You're Nobody To Me
Ellen Loo

2/2
Yoyo Sham

Both Ellen Loo and Yoyo Sham are singer- songwriters from Hong Kong.
And both are linked to one man – feted singer Eason Chan.
Loo is the guitarist at Chan’s concerts, while Sham is his back-up vocalist.
One wonders if the two chat about their music during rehearsal breaks.
Of the two, Loo is better known, given that she is one-half of Cantopop duo at17 and also a successful solo artist who released her Mandarin debut The Ripples last year.
The electronica ballad You’re Nobody To Me shimmers delicately at first and then builds up to a refrain that has Loo proclaiming: “You never had any tears, it’s a waste being good to you/What kind of human being are you, you make me feel ashamed of loving you”.
Also included here is the demo track Bees, which was recorded by singer Denise Ho as Festival Of Youth. The emotive ballad stands on its own and is no mere filler track.
Good as this is, Sham’s second EP 2/2 is even better.
There are two versions of two songs collected here: the wonderfully atmospheric 1/2 Cup and 2/2 Cup, as well as Moving On Pedals and Moving On.
And she manages to make every single version sound thoroughly valid.
Take Moving On, which is about one’s journey through life: “On the flow of life, we’re not as active as we think/It’s as if we got pushed, then take one step and yet another”.
It works beautifully on its own, with a simple arrangement that allows Sham’s lightly husky voice to shine.
The Pedals version builds upon that, and works in bicycle bells and a rhythmic beat that strengthen the idea of a journey.
It won’t be too long before Sham breaks out and Chan will have to look for a new back-up singer.
(ST)

The Mad Chinaman (1989)
Dick Lee

What is Singaporean pop?
Known for composing pop hits for Hong Kong singers such as Jacky Cheung, Leslie Cheung and Sandy Lam, as well as Home, that gold standard of National Day songs, singer-songwriter Dick Lee has grappled with that question in his albums – beginning with Life Story in 1974.
But it was The Mad Chinaman, released in 1989 on Warner Music, that really made people sit up and take notice of his brand of Singa-pop.
The album’s cover photo teased: Lee, now 56, was almost unrecognisable in full Chinese opera get-up complete with thick stylised make-up. What did Chinese opera have to do with English pop and what did the term Mad Chinaman mean?
Part of the answer was in the liner notes. In them, he wrote that “trying to identify the Asian in my Western make-up is enough to drive me crazy!”.
At its heart, the record was an attempt to map and probe his identity as a man caught between two cultures.
At the same time, it sought to answer the question of whether there was, or could be, such a thing as Singaporean pop.
These were big, possibly serious, issues but Lee’s musical inventiveness and sense of playfulness and adventure made the resulting album a sheer joy to listen to.
Take the giddily gleeful Mustapha. It was Lee’s tribute to Tamil movies and it even included dialogue from a mock chase scene.
The track featured singer Jacintha Abisheganaden, whom he would go on to marry in 1992 and divorce five years later, and delicious lines such as: “Honey, honey, sugar’s not as sweet/Oh, my papadam, you’re good enough to eat”.
This was pop, but done in a fresh way.
The lyrics were filled with familiar references to all things Singaporean; the songs were mainly in English but also had Mandarin, Malay and Tamil thrown into the merry mix; and the instrumentation was augmented by the use of ethnic instruments such as the erhu, the sitar and the tabla.
Many of the songs were built around familiar folk ditties and old favourites.
Rasa Sayang is a rap that built on the folk song of the same name. It is a feel-good homage to Singapore and it was thrilling to have prata, mee pok and chye tow kway name-checked in a song.
Lee also proved to have a knack for jazzing up old standards. An old Chinese number The Ding Dong Song, was given a new lease of life with a remix and the repetition of the spoken line “What is this thing called love?”.
Yet, for such a local record, The Mad Chinaman also turned out to be Lee’s breakthrough in the region, including the hard-to- crack Japanese market where it sold 12,000 copies within two months of its release.
What was originally planned to be his final album paved the way for him to move to Japan in 1990 to further his music career.
He continues to make albums which wrestle with the question of culture and identity for a self-professed banana who is yellow on the outside and white on the inside.
They include Orientalism (1991) and Singapop (1996).
Nothing has caught fire the way The Mad Chinaman did, and the album has become synonymous with Dick Lee.
He even named his 2004 autobiography The Adventures Of The Mad Chinaman.
He may have struggled with the question of what Singaporean pop is, but that poser is a no-brainer to anyone listening to The Mad Chinaman today.
(ST)

Yoga Lin “Fugue” Concert Tour
The Star Theatre, The Star Performing Arts Centre
Last Saturday

With just four albums, Taiwan’s Yoga Lin has built a rich body of work with both depth of feeling and breadth of genre. And with the 25-year-old in great form vocally, it was simply a delight to listen to the songs live.
There were no dazzling effects or outrageous costumes but none of that mattered when the songs and the singing were of such a calibre.
He was first seen on stage in a cone of light as he strummed the guitar to the strains of I Always Practise Alone. With an immaculate coif and dressed in a blazer over a white and pink shirt with glittery pants, Lin oozed preppy glamour.
From a quiet ballad about urban loneliness, he jumped to the brash and jazzy You Are What You Eat, demonstrating his versatility in one quick leap.
On rock tracks such as Runaway Mama and Wake Up, he turned up the energy level effortlessly. So what if there was no slick choreography? He simply moved as the music moved him.
One thread that runs through some of his faster-paced songs is an optimistic celebration of life.
The Wonderful Life enthuses: “Such a perfect life/How can you bear not to live it well/How can you bear not to be happy.” Si Fan (Captain S.V) takes an unusual point of view of aliens visiting earth and Lin declares: “I must quickly find out the charms of this backward planet.”
At the same time, he is the master of the devastating love song. Heartbreak is about foolish, glorious young love and it is a song that gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. Other prime examples include Fool, Unrequited and Fairy Tale, all exquisitely delivered in his evocative and emotive voice.
For his rendition of Please Speak, a simple prop of a single swinging light bulb was used to great effect as light bulbs exploded on the screen.
His last concert here was in 2009 and Lin was definitely happy to be back with a large-scale show. He ran off the stage and into the audience several times and even jokingly contemplated scaling the wall to reach those on the upper tiers.
When the fans seated in circle two cheered at one point, it was clear that the venue had pretty good acoustics. The sound mix for the show, though, had a tad too much reverb and the music was also a little too loud at times vis-a-vis the vocals.
But it was nothing that really threatened to mar the enjoyment of the 5,000 fans over the three-hour-long gig; certainly not by the time everyone was loudly chorusing “wo oh oh oh oh oh” for A Souvenir.
For his encore, Lin went back to some of his earliest material. The One I Love, You Are My Eyes and That Very Song were recorded for compilation albums for the singing competition show One Million Star. He was the winner of the inaugural season in 2007.
The final song of the night was Bo Le (Admirer) but first, Lin had a little surprise up his sleeve. In order to create a special memory for the Singapore stop of his tour, he changed into a simple period scholar get-up. It was an adorable look which had Lin bursting into laughter when he saw himself up on the screen.
He remarked at one point that he seldom comes to Singapore and so faced the quandary of whether he had enough friends to invite to the home that was his concert. He added: “I will work hard to be friends with you.”
As long as he continues putting out ambitious and stellar records, there will be no lack of friends, and fans, at a Yoga Lin concert.
(ST)

9th:) Time Falling In Love
A-do

The lead single for the lacklustre last album, Fear No More (2010), was Crying Ox with its headscratching chorus about buying and selling an ox. After that mis-step, homegrown singer A-do is back on more familiar ground on his seventh album.
The opening tracks are romantic ballads which play to the forte of his husky voice. The more relaxed numbers such as R&B-flavoured Valentine’s Day work better, though that song’s “Ay-ah ay-ah” chorus sounds rather dated.
The title track gets too angsty, however, and the concept of falling in love as if for the first time for the ninth time is too overwrought. The cutesy emoticon does not help.
A clutch of maudlin ballads in the middle bogs the album down and raises the unpleasant question of whether this really is the extent of A-do’s range as a singer.
Thank goodness Don’t Mention picks up the pace and shows some spirit: “I won’t mention sadness, I won’t mention, won’t reminisce/I won’t mention fate, those who persevere have super abilities”.
On Valentine’s Day, he sings: “I will appear in front of you in my perfection/I want to become your most beautiful memory”.
If only he were talking about his seventh album here.

(ST)

Dawn
Dawn Wong

Tong's Music
Lin Si Tong

A singer’s first release is a calling card to the world and, happily, both Dawn Wong and Lin Si Tong’s debut efforts show promise.
Wong’s eponymous EP has a clearer identity as she offers hopeful and positive songs that draw on genres from pop to jazz.
The perky whimsy of The Perfect Two (Stuck Like Glue) makes it the perfect wedding song for that retro-cool couple you know. And it kicks off the record on a bright note. Play it a few times and it will soon stick like, well, you know. It has a sweetness tempered by humour and I prefer that to the more conventionally sugary Ring Finger.
She goes on to demonstrate some range in her choice of material which highlights her distinctively clear and high-pitched voice.
Just Because is an upbeat and uplifting track with inspirational lyrics: “Because I have dreams, all my decisions are worth it.”
And final number Revision is a tender ballad about having that special someone in one’s life.
Lin, too, shows some versatility on her EP.
Childhood Memories strikes a note of pleasant nostalgia, though for some reason, it reminds me of Taiwanese singer Claire Kuo’s Singing In The Trees.
With the following number, Contrast, she shows a more rebellious side: “So I’m not as ignorant or quiet as they say/Actually I want to break free of that life and head to some corner.”
Lyrically, Lin needs to take note of her choice of words as, on occasion, her diction and phrasing can feel a little stiff.
On the whole, she has a good grasp of the pop idiom in her compositions such as ballad Uncoordinated Love and mid-tempo number Best Demonstration with their catchy hooks and relatable sentiments.
Most importantly, both Lin and Wong interest one enough to want to hear more.
(ST)

Rise Of The Guardians
Peter Ramsey
The story: North (Alec Baldwin voicing Santa Claus), Tooth (Isla Fisher as the Tooth Fairy), Bunnymund (Hugh Jackman as the Easter Bunny) and Sandy the Sandman (who communicates through visuals of sand which appear over his head) are the Guardians of children all over the world. When Pitch the Boogeyman (Jude Law) attempts to plunge the world into fear and darkness, the Man in the Moon anoints one more Guardian to help in the battle – the carefree Jack Frost (Chris Pine). The fantasy adventure is based on William Joyce’s The Guardians Of Childhood book series (2011-2012).

Think you know Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny? Think again because one of the pleasures of Rise Of The Guardians is how it takes familiar traditions and folklore and has a little whimsical fun with them.
So Santa Claus is not exactly a jolly grandfather but an imposing figure who speaks with a European accent and has “Nice” tattooed on one forearm and “Naughty” on the other.
And the Easter Bunny is no fluffy ball of cuteness but a 6-foot-tall rabbit with a mean Australian accent and meaner boomerang-throwing skills.
But not to worry, there are still adorable characters around to gush over, from the hummingbird-like baby tooth fairies to the earnestly industrious yetis and elves who populate Santa’s headquarters at the North Pole.
Keep an eye out for the running joke about the yeti who just cannot get the colour right regardless of what he is painting.
There is even wit to the villainy as Pitch unleashes his nightmares to gallop into the dreams of sleeping children and wreak havoc with the work of the Guardians.
If children stop believing in the tooth fairy or the Easter bunny, then the very existence of the Guardians themselves are threatened and the things they seek to protect – wonder, hope, memories and dreams – will be destroyed.
Standing between Pitch and his dark plan is Jack Frost, a fun-loving spirit who brings a touch of winter with him.
The irresponsible prankster seems to be an unlikely choice for a Guardian but gradually, he embraces the role thrust upon him and discovers his true self along the way.
Bringing the characters to life is a roster of voices which includes name actors such as Baldwin, Jackman, Pine and Law.
My initial concern that this was going to be a case of celebrity stunt-casting turned out to be unfounded as they inhabited the roles they played instead of being intrusively recognisable as, say, Jennifer Lopez was in Ice Age 4: Continental Drift (2012).
There is also a vibrancy and liveliness to the animation, particularly in the action sequences. For example, a little boy has the ride of his life as Jack zips in and out of traffic and other obstacles and lays down a path of slippery ice along his way.
This little boy, Jamie (Dakota Goyo from sci-fi sports drama Real Steel, 2011), ends up playing a pivotal role in the battle against Pitch.
There is an empowering moment for children when Pitch mockingly asks who will protect the Guardians and Jamie steps forth and says that he will.
With a positive message for the little ones and wit and humour for the adults, Rise Of The Guardians is an animated treat the whole family can enjoy together.
(ST)

Earthwalk
Cosmos People
On their second full-length album, kooky Taiwanese band Cosmos People continue to exude fun and humour.
Lead vocalist Xiao Yu sings on the electropop opening track Let’s Go Running Together: “Let’s go running together, don’t say no/Our rhythm is two breaths in, puke it out”.
The trio happily play around with diverse musical genres. Just take Xiang Jian Xiao Lu, Xiang Jian Xiao Lu (Country Roads, Shoulder Peekaboo – a title that puns on how both things sound alike in Mandarin), which melds country music with violins.
Want To Turn You Into A Movie, on the other hand, is more mainstream guitar pop with lyrics that reference film: “You dance a Chaplin, so quietly black-and-white/The city’s lights are extinguished because of you”.
While it is good that they are keenly exploring the musical universe, this trip of an album also means it is hard to get a fix on their identity.
Sticking closer to earth for their next outing might not be a bad idea.
(ST)

Mystery
Lou Ye
The story: Lu Jie (Hao Lei) and Yongzhao (Qin Hao) seem at first to be a version of the China dream made real. They are happily married with a young daughter and live a comfortably middle-class life.
Lu Jie befriends Sang Qi (Qi Xi), the mother of her daughter’s schoolmate who suspects that her husband is having an affair. Slowly, the life Lu Jie thought she had begins to unravel.

In his last few films, China’s auteur-provocateur Lou Ye has pushed buttons with his choice of material.
Love And Bruises (2011) depicted a sexually intense affair, Spring Fever (2009) took on homosexuality and Summer Palace (2006) featured the politically sensitive Tiananmen protests of 1989.
The last landed him with a five-year ban on film-making in China.
Mystery marks his return to “official” film-making and it has been showered with seven Golden Horse Award nominations, including for Best Feature Film, Best Director and Best Leading Actress.
His dedication and persistence to his craft is laudable, less so his latest effort.
The noirish mystery-thriller set in a rainy and dreary city harks back to his early breakthrough work, Suzhou River (2000), which featured Zhou Xun in dual roles.
While there was a surreal feel to Suzhou River, Mystery, for the most part, is anchored in the reality of here and now and the performances of Hao Lei, nominated for Best Leading Actress, and Qi Xi, nominated for Best New Performer.
As in Summer Palace, Hao is once again put through the emotional wringer by Lou.
After Lu Jie discovers her husband’s infidelity through a meeting with Sang Qi, her sense of pain and betrayal is acute and it is all played across Hao’s face.
In contrast, Qin Hao’s philandering Yongzhao is largely a cipher beyond the fact that he has trouble keeping his pants on. Later in the film, after a few more devastating revelations, Lu begins to exact her revenge, testing the audience’s sympathy for her.
Just when things seem like they might get interesting and nasty, the film changes tack to go back to the investigation of a car accident which claimed a young woman’s life.
The few twists and turns in the narrative here do not work – events unfold in a manner that is plainly improbable, particularly so towards the end when there seems to be a rush to wrap things up. For example, a key pouch is conveniently dropped, and found, and leads the police right to, well, the right person.
To be fair, some of what seems preposterous makes sense in the light of revelations doled out in the film.
Mystery works neither as a murder mystery nor as a dark domestic drama, stranded somewhere in the murky middle.
(ST)

Cold War
Longman Leung, Sunny Luk
The story: An explosion goes off in a bustling part of Hong Kong. A fully equipped police van disappears. Rattled, the law enforcers launch operation Cold War and rival deputy commissioners Sean Lau (Aaron Kwok) and Waise Lee (Tony Leung Ka Fai) fight to take charge. At stake are the lives of the cop hostages, the force’s reputation and the powerful post of police commissioner.

Cold war refers to the operation to recover the hostages and the van as well as to the battle for power between rival deputy police commissioners.
From the get-go, first-time writer-directors Longman Leung and Sunny Luk ratchet up the tension with choice pacing and plenty of questions.
Who is behind the disappearance of the van? Why is it timed to coincide with the absence of the police commissioner? Why are Sean Lau (Aaron Kwok) and Waise Lee (Tony Leung Ka Fai) such bitter enemies?
Beyond the deputies’ jockeying for power, there seems to be a long-standing rivalry fuelling their animosity. Actually, rather than a cold war, it is more like an open battle between the two.
At first, Waise seems to gain the upper hand by quickly usurping command. Then Sean makes his move in a showdown that makes the two men look like rival gang leaders rather than fellow cops.
Leung sinks his teeth into the showier role of the brash Waise, keeping one guessing as to whether he is an insufferable good guy or a devious bad cop.
Despite his two Golden Horse trophies for Best Actor, Kwok does not quite have the chops to go against Leung mano-a-mano.
Also, Sean feels like a more passive, put-upon character. The viewer’s sympathy is more clearly steered towards him which also means there is no intriguing question mark hanging over him.
The film-makers also hold your attention with competently staged action sequences including a drawn-out scene of Sean following instructions to hand over the ransom money and a final showdown complete with firepower and fireworks.
Apart from the veterans, including Charlie Young as a feisty public relations officer for the police, a newer generation of actors add to the star power.
Aarif Rahman (Bruce Lee, My Brother, 2010) is Billy Cheung, a dogged investigator looking into operation Cold War after its conclusion. And the busy Eddie Peng (Love, Taichi 0 and Taichi Hero, 2012) has a small but pivotal role as Waise’s son, who is also one of the police officers in the van.
The investigation part feels less satisfying, like a tacked-on extended postscript to the main event, its chief purpose being to pave the way for an ending which screams “To be continued”.
Watch out for the scene in which Waise is interrogated. The wily old fox schools the wet-behind- the-ears Billy in the rules of the game and it is Leung’s masterclass in acting.
It seems that Cold War fancies itself this year’s Infernal Affairs (2002), what with conspiracy theories and talk of there being a police mole. It certainly opens the door to that connection with Infernal Affairs star Andy Lau having a guest turn here as the territory’s Secretary for Security.
Cold War does not quite reach those heights but it does generate quite a bit of heat, thanks to a riveting Tony Leung.
(ST)

Super Yo
Evan Yo

It has been three years since Taiwanese singer-songwriter Evan Yo’s enjoyable last album, Loneliness (2009), and quite a few things have happened in the interim.
He did his military service, buffed up, and switched to a new label from Sony Music. In general, he seems to have done some growing up.
And it shows on his fourth album.
The easy-on-the-ears love ballads are still here and include tracks such as Can’t Love You Enough and Who Knows. Thinking leaves an impression with its lyrics about being inarticulate in love: “Oh baby, I’m so... love you/The feeling I can’t put into words, can you hear it”.
More unexpected are the dance tracks which mark a change of direction for him. And thankfully, they steer clear of the K-pop template of marrying insanely catchy beats with sometimes nonsensical lyrics.
On the opening title track, he signals this new turn: “We depend, on the right brain, let rationality have a good sleep, Now/Walk with me to the right/Watch me break the flow.”
Kudos to him for not simply going with the flow.

The Scent Of Night
Crowd Lu

Have A Holiday
Soft Lipa, Dadado Huang

Some of my favourite singer-songwriters have come up with EPs, whetting my appetite for their new albums.
Crowd Lu’s The Scent Of Night is an acoustic guitar ballad in the vein of his best folk-pop offerings.
There is a sense of mystery and joy to it that is beguiling as he croons: “I pass through the tree tops, fly over walls, the fables of the city/I’m chasing after, mysteriously able to fly, wanting to find out who is singing in my dream.”
As for hip-hop artist Soft Lipa, his genre-blurring collaborations have seen him venturing into jazz and pop, each time with great success in albums such as Moonlight (2010) and Riding A Bicycle (2011). His tie-up with folkster Dadado Huang is equally rewarding.
The EP cover is already appealing in its visual wit as Dan Bao (Soft Lipa’s Mandarin pinyin name) plus Dadado Huang equals dan huang, or egg yolk.
The breezy Have A Holiday sounds joyful but is emotionally more conflicted. The song seamlessly ties together Soft Lipa’s hypnotic rhymes with Huang’s delicate vocals in this tale of a man who just needs a break. And the gently elegiac The Worries Of A Youngster sensitively sketches out that no man’s land between childhood and adulthood.
This is an egg yolk that nourishes and satisfies.
(ST)

Ah Boys To Men Part 1
Jack Neo
The story: Spoilt rich kid Ken (Joshua Tan) wants to wriggle out of national service enlistment to study overseas with his girlfriend. He is encouraged by his mother (Irene Ang) while his father (Richard Low) wants him to aim for Officer Cadet School. When Ken is eventually sent to Pulau Tekong, he tries ways and means to weasel out of training.

Writer-director Jack Neo starts his latest movie with a bang. Several, in fact. Singapore is under attack by an unknown enemy and planes are bombing iconic structures from the Merlion to Marina Bay Sands to HDB flats.
The visual effects are a step up from those seen in his previous works and the idea of modern-day Singapore at war is an intriguing one.
Yet the opening has the air of a national education message by the Ministry of Defence.
When the long gimmicky opening sequence is finally over, Neo puts on local comedienne Irene Ang in full-on auntie mode as a loud, pushy and unreasonable mother who is determined to get her son out of national service.
It is almost an hour before bratty rich kid Ken (Joshua Tan) gets enlisted anyway and we are introduced to a bunch of stereotypes who are his section mates.
There is clearly camaraderie among the group of fresh young actors, whose onscreen friendships and group dynamics could have been interesting to explore against the backdrop of military training.
But once again, Neo undermines himself.
Few of the recruits – from streetsmart Lobang (a naturalistic Wang Wei Liang) to eager beaver Aloysius Jin (Maxi Lim) – pass for actual characters.
Most problematic of all, the key character of Ken is a sulky boy with a bad temper and a worse attitude. Little wonder that he has problems with his girlfriend, their relationship is a hysterical sideshow that irritates instead of engages.
With the trials and triumphs of national service a familiar ground covered previously in Mandarin TV drama Army Series (1983), stage play Army Daze (1987) and documentary Every Singaporean Son (2010), to name a few examples, compelling characters would have made Ah Boys feel fresher.
What the film gets right is the portrayal of the tough and intimidating sergeants who dominate the lives of recruits.
There are even flashbacks to the old- school training of the past where sergeants had the power to order a stand-by bed in the parade square (yes, recruits would have to physically carry the bed and cupboard there).
As entertaining as they are, these glimpses into the past add to the bloated running time.
Perhaps one could play spot-the- film-sponsor to while away some of the time but then, the game would be too easy to be much of a challenge.
The oddest product placement was for an auditor. Stranded on a highway in the middle of a storm after a dramatic break-up, Ken bumps into a few cyclists wearing raincoats with a prominent company logo. They hand him a raincoat. Thank goodness they were there to save the day – and disrupt the rhythm of the film.
The change in Ken’s attitude is predictable and regrettably melodramatic, with Neo resorting to a last-minute incident as in many of his other films.
From the snippets glimpsed at the end of part 1, it seems that much of the drama among the recruits will be kept for part 2, along with more relationship troubles, though for someone else and not Ken.
Too bad part 1 does not make a convincing argument for splitting the movie into two parts in the first place.
(ST)

Monsieur Lazhar
Philippe Falardeau
The story: A teacher commits suicide in the classroom of an elementary school in Montreal. The replacement Bashir Lazhar (Mohamed Fellag), who is from Algeria, tries to help the children cope with this terrible event. His students include the grave and wise Alice (Sophie Nelisse) and the mercurial Simon (Emilien Neron). Eventually, the painful reason for Bashir’s departure from his homeland is revealed.

What seems at first to be a story about 11-year-olds dealing with the grief and shock of a teacher’s suicide transmutes into a richer film about society and humanity.
In the aftermath of the death, the adults at school and at home treat the subject with kid gloves. They mean well but they seem to have little idea of the emotional lives of the children.
Bashir Lazhar, on the other hand, is prepared to engage with his students on the taboo subject of death. Chastised by the school for his pains, he slowly gains the trust and liking of his young charges.
Viewers receive little clues that there is more to him than he lets on. He claims to have been a teacher in Algeria but his knowledge of the classroom and teaching methods seem totally outdated. There is no doubt that his concern for the children is genuine but what secret is he keeping?
Writer-director Philippe Falardeau unfolds the film at a leisurely pace, with an assured control of tone so it never drags. Little moments of humour also lift what could have been a grim story.
The performances are excellent. Algerian Mohamed Fellag’s turn as Bashir is subtle and understated and, one imagines, far removed from the stand-up comedy he is apparently known for.
He is matched by the child performers, particularly Sophie Nelisse, whose character Alice is childlike and yet mature beyond her years.
As the story develops, Falardeau uses it to comment on various issues. For example, the relationship between teachers and their students is now so fraught that it is regulated to the point of being ridiculous. A teacher even remarks that working with kids is like working with radioactive waste – if you touch them, you get burnt.
Jibes at Bashir for not being Canadian reflect the uneasy relationship the society has with its immigrants. While Bashir makes a connection with the children, there is no grand “Oh captain, my captain” gesture like in Dead Poets Society (1989). Instead, there is a hug between a teacher and a student at the end that is both moving and bittersweet.
Monsieur Lazhar is not a neat and tidy movie with all its themes tied prettily with a bow. It is a compelling character study and a portrait of life that does not sugarcoat sometimes ugly truths. Along with a clear-eyed dose of honesty, it also offers hope and the healing balm of human connection.
(ST)

The 12th Global Chinese Music Awards is organised by seven radio stations from around the region. Appropriately enough, watching the awards show is like listening to the radio which has a little bit of everything thrown into the mix.
There were performances by artists from Hong Kong’s Eason Chan to local singer Kit Chan, chatter by the deejay-hosts and interview segments with the stars.
The main difference is the addition of the visual element to the ceremony. Apart from the awards show, there was also a Walk of Fame event held before the show at Marina Bay Sands.
And stealing the limelight in the fashion department was Hong Kong’s Joey Yung. She looked like a giant shocking pink shower scrub and when she sat down, her voluminous get-up swallowed up her neighbours.
When her interview segment with the hosts ran on and on about her concert in Singapore next year, she jokingly thanked them for the long advertising segment.
The diva had a sizable contingent of fans but the loudest screams from the 4,000-strong crowd at the Singapore Indoor Stadium last Friday night were for Taiwan’s Show Lo.
He added fun to the proceedings whether clowning around with Taiwanese singer-actress Rainie Yang or delivering a high-octane dance performance on stage. Picked by one of the deejay-hosts to ask Lo a question, a starstruck Vietnamese fan asked why he was so good-looking, to which he coolly replied: “Because I’m the best of my mom and dad.”
Lo was crowned Most Popular Male Artiste and Yung was Most Popular Female Artiste.
With so many performances of ballads lined up, the faster-paced songs stood out. Hong Kong band Mr. delivered a blast of rock with If I Were Eason Chan while Taiwanese group Da Mouth’s dance track Baboo was a welcome jolt of energetic fun.
Taiwan’s Aska Yang gave a soulful rendition of That Man and then caused a stir when he came off the stage and began serenading the female singers sitting in the front row. China’s Qu Wanting was almost beside herself with excitement.
Local singer Kit Chan sang three songs with her signature flourish and was given the Outstanding Achievement Award.
Of the 29 prizes handed out, the most puzzling one was Most Talented Artiste Award.
It went to Singapore’s JJ Lin and Taiwan’s Rainie Yang, who seemed to be justifying her win when she said: “Besides being a singer, I’m also an actor and have been a host before so I guess I really am quite talented all round.”
The obligatory thank-yous went out to fans, record labels and the media.
JJ Lin’s parents, who were in the audience, unexpectedly reaped a bumper crop of thanks from other stars. Lin thanked them after winning a prize and Lo jokingly did so soon after. And then China songwriter-turned-singer Shane Cao and Joey Yung added to the chorus of thank-yous.
Lin himself did them proud with wins for Top 5 Most Popular Male Artiste, Most Talented Artiste and Best Album for Lost N Found. Its title ballad was among the Top 20 Hits Of The Year.
Apart from the Lin clan, the big winners of the evening included Tanya Chua, who won for Best Female Artiste, Most Popular Composing Artiste and Best Music Composition for Sing It Out Of Love. Her song Don’t Bother Me was on the Top 20 list.
Eason Chan was named Best Male Artiste, Top 5 Most Popular Male Artiste and his album ? clinched the award for Best Album. His ballad Loneliness Sufferers made it to the Top 20 honour roll as well.
This is the second time the ceremony has been held in Singapore and MediaCorp’s Y.E.S. 93.3FM was the hosting station. The awards were last held here in 2006.
(ST)

Gaia
Sandy Lam

Hong Kong diva Sandy Lam has had enough.
In the liner notes to her latest album, she says she does not want to create “safe blandness”. That would be far too harsh an indictment of her previous work but it does prepare the listener for a very different experience from that of her last Mandarin album, Breathe Me (2006).
In line with the album title, Gaia, the primal Greek goddess of the Earth, Lam works the earth-mother vibe in the music videos and the photos of her with tousled locks and flowing gowns.
The opening electro-pop of Speechless Song, for which she composed and co-wrote the lyrics, takes her into spiritual world music territory of China singer Sa Dingding. It is Lam as you have never heard her before as she chants: “Save our nerves, save the sins in our thoughts.”
Cantonese track Impermanence provides a smoother transition to the new Lam, being a moody slice of electronica with an alt-rock attitude.
A show-stopping highlight is Persimmon, whose shot-in-Iceland music video has been available online for the past year.
Her voice swoops and swirls during this Gothic ballad’s chorus, which comprises the word wu ya (Chinese for raven) drawn out and repeated.
This is Lam at her most experimental and compelling.
She has not turned her back on more mainstream ballads altogether though. Ash seems to be written for her 14-year-old daughter as she croons: “You will always be my little precious.”
Even better is the breathtakingly lovely Maybe, which she performs with such delicacy and tenderness. I am not usually a fan of Mandarin remakes of Cantonese tracks – the dialect versions are more richly nuanced. But I will happily make an exception for Maybe.
While these classy and classic ballads pull the album in a different direction from the more experimental works, props to Lam for trying something new instead of merely coasting along.
Gaia may not be perfect but it is a worthy, heartening effort.
(ST)