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I Not Stupid

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I Not Stupid
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJack Neo
Screenplay byJack Neo
Story byJack Neo
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyArdy Lam
Edited byYiu-Chung Yeung
Music byLi Yi
Production
company
Distributed byUnited International Pictures
Release date
  • 9 February 2002 (2002-02-09) (Singapore)
Running time
105 minutes
CountrySingapore
Languages
BudgetS$1 million
Box officeS$3.8 million

I Not Stupid (Chinese: 小孩不笨; pinyin: Xiǎohái Bù Bèn; lit. 'Children are not stupid') is a 2002 Singaporean comedy film about the lives, struggles and adventures of three Primary 6 pupils who are placed in the academically inferior EM3 stream. Written and directed by Jack Neo, and produced by Mediacorp Raintree Pictures, the film stars Huang Po Ju, Shawn Lee, Joshua Ang, Cheryl Desiree Chan, Xiang Yun, Jack Neo, Richard Low and Selena Tan.

Released in cinemas on 9 February 2002,[1] the film earned over S$3.8 million, becoming the second-highest grossing Singaporean film. Its satirical take on the Singaporean education system and social attitudes in Singapore sparked public discussions and parliamentary debates that led to reforms in the education system.

Plot

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The film revolves around the lives and families of three sixth-grade students in the academically-inferior EM3 stream who are also friends: Terry Khok, Liu Kok Pin, and Ang Boon Hock. Terry, pampered and from a rich family, is a meek and obedient boy, with a domineering mother Mrs. Khoo and a negligent businessman father Jerry Khoo Bee Guan. Kok Pin is pushed to excel at maths by his mother Mrs. Liu, but instead displays a talent for art. Boon Hock and his mother Mrs. Ang struggle to make ends meet by running their owned wonton noodles stall; to make up for the lack of a father figure, he places high value on loyalty and "manliness" in his friends. Terry, Kok Pin and Boon Hock are often bullied for being in the "stupid" stream; this results in the lack of witnesses for them when fights happen, leading to various conflicts.

Despite the two being enemies, Mr. Khoo's company, Good Friend Bakkwa is a client for Mr. Liu's advertising firm. Their enmity causes Jerry to select the marketing campaign of John, an American expatriate and creative Director of the firm, over that of Mr. Liu and his friend Ben's proposal, the latter being the creative group head, as they are both partners working together in the firm who dislikes John for being just an FA artist from the United States, in addition to the stereotype that Americans are better than Singaporeans. While John was criticized for culturally inappropriate ideas and stealing Mr. Liu and Ben's ideas, Jerry's business suffers due to a direct competitor, Taiwan Bakkwa King. While Mr. Liu and Ben report the plagiarism to their boss Mr. Kang, John interrupts and demands a challenge with Ben and Mr. Liu to compete on a shampoo proposal; the winners can continue to work, and the losers must quit. John eventually wins, so Mr. Liu and Ben resign and set up their own firm elsewhere and managed to help Jerry Khoo with his proposal.

As Terry, Kok Pin and Boon Hock deal with their improvements in maths and certain family problems, a new form who also becomes their maths teacher, Lee Su Zhen, helps by inspiring Boon Hock to excel, while reaching out to the other classmates. Kok Pin continues to struggle, and asks Boon Hock to help him cheat in the preliminary examinations, but they are caught. Unable to face his mother, Kok Pin attempts suicide, but was overturned by an offhand police chase. When he finally tells his mother, she tries to punish him but Mr. Liu advises her not to; she then collapses and is diagnozed with leukemia. She will die without a bone marrow transplant. Meanwhile, Terry and Boon Hock are kidnapped by two people; one of them is a Chinese expatriate who was fired from being a manager at Jerry's company for causing an accident, so he demands S$20,000 because the expatriate owes lots of money to loan sharks and will be killed by them upon return to China. While the two were escaping, police arrest the kidnappers.

As the end of the year approaches, the trio passed the Primary School Leaving Examination maths exam, but Kok Pin only marginally at 51/100. However, his mother is satisfied because he has tried his best and able to pass. Lee announces that one of Kok Pin's drawings won second prize in an American competition, but the moment is overshadowed by the rush to save Mrs. Liu's life. Terry is revealed as a suitable donor, and despite protests from Jerry and Mrs. Khoo, he insists on undergoing the surgery. Mr. Liu offers to help Jerry's business with his proposal. As a result, it experiences success, resulting in high sales and foreign endorsements. Lee then informs Mr. and Mrs. Liu that the competition organizers find great a talent in Kok Pin, and recommends that Kok Pin further his studies in the United States. In a discourse, Terry, Kok Pin and Boon Hock agree that their mothers only want them to succeed in their studies for their own good.

Cast

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Political satire

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This film criticises many aspects of modern Singaporean Culture, including streaming in the education system, deference to authority, and sociocultural stereotypes. The film can be read as an allegory for Singaporean society – the pampered protagonist and narrator, Terry Khoo, is an "everyman";[2] deferent and coddled, with a domineering mother and affluent father.[3] Terry's intellectual failings lead him to be placed in the inferior EM3 stream, which becomes the driving force behind the storyline. The subsequent stigma placed upon the narrator illustrates how the Singaporean education system promotes academic elitism, with students in lower streams looked down upon as inferior, making it harder for them to catch up and realise their potential (see golem effect), even if they are not necessarily stupid.[3][4][5] This kiasu mentality puts mounting pressure upon the protagonists of the film, confounding them as they attempt to improve their standing and ameliorate their reputation in a society which judges them "worthless".[2]

Terry's Mother, Mrs. Khoo, is a "thinly veiled stand-in for the Singapore Government", whose "mother-knows-best" mentality is well-meaning, but strips her children of their freedom.[3] She demands total obedience, and her repeated lines "Do you know how lucky you are to have a good and responsible mother?" and "This is all for your own good" parody the Singapore Government's efforts to convince Singaporeans that government policies and actions is in the best interests of the nation.[1][3][5][6] Mrs. Khoo also uses her position of power to buy off rebellion in her charges with gifts and bribes, in a pointed criticism of the government's social policies.[3][6] Other characters in the film comment on this relationship – for instance, in one scene, Mr. Liu states that "it is difficult to catch fish in Singapore, because fish in Singapore are like Singaporeans; they'll never open their mouths", poking fun at the Singaporean trait of obedience and respect for authority.[5]

The film also touches on other issues including Chinese self-loathing (wherein Singaporean Companies regard American Expatriates as inherently superior to Singaporean Workers), suicide, the use of Singlish (which was featured in the popular Singaporean local sitcom known as Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd, where the titular character Phua Chu Kang (Gurmit Singh) was also mentioned by Ben), and the differences between English and Chinese.[2][5][6]

Production

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Jack Neo's inspiration for the film was the Iranian movie Children of Heaven. Neo and his wife were moved to "holding hands and crying after seeing the love shared by the children", which motivated him to make his own movie about youth. After speaking with parents to find topics to discuss in his film, Neo learned that due to problems with the Singaporean education system, specifically streaming, students face considerable academic and emotional stress.[7][8] This problem formed the core of his film, which he called I Not Stupid in reference to the social stigma that streaming places on students.[3]

Neo also drew on a dissatisfaction he felt with the way the school system promoted deference to authority over self-reliance; he wanted his film to tell youth "If you don't want to change or make a difference, you won't. It's all up to you".[7] In exploring these ideas, Neo spent over two years researching and editing the script — checking scenes for accuracy, verifying facts, and drafting dialogue.[8] Altogether, the work went through thirteen different revisions, and saw over 50 children audition for the lead roles,[9] before Neo decided to send the film into production.[8]

This production was carried out by Raintree Pictures on a budget of S$900,000,[1] sponsored by Bee Cheng Hiang, Yeo Hiap Seng and Sunshine Bakeries.[10] The production crew included Daniel Yun as executive producer, David Leong and Chan Pui Yin as producers, Ardy Lam as cinematographer and Li Yi as music supervisor.[11] In addition to writing and directing, Neo also composed the theme song, which was sung by Chen Guorong. The actual filming took place at Braddell Westlake Secondary School and Westlake Primary School over a period of 24 days,[12] and the film found distribution through Raintree Pictures and United International Pictures.[13]

Reception

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This film earned just S$46,000 during a limited sneak preview run, prompting Raintree Pictures to embark on a massive publicity campaign, including invitations for teachers to discuss the film. After showing for four months on 30 screens the film earned S$3.8 million,[1] becoming the second-highest grossing Singaporean film after Money No Enough.[3] Following its success in Singapore, the film was released in Malaysia, Hong Kong,[1] Taiwan and China. The film also screened at the Pusan International Film Festival,[1] Tokyo International Film Festival,[14] the Jakarta International Film Festival and the 2005 Singapore Season cultural exhibition in London.[15] Over 50,000 VCDs of this film were sold and its sole distributor, VideoVan, declared it the "No. 1 selling VCD in Singapore". This claim was disputed by Alliance Entertainment, which said that 70,000 VCDs of Money No Enough were sold, but VideoVan called the comparison inaccurate, as Money No Enough was a mature title, rather than a new release.[16]

Awards that this film won include Best Chinese Film at the Golden Bauhinia Awards and Best Chinese Humanitarian Film at the 2002 Taiwan Golden Torch Awards;[6] the film was also nominated for Best Asian Film at the Hong Kong Film Awards, losing to My Sassy Girl.[17] Critics praised the film for its humour and uniqueness, noting that it touched a raw nerve among Singaporeans. For example, Sanjuro of LoveHKFilm.com wrote, "I Not Stupid covers a variety of serious subjects, but all the while maintains a light comedic touch. Jack Neo [makes this film] a clever, well-crafted social commentary and a damn good film to boot".[3] Other reviewers described this film as "one of the greatest cinematic feats I've had the pleasure of experiencing"[4] and displaying a "simple and yet excellent execution".[5] In contrast, FilmAsia reviewer Soh Yun-Huei, found it "most shocking...that the Singapore censors actually allowed this film through in the first place".[10]

Despite its political satire, the film received a positive response from the Singapore Government, as the then second Prime Minister of Singapore, Goh Chok Tong commended Neo's creative talent during his National Day Rally speech on 18 August 2002.[18] In 2004, Neo was the first local filmmaker to receive a National Day Award,[19] and on 21 October 2005, he and Dick Lee became the first pop culture artists to receive the Cultural Medallion, Singapore's highest arts award.[20] The movie sparked public discussion and parliamentary debate about the negative effects of streaming. In 2004, the Ministry of Education decided to merge the EM1 and EM2 streams, and the EM3 stream was scrapped in 2008.[21]

Sequels

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Main article: I Not Stupid Too
Main article: I Not Stupid 3

A standalone second installment titled I Not Stupid Too, was released on 26 January 2006. Another standalone third installment began production in June 2023 and was released on 6 June 2024 during the school holidays in Singapore.[22][23] The latter film was also released in Malaysia on 13 June 2024, in China on 16 August 2024 and in Taiwan on 20 September 2024. [22]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Ciecko, Anne Tereska; Uhde, Jan and Uhde, Yvnone Ng (2006). Contemporary Asian Cinema. New York: Berg. pp. "Singapore: Developments, Challenges and Projections", pp. 81–82. ISBN 1-84520-237-6.
  2. ^ a b c "I Not Stupid but is clever, really", New Straits Times, 19 September 2004.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "I Not Stupid – Review", www.lovehkfilm.com
  4. ^ a b Daniel Nguyen, "I Not Stupid – Review Archived 2006-11-01 at the Wayback Machine", KFC Cinema.
  5. ^ a b c d e Funn Lim (2005), "I Not Stupid – Review", Spcnet TV.
  6. ^ a b c d Kenneth Paul Tan (2008), "Cinema and Television in Singapore", Brill Publishers, pg 164–168.
  7. ^ a b Karl Ho, "Jack as court jester", The Straits Times, 31 January 2002
  8. ^ a b c Hwa, Dr. Tan Hooi; Krysania Tan, Regina Chan (April 2002). Interview with Mr Jack Neo and Dr Winston Hwang from the cast of Local Production "I Not Stupid", SMA News. pp. 5–10. Retrieved 17 December 2006.
  9. ^ "THE CASTS Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine". Raintree Pictures Pte Ltd. 2002. Retrieved 17 December 2006.
  10. ^ a b Soh Yun-Huei, "I Not Stupid – Review", FilmAsia.
  11. ^ ""I Not Stupid" – Production notes Archived 2006-11-04 at the Wayback Machine", MediaCorp Raintree Pictures. 2002.
  12. ^ Wong Kim Hoh, "Who says I’m only good at drag?", The Straits Times, 20 June 2004
  13. ^ "UNITED INTERNATIONAL PICTURES, MEDIACORP RAINTREE PICTURES AND SCORPIO EAST PICTURES RELEASE "I NOT STUPID TOO" Archived 2006-12-23 at the Wayback Machine". MediaCorp Raintree Pictures Pte Ltd. 2005. Retrieved 17 December 2006.
  14. ^ "Lineup", Tokyo International Film Festival official website.
  15. ^ "Britons get a taste of Singapore culture in I Not Stupid show", Channel NewsAsia, 6 April 2005.
  16. ^ Camilla Chiam, "Two Jack Neo movies slug it out", The Straits Times, 12 June 2002.
  17. ^ "List of Award Winner", Hong Kong Film Awards official website.
  18. ^ Goh Chok Tong (18 August 2002), "National Day Rally Address Archived 2006-09-27 at the Wayback Machine", National Day Rally Address.
  19. ^ "Jack Neo honoured with National Day awards". Channel NewsAsia. 9 August 2004.
  20. ^ "Dick Lee, Jack Neo among this year's Cultural Medallion recipients", Channel NewsAsia, 21 October 2005.
  21. ^ "No streaming, no stigma", TODAY, 29 September 2006.
  22. ^ a b "《小孩不笨3》四童星曝光 容启航要当新一代老师 | 早报". Lianhe Zaobao (in Simplified Chinese). Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  23. ^ "《小孩不笨3》学校取景 梁志强：现在的小孩很精明 | 早报". www.zaobao.com.sg (in Simplified Chinese). Retrieved 23 July 2023.
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