LIDDAT HOW to success?
That’s what taxi uncle Leong wonders near the beginning of Beautiful Dreamer, a viral short film by award-winning director Boo Junfeng.
His granddaughter Kai, afterall, wants to do an arts degree.
So that means Uncle Leong and her talking in the taxi as they drive to her LASALLE audition. Quiet bemusement from him throughout. Quieter side eye from her:
Beautiful Dreamer is a brisk 12-minute watch and has that true–to-Singaporean-life feel which Boo’s famous for. (Seriously, check out Sandcastle if you haven’t already.)
Full disclosure here: Boo’s short film is one of four by world-class Singaporean directors which talk about hope, possibilities and Forward Singapore. There’s In the Pipeline by K Rajagopal, which is about an unconventional young woman entering in the male-dominated career of plumbing. The Machine, by Siyou Tan tells of hardworking Hari, who wants to be a better dad for his teenage daughter.
Then there’s Roslee Yusof’s heartwarming romcom Masih, where old Encik Jufri keeps meeting this spritely elderly lady when he’s at active ageing courses. We highly recommend it.
If you like any of these shorts, do share them. They each talk about a different aspect of what Forward Singapore is about: learning beyond grades, defining success differently, supporting families at every stage and enabling seniors to age well.
You might also want to watch a video or two in the Let’s Begin: The Forward SG Story series. Those talk about how our political office holders are charting a path for everyday Singaporeans in the wilderness of the rapidly changing and challenging world.
Like Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong says in the first video (and taxi uncle Leong might agree with this), “My hope is that we obsess less about what schools we go to, what grades we get, instilling in every person that sense of curiosity and that desire to keep on learning.”
So let’s begin:
