Sense of Home review part 1, 2 & 3
OK well I’ve been tied up. Here goes my part 1, 2, 3 review of Sense of Home.
Quite disappointingly, Sense of Home is just a 4 part series. Only 4 parts? Does the government really think that a 4 part serial will entice overseas Singaporeans to return to Singapore…haha. Wishful thinking man.
A quick refresher for those of you out there who missed the episodes.
Part 1: Fiona Xie & Alaric Tay star as expats living in Shanghai. Fiona is a Shanghai based marketing manager while Alaric is an english teacher. After a passionate night, Fiona finds herself pregnant and faced with the dilemma of whether she should have her Baby in Shanghai or return to Singapore. As the episode goes on, Fiona’s mum flies from Singapore to Shanghai just to check on her. The typical ‘I love you but I hate my mother-in-law’ scenes play out between Alaric and Fiona’s mum. Eventually, mother and son-in-law kiss and make up. Everyone is happy and they return to Singapore to have the baby. Fairytale ending.
Part 2: This is more interesting as the story takes place in Budapest Hungary. Stella is an 11 year old musical prodigy who is on a scholarship to study in one of Budapest’s most prestigious musical academies. Her mum, Helen is unemployed while her dad is…around somewhere. Hardy Mirza stars as a waiter aka good Singapore Samaritan. Stella leaves home to find her dad, Helen is distraught. Hardy helps Helen through these difficult times. Eventually mother and daughter unite, her dad is out of their lives. Although they very much yearn for Sigapore, Mother and daughter decide to give Budapest another shot.
Part 3: This story takes place in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Marcus is an entrepreneur there who is facing problems with his failing business. Caroline is Marcus’s employee, very much like his right hand woman who is in charge of covering up any dirty laundry that reporters like Rui En might unexpectedly dig up while doing a series of interviews with Marcus. While drving to his factory, Marcus hits a girl on the road, the 3 of them are slightly injured and stranded in a remote village. The car breaks down and Marcus will seemingly lose a very big client if he does not reach his factory in time. After a series of ordeals, Marcus realises that family is more important than business and gives his mother, who is back in Singapore, a really heartfelt and touching phonecall. A pity that his mother doesn’t recognise his voice. Caroline decides to resign and return to Singapore.
The crescendo of the series will be shown this Sunday. Always leave the best to the last eh? Well, what can I say. Sense of Home does manage to provide entertainment but I doubt overseas working and studying Singaporeans would really return Home just because of a tv serial. Would people return to Singapore just to collect a baby bonus? Or to re live the sumptous hawker food? These points are trivial. Much of Sense of Home has portrayed the ‘Glam’ side of Singapore. I agree, Singapore is a unique country with her own blend of flavour and attitude. Efficiency is top class, people recognise this ‘Little Red Dot’ as a land of opportunity…hold on…did I just write land of opportunity? What about…Shanghai? India? US? UK? There are so many more opportunities waiting to be found out there. Maybe it has been ingrained in my mind that Singapore ‘is Home…truly where I know I must be’… For me, the only real reason someone who works or is studying overseas would return to Singapore for would be that of family ties. Lets face it, for many Singaporeans who have the chance to go overseas either through study or work, the world is their oyster.
Yes, the government is not wrong in trying to entice and pull on emotional heartstrings to lure Singaporeans back. After all…Singapore has no natural resources and her only resources are people…(I learnt to regurgitate this from social studies back in sec 4). However, is Singapore really a good place to work in as an employee, or even to study in as a student? For many working professionals, they have to slog from morning to late evening. Deadlines are plenty and subsequently workers get overly stressed out and depressed. OK, maybe I am exagerating here. Some may even call me Naïve and will retort that the same scenarios are occuring all over the world, not just in Singapore. Perhaps a tinge of pessimism is clouding my mind now. Lets talk about something more personal now. Fresh out of junior college, I find myself liberated from 2 whole years of stress cramming for exams. Really, ask yourselves. Are exams so important? There was this report in the New Paper about this guy who got rejected by NUS 4 times but got accepted UNSW for his degree, Oxford for his Masters and finally Princeton for his PhD. Amazing! I wonder how many of these hidden geniuses there are in Singapore. Just because they cannot conform to the education system they are rejected the chance to further their education in a local university. Seriously, this needs looking in to. As I approach the light at the end of the tunnel, I am greeted by this oncoming train that is NS. What can I say. 2 years of my life, SOC, IPPT, BMT…Opportunity cost people opportunity cost! My friends who are not Singaporean or who are exempt from NS are already 2 years ahead of me in their studies and 2 years ahead of me in starting their careers. Is NS necessary? The bottom line is, not many people would serve if they have a chance. Singapore does practice diplomacy and deterrence over direct warfare, but we still need to be ‘operationally ready’ hence the need for NS, the need to defend our nation WITH OUR LIVES! NS is necessary but come on, 2 years is too long. Considering we still have reservist to serve, haiz. I say cut NS to 1 year at most. Maybe there should be reviews to condense BMT, SISPEC and OCS durations, yeah! Just days ago, full-time National Serviceman Joe Foo Wei Rong just died while doing chin-ups in camp. This is the 4th NS related death this year, the other 3 being a Major, Rec and 2lt. I foresee worried parents sending their children for extra ‘check-ups’ by private doctors. ‘Surely there must be something wrong with my son…maybe some hidden…LOL’
To stay or not to stay…that is the question. Well, this entry has initially started out from a Sense of Home review to a personal lament and tirade against the education system in Singapore and NS. Frankly, when I have kids I will really consider long and hard whether accepting the red passport is the best path for them. Till then, chill and have fun people.
~Megakai
