Theatre veteran Lim Kay Tong tackles the tough role of Singapore's ex-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in the upcoming movie 1965.

Lim's role in the upcoming drama, which commemorates Singapore's 50th birthday and tells the stories of immigrants and natives before the country became independent, was announced last October. It also stars local actors Qi Yuwu and Joanne Peh, as well as former opposition politician Nicole Seah in her acting debut.

The producers have released a clip, their take on that iconic press conference during which the break from Malaysia was announced.

Smartly, the film-makers have chosen to focus on the moments after the famous crying incident.

Watch the video below.

The official movie teaser was also released recently and TAY YEK KEAK offers his take on it:

At first, I thought this was an SG50 nation-building trailer or an ad for our tourism promotion board. There are bustling street scenes of multi-racial Singapore in the past - firecrackers at a Chinese New Year celebration, a Malay wedding in a village, everybody's busy and happy. Deanna Yusoff is smiling as a hawker, Qi Yuwu and Nicole Seah are a happy couple with their kid, the music's chirpy, plus a quick money shot of Lim Kay Tong as a young Lee Kuan Yew being cheered.

Then Joanne Peh, playing a lass in pigtails, drops a bag of groceries and, suddenly, the mood changes. Everyone looks very worried. Helmeted policeman Qi stands next to an "ang chia", the Hokkien term for red riot vehicle. Little children are scared. The terrible racial riots of Singapore, circa 1964, are about to unfold. No words. No dialogue. Just faces.

This reminds me of those scenes in Asian films by Akira Kurosawa and Hou Hsiao Hsien where the action is all about the reactions on people's faces. This is a good teaser. Something big and ominous is coming. Stay tuned.