志异 Draft by Drama box July 2014 (english) | Page 32

to sacrifice oneself for the greater
good (the good of family, society),
echoing the state ideology of every
individual being part of the body
politic. In this way, the messages
of these films, although outwardly
critical of the system, reinforce the
hierarchical family-oriented societal
structures that the government
has laid down for the people. The
way in which he differs from the
mainstream media is then only a
matter of methodology – whereas
the media prescribes a certain way
the people behaves, Neo describes
the way people behave, but only in
a way that vindicates their place,
thus challenging very little of the
situation in which the government
puts them.

of passage’ through which boys
grow up and form meaningful
relationships with other men.
Refusing this ‘rite of passage,’ as the
protagonist does at the beginning,
is to reject one’s Singaporean
identity and the fundamental values
of society; it is to alienate and
subjugate his loved ones to his own
selfish and pithy desires, a notion
the film strongly condemns. What
is appalling is that this description
of Singaporean identity and society
adheres to and reaffirms the image
that Singapore has of its boys/
men. Neo, as an entertainer and
artist, only has to describe that
psychology to fully embody the
insecurity and self-loathing that we
feel toward ourselves.

Ah Boys To Men is no different.
In internalising the state’s fear
mongering, Neo portrays
compulsory military service as a
necessity. The film describes a
reluctant National Service enlistee
who, through a family crisis, gives
up his ‘selfish’ desire to avoid
the army, eventually sacrificing
himself for the sake of becoming
a responsible, assimilated ‘citizen.’
Throughout the film, we see
the lineage of National Service
through the generations; it is a ‘rite

The horrifying implication is that the
closer an artist comes to describing
the people – something we Englishspeaking intellectuals often envy
Neo of being able to do – the
more he is unable to diagnose the
problems within us. The mere act of
description is enough to entrench
us within our set archetypes (that
we no less believe ourselves),
and perpetuate the cycle of selfoppression. In sympathising with
the ‘heartlanders,’ in adopting
their point of view and taking their

column two – daniel hui

jack neo and the vicious circle