singapore gaga

a warm, whimsical and altogether wondrous musical odyssey through the mrt stations, underpasses, and the nooks and crannies of singapore. the premise is a simple one: to explore singapore through any and all kinds of music. in john cage's 4'33", which is performed by margaret leng tan at a void deck in the movie, the piano is silent but it does not mean that there is no music. the point is to listen intently to the background noise we take for granted and find the music inherent within. tan pin pin listens well and is generous in sharing with us what she has heard.

the movie flits easily from the high culture of avant garde music to the populist culture of school music lessons to the one-dollar ditty of the woman selling tissue packets. it shows us worlds we might not normally be privy to: a madrasah's sports day, the ferrying of migrant workers.

the result, in 55 compact minutes, is a fascinating mosaic of singapore in which a genuine empathy and compassion for the overlooked and the ignored comes shining through.