After ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ & ‘Countdown,’ will Hollywood ever get Singapore right?

SINGAPORE: Last month, the United States series Countdown elicited some laughs and more than a few groans when, in depicting what was supposed to be Singapore, it showed a businessman who could only speak Malay and therefore needed an interpreter so he and the American detective and special agent could understand each other.

As a local Reddit user wrote, “I can’t just lie down and take some stupid show for global audiences slandering my country, whether it’s in small or large ways.”

Many consider this to be a case of SSDD, which politely translates to same problem, different year. Singapore used to be portrayed as some exotic island with a seedy underbelly, but in more recent years, it’s either a soulless, high-tech city or a land of impossibly wealthy individuals (and yes, once in a while, we still wonder about whatever happened to the sequel to Crazy Rich Asians).

Hollywood portrayals of Singapore have largely been devoid of nuance, from 1979’s Saint Jack, to Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, to season 3 of Westworld, and there has yet to be a movie or TV show that has done justice to the Little Red Dot.

A YouTube video recently asked, “Why can’t Hollywood ever get this tiny island nation right?

The video gets into the different stereotypes and tropes that appear to be the Western shorthand for Singapore, but that leave Singaporeans themselves disappointed and dissatisfied.

Perhaps the answer, as MajulahPresents, which produced the video, lies with Singaporeans themselves telling their own stories.

“No matter how sharp the visuals, or how futuristic the skyline, a story without its people is still hollow,” it rightly points out. “Ultimately, if we want the world to see the real Singapore, we can’t wait for Hollywood. We have to tell those stories ourselves.”

On Reddit, where the video was shared, a lively discussion took place.

“Thanks to Crazy Rich Asians and other media, everyone in Singapore is now Chinese. While Malays are all in Malaysia,” one commenter wrote.

“The moment Crazy Rich Asians said Newton got the best satay, we already knew they got it very, very wrong,” added another.

“Because most of the writers have never been to Singapore and just do basic research without going too in depth about our country,” a user on the platform wrote, adding, “Only when they’ve been to Singapore, can they maybe replicate the people, dialects, or locations properly and make it somewhat authentic.”

One, however, chimed in to say, “But the film really put Singapore on the map. I’ve spoken to Latin American and Eastern European colleagues who otherwise would have little knowledge of Singapore, but they were quick to point out, ‘Ah yes, Singapore, Crazy Rich Asians!’

To which I always respond, ‘Yes! But I am only 2 of the 3, Crazy and Asian!'” /TISG

Read also: Hollywood thinks Singaporeans need a translator? ‘Countdown’ drama leaves locals cringing