Dance of the Dragon
This movie is great. For a drinking game.
Every time Korean heart-throb Jang Hyuk looks bewildered or MediaCorp actress Fann Wong looks pained, take a swig and you’ll be happily oblivious in no time.
The plot, for want of a better word, has Jang playing a poor Korean factory worker, Tae, who has always dreamed of dancing. One day, out of the blue, he receives a letter for a last-chance audition at a Singapore dance school.
Come again? This is such a random development that no one even attempts to give an explanation for it.
His transition from rural Korea to ostensibly modern-day Singapore is also made as jarring as possible as the language of the movie suddenly lurches from Korean to English.
The school that accepts international students is a rinky-dink set-up which is located, along with much of the action, in a time-warp section of Chinatown. Any moment now a rickshaw could trundle by and you would not be surprised.
The audition is a joke. Jang looks bewildered and Fann, as dance teacher Emi,looks pained. Glug glug.
To add to the fun, Emi has a psycho creep of a boyfriend, which partly accounts for her constant state of anguish.
Boyfriend Cheng (Jason Scott Lee) challenges Tae to a duel as he does not like the fact that Tae is dancing with his girl.
Tae points out, not unreasonably, that he’s a dancer, not a fighter. But he gamely picks up some form of Shaolin martial arts from a DVD, and then proceeds to what can only be described as a pose-off with Cheng.
And then there’s the finale, a dance competition which Tae and Emi take part in, even though they don’t ever seem to practise together.
Where would Tae find the time given that he’s busy washing cars to make ends meet and otherwise preoccupied with the letdown of a showdown?
If this film, co-directed by Australians John Radel and Max Mannix, were a turkey served at Christmas, the leftovers would last till Easter.
All right, maybe that’s quite a stretch, but hey, you’re already drunk.
(ST)
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Mayday [Down To Earth] Singapore Concert 2008
Singapore Indoor Stadium
Being brought back down to earth has never been more uplifting.
Less than a year after their last concert here, Taiwanese rock band Mayday once again proved why they are one of the top live acts around.
They thrilled the full-house crowd of almost 10,000 with unflagging energy and enthusiasm over a three-hour plus show which surged from highlight to highlight.
The drama began with a music video that came alive as stuntmen rappelled into the crowd and then the lads appeared, all dressed in white, in a literal deus ex machina as they were slowly lowered onto the stage.
And then they were off, guitars blazing, with Going Crazy, Perfume, Call Me No. 1 and Born To Love, pumping up the crowd with a series of rock-out numbers.
Such was the momentum that lead vocalist Ashin greeted the crowd only eight songs into the concert. He then took the spotlight as he sang There Is An Absolute In Life backed by keyboards, his earnest delivery at once expansive and intimate.
The much-touted 360-degree stage design was a great idea because it placed the band right in the middle of their adoring fans. The sky bridge, when lowered from the ceiling, along with the extended catwalks off the two ends of the main stage, formed the outline of a rectangle.
Cheers rang out as Ashin, guitarists Stone and Monster, bassist Masa and drummer Guan You ran along the catwalks to the sky bridge stage, brushing palms with besotted audience members along the way.
Fans also got the chance to sing Happy Birthday to Masa, who turned 31 on Friday. The band members clowned about, asking Guan You to lie down and raise the candle, drawing howls of laughter from the crowd.
Stone later provided a tender interlude as he sang Ya Ya, a song about a father’s love for his son.
Singapore was the first stop in the band’s regional tour and they worked the crowd effortlessly, getting the entire hall to bop up and down and sing along fervently.
On One Thousand Centuries, Ashin belted out: “I want to journey with you for one thousand centuries.” Backed by a 10,000 strong chorus, hyperbole turned into a simple declaration of fact.
(ST)
Singapore Indoor Stadium
Being brought back down to earth has never been more uplifting.
Less than a year after their last concert here, Taiwanese rock band Mayday once again proved why they are one of the top live acts around.
They thrilled the full-house crowd of almost 10,000 with unflagging energy and enthusiasm over a three-hour plus show which surged from highlight to highlight.
The drama began with a music video that came alive as stuntmen rappelled into the crowd and then the lads appeared, all dressed in white, in a literal deus ex machina as they were slowly lowered onto the stage.
And then they were off, guitars blazing, with Going Crazy, Perfume, Call Me No. 1 and Born To Love, pumping up the crowd with a series of rock-out numbers.
Such was the momentum that lead vocalist Ashin greeted the crowd only eight songs into the concert. He then took the spotlight as he sang There Is An Absolute In Life backed by keyboards, his earnest delivery at once expansive and intimate.
The much-touted 360-degree stage design was a great idea because it placed the band right in the middle of their adoring fans. The sky bridge, when lowered from the ceiling, along with the extended catwalks off the two ends of the main stage, formed the outline of a rectangle.
Cheers rang out as Ashin, guitarists Stone and Monster, bassist Masa and drummer Guan You ran along the catwalks to the sky bridge stage, brushing palms with besotted audience members along the way.
Fans also got the chance to sing Happy Birthday to Masa, who turned 31 on Friday. The band members clowned about, asking Guan You to lie down and raise the candle, drawing howls of laughter from the crowd.
Stone later provided a tender interlude as he sang Ya Ya, a song about a father’s love for his son.
Singapore was the first stop in the band’s regional tour and they worked the crowd effortlessly, getting the entire hall to bop up and down and sing along fervently.
On One Thousand Centuries, Ashin belted out: “I want to journey with you for one thousand centuries.” Backed by a 10,000 strong chorus, hyperbole turned into a simple declaration of fact.
(ST)
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Fancy a helping of Steamed Buns with Onion? It’s not the latest in haute fusion cuisine but the titles of two Chinese pop songs currently simmering on the charts.
Steamed Buns is by Hong Kong indie singer-songwriter Chet Lam and is taken off his Three Kinds Of Happiness EP (2008). The retro-sounding piano ballad is paired with a music video filmed in black-and-white in an homage to silent slapstick movies.
Onion is sung by Aska Yang, the white-hot Taiwanese singer, from his album Dove (2008). In the music video, Yang is shown wrapped up in layers of white cloth like a mummy.
The title of the song, Yang Cong, is also a pun on his Chinese name Yang Zongwei and also because he’s been said to make listeners cry with his emotive singing.
Food and song though are no strangers to each other. Back in 1957, Zhang Zhongwen was singing about Char Siew Buns, from the film Sisters Three.
More recently, Lam has crooned about instant noodles, Faye Wong has rhapsodised about red beans and David Tao has waxed lyrical over kungpao chicken.
Rich pickings indeed for a thesis on food imagery in Chinese pop culture. Just hold the MSG.
Lyrical Food For Thought
Choice picks: Yang Cong (Onion)
“The onions at the bottom of the plate are like me
Forever a seasoning”
“If you are willing, layer by layer by layer, to peel apart my heart
Your nose will crinkle, you will tear”
Taste test: Songwriter Ashin from Mayday uses the metaphor of an onion to express feelings of inadequacy and inferiority as the humble vegetable is often ignored or taken for granted - always the garnish, never the main dish.
He takes it one step further by conflating the physical reaction one gets from peeling an onion to the tearful emotional response of getting to the core of the truth when the layers of defence have been peeled away.
Choice picks: Man Tou (Steamed Buns)
“I am your steamed bun, often by your side
The most considerate romanticism, the most earnest gentleness”
“The purest steamed buns have always agreed with you
They have tasted the sour, sweet, bitter and spicy times with you
And won’t let you grow thin”
Taste test: The plain steamed bun represents simple, fulfilling happiness to Chet Lam. It may not be the most exotic or exciting dish, but it is reliable comfort food.
The steamed bun can also be read as a metaphor for Lam himself. He may be a modest looker but his earnest, endearing charms as a singer-songwriter will outlast the flash and sizzle of here-today gone-tomorrow boybands.
(ST)
Steamed Buns is by Hong Kong indie singer-songwriter Chet Lam and is taken off his Three Kinds Of Happiness EP (2008). The retro-sounding piano ballad is paired with a music video filmed in black-and-white in an homage to silent slapstick movies.
Onion is sung by Aska Yang, the white-hot Taiwanese singer, from his album Dove (2008). In the music video, Yang is shown wrapped up in layers of white cloth like a mummy.
The title of the song, Yang Cong, is also a pun on his Chinese name Yang Zongwei and also because he’s been said to make listeners cry with his emotive singing.
Food and song though are no strangers to each other. Back in 1957, Zhang Zhongwen was singing about Char Siew Buns, from the film Sisters Three.
More recently, Lam has crooned about instant noodles, Faye Wong has rhapsodised about red beans and David Tao has waxed lyrical over kungpao chicken.
Rich pickings indeed for a thesis on food imagery in Chinese pop culture. Just hold the MSG.
Lyrical Food For Thought
Choice picks: Yang Cong (Onion)
“The onions at the bottom of the plate are like me
Forever a seasoning”
“If you are willing, layer by layer by layer, to peel apart my heart
Your nose will crinkle, you will tear”
Taste test: Songwriter Ashin from Mayday uses the metaphor of an onion to express feelings of inadequacy and inferiority as the humble vegetable is often ignored or taken for granted - always the garnish, never the main dish.
He takes it one step further by conflating the physical reaction one gets from peeling an onion to the tearful emotional response of getting to the core of the truth when the layers of defence have been peeled away.
Choice picks: Man Tou (Steamed Buns)
“I am your steamed bun, often by your side
The most considerate romanticism, the most earnest gentleness”
“The purest steamed buns have always agreed with you
They have tasted the sour, sweet, bitter and spicy times with you
And won’t let you grow thin”
Taste test: The plain steamed bun represents simple, fulfilling happiness to Chet Lam. It may not be the most exotic or exciting dish, but it is reliable comfort food.
The steamed bun can also be read as a metaphor for Lam himself. He may be a modest looker but his earnest, endearing charms as a singer-songwriter will outlast the flash and sizzle of here-today gone-tomorrow boybands.
(ST)
Saturday, April 19, 2008
David Tao 2008
Singapore Indoor Stadium
It was a fitting concert to cap a 14-year detour, which was how Taiwan-based David Tao described his foray into music.
The singer, and aspiring director, entertained the 7,000-strong crowd over three hours with a well-thought-out show packed with little surprises throughout.
The boyish-looking 38-year-old emerged on stage in a burst of burgundy. He was decked out in a spiffy ensemble of vest and slacks paired with a polka-dotted shirt and tie.
An early highlight was Close To You (Tian Tian) as Tao strummed the acoustic guitar and caressed the lyrics with a lightly slurred delivery.
He also made good on his promise to feature new arrangements for most of his songs.
This was a gamble since the crowd could not always rely on familiar aural cues to get pumped up but the assured showman had a few tricks up his sleeve.
A thumping bassline anchored the slinky and sexy Let's Fall In Love (Tao Yan Hong Lou Meng) while a laser show complemented the aggro-rock of Ghost.
The crowd was even entertained by a Chinese pipa solo which segued into Susan Said, while Indian tabla drums and a belly dancer served as the introduction for Marry Me Today.
While his reinterpretations of old favourites can be a hit-or-miss affair, his sassy, show-stopping version of Moon Over My Heart saw him scatting and swooping all over the keyboard accompaniment.
But Tao also knew when to leave well enough alone. Regular Friends was backed by a pair of acoustic guitars and the crowd gave a roar of approval when the first few notes were plucked.
The entertainer bantered in a teasing manner with his fans in English and Mandarin and struck up an easy rapport with them.
He cheekily noted that Singapore was a fine city, but since 'they can't fine you all', he had the hall cheerfully yelling out Wang Ba Dan (Bastard) for his track of the same name.
The crooner had previously said that the applause he received here was the shortest of all the cities he performed in, but 'I feel something is different in the air tonight'.
And he later added, in all earnestness: 'I'm seriously considering moving to Singapore.'
Now that's a detour that fans here definitely approve of.
(ST)
Singapore Indoor Stadium
It was a fitting concert to cap a 14-year detour, which was how Taiwan-based David Tao described his foray into music.
The singer, and aspiring director, entertained the 7,000-strong crowd over three hours with a well-thought-out show packed with little surprises throughout.
The boyish-looking 38-year-old emerged on stage in a burst of burgundy. He was decked out in a spiffy ensemble of vest and slacks paired with a polka-dotted shirt and tie.
An early highlight was Close To You (Tian Tian) as Tao strummed the acoustic guitar and caressed the lyrics with a lightly slurred delivery.
He also made good on his promise to feature new arrangements for most of his songs.
This was a gamble since the crowd could not always rely on familiar aural cues to get pumped up but the assured showman had a few tricks up his sleeve.
A thumping bassline anchored the slinky and sexy Let's Fall In Love (Tao Yan Hong Lou Meng) while a laser show complemented the aggro-rock of Ghost.
The crowd was even entertained by a Chinese pipa solo which segued into Susan Said, while Indian tabla drums and a belly dancer served as the introduction for Marry Me Today.
While his reinterpretations of old favourites can be a hit-or-miss affair, his sassy, show-stopping version of Moon Over My Heart saw him scatting and swooping all over the keyboard accompaniment.
But Tao also knew when to leave well enough alone. Regular Friends was backed by a pair of acoustic guitars and the crowd gave a roar of approval when the first few notes were plucked.
The entertainer bantered in a teasing manner with his fans in English and Mandarin and struck up an easy rapport with them.
He cheekily noted that Singapore was a fine city, but since 'they can't fine you all', he had the hall cheerfully yelling out Wang Ba Dan (Bastard) for his track of the same name.
The crooner had previously said that the applause he received here was the shortest of all the cities he performed in, but 'I feel something is different in the air tonight'.
And he later added, in all earnestness: 'I'm seriously considering moving to Singapore.'
Now that's a detour that fans here definitely approve of.
(ST)
Monday, April 07, 2008
My Life As A Traitor
By Zarah Ghahramani with Robert Hillman
Bloomsbury/Paperback/250 pages/$33.95 without GST/Major bookstores
The title is provocative but it is not a gimmick. As far as the ruling Islamic clerics in Iran were concerned, Zarah Ghahramani was a traitor.
The Tehran University student made a speech on reform in school, attended political meetings and took part in protests.
As a result, in 2001, she was grabbed on the street and taken to Evin prison, which is notorious for its political prisoners’ wing.
Ghahramani, who was 20 when that happened, gives an unflinching account of the interrogations and beatings which followed and concludes that pain will break everyone.
This is not a tale of unwavering strength and resistance to torture. Yet it is a tale of courage. The courage it takes to lay bare one’s fears and frailties in the face of physical and mental punishment.
Interspersed with these harrowing episodes are her memories of growing up in a privileged household against the changing political backdrop, her passion for the Farsi language and falling in love.
“Young women in vestments that reach from the crown of their heads to their toes fall in love in the same way, by the same process, roused by the same emotions, as young women all over the world,” she writes.
If the Iran on television and in newspaper reports seems foreign and unknowable, books such as Persepolis, Reading Lolita In Tehran and My Life As A Traitor illuminate the country and her people, one story at a time.
If you like this, read: Darkness At Noon by Arthur Koestler (2006, $25.51 with GST, Books Kinokuniya).
This novel offers a glimpse of another repressive regime as it is set in 1938 in the Soviet Union during the Stalinist purges.
(ST)
By Zarah Ghahramani with Robert Hillman
Bloomsbury/Paperback/250 pages/$33.95 without GST/Major bookstores
The title is provocative but it is not a gimmick. As far as the ruling Islamic clerics in Iran were concerned, Zarah Ghahramani was a traitor.
The Tehran University student made a speech on reform in school, attended political meetings and took part in protests.
As a result, in 2001, she was grabbed on the street and taken to Evin prison, which is notorious for its political prisoners’ wing.
Ghahramani, who was 20 when that happened, gives an unflinching account of the interrogations and beatings which followed and concludes that pain will break everyone.
This is not a tale of unwavering strength and resistance to torture. Yet it is a tale of courage. The courage it takes to lay bare one’s fears and frailties in the face of physical and mental punishment.
Interspersed with these harrowing episodes are her memories of growing up in a privileged household against the changing political backdrop, her passion for the Farsi language and falling in love.
“Young women in vestments that reach from the crown of their heads to their toes fall in love in the same way, by the same process, roused by the same emotions, as young women all over the world,” she writes.
If the Iran on television and in newspaper reports seems foreign and unknowable, books such as Persepolis, Reading Lolita In Tehran and My Life As A Traitor illuminate the country and her people, one story at a time.
If you like this, read: Darkness At Noon by Arthur Koestler (2006, $25.51 with GST, Books Kinokuniya).
This novel offers a glimpse of another repressive regime as it is set in 1938 in the Soviet Union during the Stalinist purges.
(ST)
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Wu Bai & China Blue Asia Tour 2008
Suntec City Convention Hall 6
Rocker Wu Bai showed little sign of giving up his crown as King of Live Music during his three-hour concert.
The 40-year-old Taiwanese singer now sports well-coiffed hair and is fuller in the face but he could still pull out the stops on his hard-luck tales of life and love such as Wanderer’s Love Song and The End Of Love from a repertoire that spans more than 10 albums.
Having last performed here in September 2006 when he shared billing with Taiwanese singer Chang Chen-yueh, this time he thrilled the crowd of over 4,000 with his rapturous guitar-playing and intense delivery.
Emerging on stage with a black jacket thrown over a white graphic T-shirt and black pants – his dramatic eye make-up obviously inspired by glam rockers Kiss – he got right down to business with Innocent Years from his last studio album.
He then reclaimed Yellow Moon, which he wrote for popster Tarcy Su, for himself.
It wasn’t till a couple more numbers into his show that he greeted the audience. Clearly, he preferred to let his songs do the talking.
Still, beneath the cool, taciturn exterior was someone who could be playful as well and fans got to see this side of him in the dance segment.
Backed by four female dancers in cropped tops and hot pants, he showed off his moves on four tracks, including Flower.
During the second encore, he had everyone in the hall on their feet as they took part in a mass dance led by him and his game band China Blue.
Fans also got to see their idol’s artistic side as his photographic works, comprising poetic and almost abstract images, were flashed on stage to the accompaniment of keyboards and violin.
But the familiar Wu Bai was the one they loved best and Hokkien tracks such as Lonely Tree, Lonely Bird, No. 1 In The World and One Half proved to be crowd-pleasers.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of Wu Bai & China Blue and their long experience in performing together showed in the tight-knit playing.
The set ended on a high note as Wu and the gang gave a spirited rendition of the aptly titled Again, Meet Again in an impressive shower of confetti.
Carried along by the energy, Wu asked for the lights to come on, and stay on, so that he could see the crowd.
After the Flower mass dance, he quipped: “It’s ended, why are you still here? I’ve sung for such a long time, go home, go home.”
Then, for good measure, he sent his fans reeling into the night with the propulsive You’re Drunk, My Dear, high from the invigorating blast of rock ’n’ roll.
(ST)
Suntec City Convention Hall 6
Rocker Wu Bai showed little sign of giving up his crown as King of Live Music during his three-hour concert.
The 40-year-old Taiwanese singer now sports well-coiffed hair and is fuller in the face but he could still pull out the stops on his hard-luck tales of life and love such as Wanderer’s Love Song and The End Of Love from a repertoire that spans more than 10 albums.
Having last performed here in September 2006 when he shared billing with Taiwanese singer Chang Chen-yueh, this time he thrilled the crowd of over 4,000 with his rapturous guitar-playing and intense delivery.
Emerging on stage with a black jacket thrown over a white graphic T-shirt and black pants – his dramatic eye make-up obviously inspired by glam rockers Kiss – he got right down to business with Innocent Years from his last studio album.
He then reclaimed Yellow Moon, which he wrote for popster Tarcy Su, for himself.
It wasn’t till a couple more numbers into his show that he greeted the audience. Clearly, he preferred to let his songs do the talking.
Still, beneath the cool, taciturn exterior was someone who could be playful as well and fans got to see this side of him in the dance segment.
Backed by four female dancers in cropped tops and hot pants, he showed off his moves on four tracks, including Flower.
During the second encore, he had everyone in the hall on their feet as they took part in a mass dance led by him and his game band China Blue.
Fans also got to see their idol’s artistic side as his photographic works, comprising poetic and almost abstract images, were flashed on stage to the accompaniment of keyboards and violin.
But the familiar Wu Bai was the one they loved best and Hokkien tracks such as Lonely Tree, Lonely Bird, No. 1 In The World and One Half proved to be crowd-pleasers.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of Wu Bai & China Blue and their long experience in performing together showed in the tight-knit playing.
The set ended on a high note as Wu and the gang gave a spirited rendition of the aptly titled Again, Meet Again in an impressive shower of confetti.
Carried along by the energy, Wu asked for the lights to come on, and stay on, so that he could see the crowd.
After the Flower mass dance, he quipped: “It’s ended, why are you still here? I’ve sung for such a long time, go home, go home.”
Then, for good measure, he sent his fans reeling into the night with the propulsive You’re Drunk, My Dear, high from the invigorating blast of rock ’n’ roll.
(ST)
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