever since her appearance in CJ7 last yr as the tight cheongsam-hugging school teacher, she's also Stephen Chow's new 'It' girl). Then when I saw the trailer, I just totally swooned at Leon Jay William's good hunky looks! How could anyone not?! I noticed him before when he first came out in 2004 in a hit Taiwanese drama series but didn't like his acting and the drama as it was one of those with pretty/good-looking actors but can't act at all..and judging from his works in the past yrs which i spent time checking on, he still can't really act and his mandarin accent is bad, cos as most younger singaporeans have poor mandarin skills (he said in an interview he could only read 20% of the chinese scripts and rely on hanyu pinyin most of the time).


But I saw an interview of him on a mainland Chinese program and he had a really great personality and I felt like I could like him as a good friend, coursemate or even relative! I was surprised as I always kinda felt guys with hunky, extremely good looks like him would not have that great a personality or I'd feel I would never know ppl like them in real life, but after that interview I really like him as a person (besides his good looks) although he really can't act..well, you cannot always be blessed with everything in life, correct? But anyways, I hope his fans dun come across this and kill me! Anyways, he has many yrs to improve his acting skills....

Some Leon J. Williams video links:

1)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAfCbNQIsMs (This song is amazing! It was originally the theme song for the Beijing Olympic Cube venue and turned into one for Audi.)

2)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il7MA5KnPus&feature=related (An English song. Doesn't he just make you swoon, gay guys and ladies? Hehe..)

3) http://www.youtube.com/user/hcpen#p/f/15/W1jZgn7GkuA(Stephen Chow's 'Jump' trailer..watch it! He's cute in it, sooo adorable. Hehe.)

As for Guo Yan Jun, he was never my 'type' of guy, given his atheletic dark-skinned complexion and sporty looks (i know i'm weird, i just don't really go for darker tan skinned guys with sporty looks) but after awhile of watching him appear on multiple shows (i watch taiwanese talk shows on youtube) I slowly realised I was becoming attached and idolising him...i was having an idol crush! So weird, and he's not even the type of guy i'd like in real life..well, anyways...he's had alot of gay rumours and experiences of gay men liking him, and one of his best friends in real life is very likely gay..i mentioned it in a previous post linking to the talk show where they both attended and I HIGHLY suspect his best friend is gay with my 'gaydar'.

If you want to see what Anthony Guo Yan Jun looks like in moving images, here's some links to taiwanese talkshows he attended:

1)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68h6mpELNSk
2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i-ErG_dapQ&feature=related




Above: anthony guo in a PTS tv movie, i love pts as they show quality programs all the time! In the scene above, apparently anthony has a dream scene of him and another guy. He walks around in tight underwear alot in the above movie i think! Yea!Shao Yu Ting is another new upcoming Taiwanese actor whom grew up in Canada and is currently very popular in Taiwan because of a TV drama he acted in. He's kinda cute as well..hehe.. link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GruShKu0bZE

Finally, someone i liked briefly because of his song OREA back in the day..haha..must be over 10 years now..Wallace Chung, I came across his news recently and checked up on his recent works, he's really cute even now!! Damn, how come they never age with time?!

He'd definitely be someone I'd possibly fall in love for..haha..very 'my type'..maybe alittle fairer skin would be good..hehe..


Some MV links:

1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7H2dgX6xJc


This post thus balances my previous post on HK actresses showing my favourite actors and actresses and also my preference in likable looks!

HK Stars of the 1990s: Anita Yuen, Charlie Yeung, Veronica Yip, Sandra Ng, Chingmy Yau, Carmen Lee, Athena Chu..and Vivian Chow..

I've always liked the female HK actresses of the 1990s, the era when i fell in love with HK cinema and also my growing-up years...it was strange that I never had any real male idols (despite 100% liking guys, mind you!) besides (maybe) Leslie Cheung, Lau Ching-Wan and of course, everyone's favourite comedian Stephen Chow. I also liked Leo Ku alot and still do...other stars which I liked are Carina Lau, Lee Yi-Hung, Hsu-Chi, Christine Ng-Wing Mei, and Christy Chung.
However, my fav HK female stars are definitely those mentioned in the title of this post. Except Vivian Chow whom i've only come to like this year with the mention of her coming back to the big screen after a 13 yr hiatus. Mind you, I liked all of them in the 90s and some are no longer acting, many married to wealthy businessmen now. Below are some clips of movies of them and also what some look like now:

Chingmy Yau in 1995's 'You're My birthday Cake': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpIx9jyzY4Q
Veronica Yip in 1994's 'Red Rose, White Rose' (lady in white veil whom appears in second part):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLttV36KxiQ
Veronica Yip 2008/09: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWl7c8JMDUg&feature=fvsr
Carmen Lee in mainland Chinese TV serial early 2000s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU1berbwpvE&feature=related
Anita Yuen in 1993's ' He's Ain't Hairy, He's my Brother': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRm9QUVbaFY
Anita Yuen in 2008: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL3qlvaOAFg
Charlie Yeung in 1997 commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FcKvElKg00
Charlie Yeung in 2009: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6j5AyY9AcI
Sandra Ng in 1993's 'All's Well, End's Well':http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ7jmdsj23M
Sandra Ng in 2009's 'All's Well, End's Well': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyLCVqoPeEs
Athena Chu in 1998's 'Raped by an Angel II': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sihiPusY2fk
Vivian Chow in 1993's Mandarin MV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvEaymFMWcw&feature=PlayList&p=4469C6A828B4F07A&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=49 Vivian Chow in 2007/08: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEuJhNoZW_o

Have a look, the one's in pink are particularly worth having a look at, Charlie Yeung and Vivian Chow still look stunningly pretty whilst Athena Chu's performance in 'Raped by An Angel II' is quite a cult classic for HK Cinema of the 90s, a typical Wong Jing movie. :-)

My 26th BDay:-)...祝我26岁生日快乐:-)..２６歳の誕生日おめでとう..

It's my 26 th Birthday today...wish me Happy Birthday!!:-) It also happens to be the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women..which i am superb about given that women's rights come up right at the top of my list of priorities/interests.:-) What a lucky day for me to be born on such a significant day (given my feminist stance) as well as one month before Christmas.

26 years and hoping for more good luck in the new year of 2010!

PS: Since installing the feeder tracking visitors to my blog, i've noticed many common/regular readers to my blog whom don't leave comments. Hey, since it's my birthday today, at least leave me a birthday note hey? Better still, leave me a link to your blog if you have one as I'd like to see what kind of ppl my regular 'invisible' readers are like. I've these 'silent readers' spanning from London to Paris to Singapore! Leave me a birthday wish:-)!

Filipino Fever...菲律宾热情...フィリピンフィバー...

Remember how in 2007 i discovered Filipino entertainment and fell head over toes over the Philippines, it's people, it's culture, all just because of the 'soft power' of Filipino entertainment? Well, I am now revisiting that 'filipino fever' of mine, which kinda lowered for the past year before in recent weeks i'm kinda getting that 'filipino fever' back again!

Some songs I like: adik sayo (addicted to you): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JITAGe7YHw

Ikaw Lamang (Only You):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9ycF5vqGR0

Tayong Dalawa MV (Two of Us): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzVf6_bpqkQ

The girl in the above MV is very pretty, her name is Kim Chiu, one of the new top talents in the Filipino industry. She's pure Chinese, being Filipino-Chinese, born to Chinese immigrants from Fujian Province, China. (Most Filipino-Chinese in the Philippines are from Fujian Province, thus being Hokkien people.)

Also, some movies from the past i love...'Got 2 Believe' (on youtube with malay subs), especially the end of the movie:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpf24xQDG7k

and 'You are the one', one of my fav romantic comedies of all time!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSRQbpwux58

My love for Filipino culture and entertainment has also led to my peak in interest in the Philippines and understanding its current affairs, people, and issues. Have a look at this Current TV docu on Philippines No.1 export, its people!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7rVibDsWKo&feature=player_profilepage#

Enjoy!
Links to Previous Post on Filipino Culture and Entertainment:
1)http://chinesechic.wordpress.com/2007/08/11/reconnecting-with-my-south-east-asian-roots/
2)http://chinesechic.blogspot.com/2008/03/penang-cny-trip-08-ii.html

Singapore & the 'Inferiority Complex'...新加坡与新国语言政策...シンガポールとシンガポールの言語政策....

This post is going to be about Singapore and its inferiority complex. Hahaha..
I was going through blogs in recent weeks when i came across a few blogs written by young English-educated Singaporean Chinese. I also went on via links to this Singapore online site called 'The Online Citizen' whereby there are posts on Singaporean social, economic, and political issues as well as commentary left by Singaporean readers on their views regarding these issues. One common strain that i discovered was the inherent inferiority complex that many Singaporean (Chinese) suffered and how they view themselves and their country in such a negative and under-deserving light. I mean, read any Singaporean blog written by a certain section of Singaporean society and you can see how negative they view their own country, an extension of their own inferiority complex. These are usually people whom are ethnic Chinese, English educated with a good command of English, from an upper to upper-middle class segment of society, poor Mandarin/dialect capabilities, and probably with a foreign education background too. Their blogs and views on the The Online Citizen are 80% and more negative on Singapore and Singaporeans in general as a populace and you can hardly see any positive things they would say about their country, a country which is one of THE richest nations in the world in terms of GDP per capita, clean, efficient, with a high living standard but yet read any Singaporean blog from an elite intellectual background and inevitably its 80% and above negative. The only position mentions would be about family or food.

Quite frankly, this is a case of what I call 'Elitism' and 'Inferiority Complex'. Singaporeans with a good command of English and from a higher education level tend to have an elitism complex as well as inferiority complex. They look down on their own country and even worse, on their own people, with common terms like 'third world mentality' 'third world manner's' 'third world..bla bla bla' to describe something they dislike about their country. Although i do agree with criticism about the government as its extremely dictatorial, and there's really a case of 'third world freedom of speech, gay rights, and media freedom' to be argued for in the case of Singapore, i tend to find many of these Singaporeans overly critical of the country and their people when there's much to be proud of.

I believe this has to do with the unconscious elitism and inferiority complex which many Singaporeans have in that they feel the West or Japan will ALWAYS be better than their own nation, never mind the economy, transportation, healthcare,etc in Singapore. It's a feeling which is worse when i've read singaporeans describing 'typical singaporean behavior' and looking down on their on, typically the less-educated or more dialect-speaking/mandarin speaking singaporeans. Singapore, like Malaysia, suffers from an 'internalised white-worship' mentality whereby everything Western is considered somehow better, the education in the West is better, the social manners in the West is better, the bla in the West is better..without any warrant.

One post in the 'The Online Citizen' and the comments it elicited really riled me...it was concerning Singapore's language policy which mandates that each major race learn compulsory 'Mother tongue' as a separate subject in school (as the Singaporean education syllabus is completely English) which means ethnic Chinese learn Mandarin, Indians learn Tamil, Malays learn Malay and so on. The particular post by the writer went on and on about how Mandarin wasn't her mother tongue, how the government was 'forcing an alien language down her throat'(*rolls eyes*, yes Mandarin is an 'alien language' but English, the language of Singapore's former colonial masters is not? Not a word of criticism on English usage) how her mother tongue was really a chinese dialect like teochew, fookchew, hokkien, cantonese,etc and how they should get rid of this policy and allow dialects in school and like 80% of the readers meaning 70-80 comments completely supported her even 'blaming' compulsory Mandarin education for 'destroying dialects' in Singapore.
BULL CRAP. This is another problem with the elite English-educated Chinese Singaporeans. Like my native Malaysia, there's always been a stratification of languages, although much less pronounced now than in the pre-2000s days when it was VERY obvious.

Basically, put simply, those whom speak and write good English are right at the top of the social/economic ladder in society, followed by the Mandarin-speaking people, and then followed by the dialect-speaking (meaning they use Hokkien,Teochew, Fookchew, Hakka,etc more) with poor command of English right at the bottom. That's the perception anyway. English is connected with social mobility and class, being of an upper class. This is supposedly the same as in India as well where English newspapers, government interviews, tv programs, etc are given an 'elite class treatment' whilst the media which has actually more readership such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu,etc language media is given a second class priority in the public perception. This has caused such a huge elite upwardly mobile segment of Singaporean society to look down on dialect and Mandarin and recently, with the global trend in indigenous culture promotion, to just despise Mandarin and promote dialects.

I find it horrifying to say the least that these people whom already have poor to no dialect speaking skills are now rebelling against compulsory Mandarin education and promotion (A govt 'Speak Mandarin Campaign' which started in the early 1980s to promote Mandarin in place of dialects) and saying how it isn't their mother tongue. What is going to happen if the language policy of the Singaporean govt is done away with (one of the areas where i actually support it 100%) would be to result in Singaporean Chinese speaking poor Mandarin, equally poor, if not worse, dialect, and 100% English. This is already happening EVEN with the compulsory mandarin education currently. I mean, all the Singaporeans I've met, whom happen to fit into the elite english-educated foreign educated segment i just mentioned above, have horrible Mandarin skills and quite good English skills. They cannot really speak dialect as well given the elite group speak English at home, at work, in school, socially interacting with friends,etc that I find it resolutely ridiculous that some in this segment now would like Mandarin removed as a compulsory subject. One can only wonder with dialect being much less useful than Mandarin, which is actually a very useful language spoken by 1.3 billion Chinese plus the 35 million plus residing overseas in countries like America, Canada, Malaysia, and Philippines (there is even over 500,000 Chinese workers now living in Africa!) one can see what the result would be if dialects were introduced as compulsory. First off, it wouldn't work practically as it'd mean different teachers and materials and exams needed, given there's so many dialects, and also it'd mean different dialect groups would be unable to communicate with each other thus fracturing the Chinese community in Singapore.

Mandarin was introduced as the de facto unifying language in the early 20th century precisely to unite the Chinese Han race as different dialects were being spoken and people in the north could not communicate with the southerners and even southerners couldn't communicate with each other. (re: Cantonese with Teochews with Hokkiens with Hakkas,etc you get the idea.) But once again, the inferiority complex of these Singaporeans rear its ugly head and they decide they don't want anything to do with Mandarin. It's so silly given how much Singaporeans love to lament on their 'poor' English skills when its such a highly Anglicised and Westernised nation, one of the most Westernised in fact in Asia. They'd rather critcise and rebel against their cousin language of Mandarin, being within the 'family' than criticise the real culprit of what has destroyed dialect in Singapore (if you really must blame a language) which is ENGLISH. It is the English language and the accompanying inferiority complex mentality of the 60s/70s/80s/90s/00s which Singaporeans had/have which resulted in English occupying and completely kicking out dialect usage, first from the public sphere in the workplace, then progressively socially such that English has become for decades the language of choice when socialising amongst fellow Chinese friends, and then into the private sphere of the family, being used within the family. I read somewhere that a survey by the Education Ministry of Singapore ( i think) in 2009 indicated over 60% of all primary school aged children from ethnic Chinese backgrounds now use English as their spoken 'mother tongue' at home, meaning not only is the unifying Chinese language of Mandarin (or if you're one of those elitist Westernised Singaporeans, you'd at least call it a 'cousin language') or even chinese dialect not in use, a completely 'outsider language' of English is now the mother tongue of the majority of the next generation of Singaporeans.

As a fervently proud ethnic Chinese and proud Asian of both East Asian and S.East Asian descent(always has been, always will be...which is why i even majored in Asian Studies within my Arts degree in uni when it wasn't a popular major for Asians..) i find this EXTREMELY UNACCEPTABLE AND DISTURBING. But of course, no one in the Singaporean English blogosphere nor these influential online news sites are debating on the poor Mandarin levels of Singaporean Chinese, which as an ethnic race, all Chinese should understand. ( Believe me, with the Chinese population currently around the world, spanning from Malaysia, Australia, to Africa and the Middle East, Mandarin is VERY VERY USEFUL..even for my daily life here in Oz, i find so many Chinese people in Sydney and its very useful to understand mandarin, you just get more with an extra language and also dialects would prevent interaction between Chinese people meaning an outsiders language would be needed (English) for the different groups to interact (which is currently happening in Singapore and will get worse should Mandarin be removed and dialects introduced as the mandatory mother tongue subject). It's funny how some Singaporeans criticise about the 'poor english levels' in Singapore when it is the Mandarin levels and dialect levels which warrant debate and the status of English within society should be re-evaluated instead.

It's like attacking your cousin (Mandarin) whilst not being able to speak your own mother dialect (dialect) whilst being completely comfortable with speaking an outsider's language (English). Inferiority Complex at its worse. And the worse thing is when these elitist English-educated Chinese complain about Singaporean's English level and education system, it has still managed to produce thousands of Singaporeans whom successfully are able to enter and graduate from foreign universities and with Singaporeans making up a disproportionate number of students in Ivy League universities in America (relative to Singapore's small population size). Like seriously, obviously somethings been done right for them to even get into these places in the first place, right? But nooo, inferiority complex mandates that they complain about that aspect of Singapore as well...quite frankly, its like one of those people who go online heaping praise upon praise on North Korea and Communism in general whilst being in the comforts of their freedom of using the internet, their freedom of speech and freedom of movement within the comforts of a capitalist, democratic society, no???

And also the term of 'heartlander' which is used in Singapore is also a reflection of the elitism mentality of many young yuppie English educated Singaporean Chinese by creating this non-existent category of people in Singapore to refer to those ppl living in the suburbs, dialect/mandarin speaking, and supposedly socially bckward and conservative in values...so silly, as if Singapore is not small enough to have a 'heartland'?? So many of these socially English speaking ppl live or their families/friends' live in the 'heartlands' anyways to make this social distinction moot, but of course, they create this term to differentiate themselves from everyone else, with the 'everyone else' being more backwards...

It's not just a Singapore problem, sadly. I find it much more serious in Singapore though. In Hong Kong and Japan, there has also been a problem of 'Western White-Worship' and 'Inferiority Complex' as well despite their wealthy status. For instance, advertisements and magazines in Japan disproportionately feature white or mixed European-Japanese models and white men assumedly get the girls more in nightclubs compared to Asian men. In Hong Kong as well, white and English is also (or once was) put on a high pedastal as well.

However, both Japan and Hong Kong always had and have strong native popular cultures and pride to counter this inferiority complex but yet Singapore does not. This is why I find the problem of elitism and 'white worship' much more worrisome in Singapore and afflicting Singaporeans much more than Japanese or Hong Kongers whom actually have improved alot in the past decade with much more pride for their native culture and people. For instance, you are hard-pressed to find Japanese or Hong Kong ppl having a general perception that their people 'lack social manners' or are 'backwards' as opposed to many Singaporeans.

I do agree that Singapore and particularly its government has much 'third world' aspects such as lack of freedom of speech, media freedom, gay rights,etc for a First World(it is 1st world, despite these elitist claims of it being really third-world) .

However, I also think whats really shameful and 'third world' about Singapore is not its general citizenry or the nation itself, but those with elitist (generally) English-speaking Singaporeans whom have a 'third world' inferiority complex about their own nation, the nation which gave them so much material wealth as well as opportunities both abroad and at home to distastefully look down on their own nation and its people which provided them what they have today.

Thats whats truly 'third world' and deplorable about Singapore.

A society where the English educated elites unconsciously look down on those with poorer English skills whilst slamming their own unifying tongue of Mandarin whilst at the same time being completely at home with using their former colonial master's language.

A society where the future generation will all have as their true 'mother tongues' that of a truly 'outsider's' language, English.

A society which has become so Westernised that much attention is focused on the 'poor English' standards of Singaporeans whilst at the same time having no qualms on further eroding the already shamefully poor Mandarin levels of many Singaporeans and at the exact same time giving half-hearted support for dialect education.

A people whom have no pride in a nation which, despite having plenty of flaws, and a flawed government, has also managed to turn itself from a resourceless tiny island into one of the richest nations on earth within 30 years.

That's what's truly 'third world' about certain Singaporeans and that's the true shame of Singapore. And all this coming from a foreigner, me....Any thoughts, anyone?

PS: The above reflects my own thoughts on the subject and is not meant to offend any Singaporeans and be an attack on anyone, even if you happen to fall within the elitist English-speaking category of Singaporeans whom I refer to above. It's just to simply point out my observations and thoughts on the matter and, hopefully, change minds and spirits in that process, not to offend anyone!

I Love RTHK & Suzie Wong...我爱RTHK和苏丝黄...RTHKとスージーウォンが大好き...

I would like to introduce to readers the Wonderful World of Suzie Wong, a 1960 Hollywood production which was a box-office hit in America. Set in 50s Hong Kong telling the tale of a 'Wanchai Girl' with a heart of gold falling in love with a poor American painter.

This film introduced to American and worldwide audiences for the first time the beauty of the 50s-60s style cheongsam worn by Chinese women in Hong Kong and South East Asia and very popular at the time. As a huge cheongsam fan myself, i loved the tight body-hugging high neckline n slit cheongsams shown in this movie as well as the multitude of on-location scenes of what Hong Kong looked like back in the late 1950s (priceless shots, really!). Please have a watch of what Hong Kong cheongsams (very accurate, verified from a cheongsam 'expert' like me! haha) and Hong Kong looked like back in its poorer days in the late 50s.

Entire film is available for viewing on youtube, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9-A19RezTc&feature=player_profilepage

Also, I love RTHK (Hong Kong's only public broadcasting station) current affairs programs as well as docus alot. They show aspects of Hong Kong society which may not be readily known to outsiders, usually focusing on the underbelly and socially discriminated or disadvantaged groups in Hong Kong and their daily struggles and triumphs. I especially like how they focus on not only the problems of these people, but also on the kindness and unextinguishable spirit of the common person and the optimism and hope one can have to overcome adversity in life. The episodes are available online for viewing (for those whom understand Cantonese or can read Traditional Chinese characters as subtitles are available for most programs in Chinese characters.) here: http://www.rthk.org.hk/rthk/program_archive.cgi?progdir=tv/commonfolks&event_name=%3F%3F+%3F%3F+銋%3F+甇%3F+%0A

~Enjoy!

Queer Cinema in Asia Recommendations 2009..亚洲同志电影推介2009年...2009年のアジアゲイ映画お勧め

In Asia, recent years have seen a flourishing of Gay films in the mainstream media and undoubtedly, Taiwan and the Philippines have led this queer Asian film charge ahead of other countries such as South Korea which have also produced many gay-themed movies...as i said before, I believe in Asia, the most gay-friendly countries are definitely Thailand, the Philippines, and Taiwan. In terms of media coverage, the Philippines definitely comes up on top for its gay-friendly and wide-ranging exposure of gay storylines/characters whilst I'd say Taiwan comes in second in terms of media queer-friendliness.

There's been many gay Filipino films in the past 5 yrs, and this yr there's been many films as well..but i'm only looking forward to 'In my Life' by Philippine's veteran Star 'for all Seasons' Ms. Vilma Santos, one of Filipino Cinema's most recognised and esteemed actresses as well as starring John Lloyd Cruz, the leading Filipino box-office lead currently as well as hunky Luis Manzano!

Here's the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf9ae_0f_jQ

A Taiwanese film dealing with the same theme of gayness is the film which is produced by veteran and probably THE most famous Taiwanese producer/screenwriter Wu Nien-Jen of the film 'Tou-San' (1994) fame. I'm really looking forward to this film about a colour-blind young girl and her gay cousin living in a small fishing village in rural Taiwan.

Here's the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5cx-uf18xk

Another gay Taiwanese film, Neon Hearts, being an interracial romance between a teenage Swedish boy and a teenage Taiwanese boy, is also coming up this yr, trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5r06evlreE

Given it's three gay male films to look out for pointed out for this year, lesbians, fret not, there's been many lesbian themed films and i personally like 'Saving Face' made by Taiwanese-American Alice Wu starring Lynn Chen (she's gorgeous!), Michelle Krusiec (i identify alot with her personality), and Joan Chen, whole movie here from 2004: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVVQq9Hkjuk

Also, one of my all-time fav Taiwanese films (note this is not just for the LGBT category but for the Taiwan Film entire category, it's THAT good for me.) which i first saw at the Melbourne In'tl Film Festival bck in the early 2000s and had not much expectation but was overwhelmed by the finishing scene-Blue Gate Crossing. Fan Trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viiPb6z1ues&feature=related

Not to mention, THE BIGGEST NEWS out yet this year, in the HK entertainment industry, ...hold your breaths ppl (for those familiar with Hong Kong's entertainment scene ala 80s/90s)...Vivian Chow, the most celebrated and 'originator' of the term 'Jade Girl' in HK, whom retired from filming in 1996 and was well-known for being THE Jade Girl of the 80s/early 90s is making a comeback to the big-screen! And in a lesbian romantic comedy opp. Sandra Ng (my FAVOURITE HK comedian actress of ALL-TIME) to be funded by Wong Jing and helmed by esteemed award-winning director Ann Hui-On Wah. OH MY GOD. This is BIG. BIG NEWS. Given Vivian Chow's choice of this movie as her comeback movie after a 13 yr hiatus, it shows how much society has changed that a romantic comedy dealing with two lesbians can be made into a commercial mainstream hk flick, and also HK's pre-eminent Jade girl, known for her feminine, good-girl image from the 80's would choose this lesbian romantic comedy as her comeback movie..i can't wait!

Now, whoever said Asia was behind in terms of queer representation in the media and positive images/role characters in its media? I'm constantly doing my part to correct this incorrect perception many Westerners, Asians, and even gay Asians have that somehow or other, Asia is very behind in terms of gay rights, visibility, role models, when it isn't! In certain countries in Asia it is the case (re: Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia,etc) but definitely not in Taiwan and the Philippines, two countries which hold a very special place in my heart!

PS: Update 29/10: Taiwan's Annual Gay Pride Parade, held in Taipei and also Asia's largest gay pride parade, will be held on 31st October 2009. My very best wishes to my compatriot Taiwanese as well as overseas participants whom will be attending (predicted to surpass 20,000 marchers this yr!) . In addition, Discovery Channel Taiwan has decided to broadcast Taiwan's very first Documentary focusing on contemporary gay & lesbian Life in Taiwan and societal/political acceptance and changes in the past decade or so.

Trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/user/lovepeacing2009#p/a/u/0/ckS0ou5eA_8

(I SOOO wanna see this!! Please record it and put it on youtube and inform me anyone living in Taiwan! Pretty pretty PLEASE?!)