Forum: Time to let mature Singapore audience celebrate heritage authentically
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The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) recently mandated a Mandarin dub for regular screenings of the film Dear You.
This reminded me of the controversy surrounding the mural of a smoking samsui woman in Chinatown, when the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) initially prioritised anti-smoking guidelines over the mural’s historical context.
In both cases, policies were rigidly applied at the expense of our authentic cultural heritage.
IMDA’s citing of the 1979 Speak Mandarin Campaign to restrict the Teochew screening of Dear You feels not only anachronistic but also out of touch.
The fact that 4,800 tickets for the Teochew screenings of Dear You were snapped up in two hours shows that Singaporeans are starved of authentic connections to their roots.
I paid a premium on Carousell just to secure two Dear You tickets for my elderly aunt and myself.
Sitting in that GVMax theatre was a profoundly moving experience. It was filled with people like me, taking our parents and relatives to see a film that literally spoke their language.
My aunt, who is Hokkien, could follow the Teochew dialogue effortlessly. I had to rely on the subtitles. She, like many others, teared up watching this movie.
After the movie, she reminisced about her childhood and memories of her grandmother. I felt more connected to her and was grateful we watched the Teochew version together, as it bridged a linguistic gap that a Mandarin dub would not.
For many Singaporeans, this is not just about a movie. We want to share this authentic piece of history with our parents and relatives who have raised us.
Many of my friends are crossing the border just to make that connection.
To URA’s credit, it eventually showed flexibility by allowing the samsui woman mural to remain, recognising that art and history cannot always be sanitised to fit into our administrative boxes. I hope IMDA can exercise the same grace and let the general screening of Dear You be in the original Teochew.
Isn’t it time for our regulatory approach to reflect the mature, confident society Singapore is today, where our heritage can be celebrated authentically, rather than be dubbed over?
Evelyn Ng
