Saturday 1 September 2018

NOT SO CRAZY RICH “CRAZY RICH ASIANS” DOESN’T SHOW THE REAL SINGAPORE, BUT THIS MOVIE DOES
NOT SO CRAZY RICH “CRAZY RICH ASIANS” DOESN’T SHOW THE REAL SINGAPORE, BUT THIS MOVIE DOES.Long before I saw Crazy Rich Asians last weekend, when it opened in Taiwan, I was reading everything I could about it. I read the novel first; not only did it make for fun summer-travel entertainment, it was a fascinating catalog of the near-infinite types of crazy rich Asians: old money, new money, Singaporean, Hong Kongese, mainland Chinese, ABC, tasteful, abusively tasteful, stuck-up, clueless, gaudy, gay.
Then I started reading the articles: how it was going to change Hollywoodhow to watch it like an Asian-Americanhow the novelist was wanted for draft-dodging in Singapore; how Michelle Yeoh supplied her own jewelry for use as the movie’s engagement ring. (I saved Jeff Yang’s great explication of the mahjong scene for after I’d watched the movie.) And I read with great interest the criticisms: that the movie is more relevant to Asian-Americans than to Asians; that it doesn’t represent poor or middle-class Asians; that the movie is a step backward because it frames Asian achievement in terms of mainstream white values; that the movie excludes Singaporeans of South Asian and Malay backgrounds, except as servants.
The articles (and social media posts) that interested me most, however, were those that questioned whether Crazy Rich Asiansshowed the real Singapore. It’s a fair question: I mean, the Singapore of the movie did not look like the Singapore I experienced when I visited a lot back in 2004–2006. And the movie’s Singaporeans did not really resemble my own Singaporean friends, although, to tell the truth, I haven’t seen any of their jewelry collections—or their abs. (This guy, though, does have a lot of shoes.) Also, no one was sweating all the time, and I was sweating all the time.
There is, however, a Singaporean movie, released in 1996, that does resemble the Singapore I know and love. It’s called Mee Pok Man, and it was directed by Eric Khoo, who’s generally credited with reviving the Singaporean film industry in the late 1990s. Mee Pok Man follows the life of a mee pok vendor (Joe Ng), a painfully shy guy who sells fishball noodles not at a hawker center, or to Anthony Bourdain types, but to low-lifes and randos. No Michelin stars here! Mumbling and shuffling, he’s obsessed with Bunny (Michelle Goh), a prostitute who frequents the stand but pays no attention to him. One night, she’s hit by a car, and he rescues her (eh, sort of), bringing her to his apartment, where she falls into a coma and eventually… Oh god, you need to buy the DVD to find out what happens next. Trust me when I say that the ultra-strict rating it received was entirely justified.
This is the Singapore I recognize. Not because my friends are all prostitutes, gangsters, and necroph— (Never mind!) But because this is the weird Singapore that I’ve run headlong into whenever I’ve visited: The pipe-smoking, middle-aged pimp with a plummy British accent, who politely inquired whether I might want female companionship for the night and, when I declined just as politely, returned to his tobacco. The wonderful Peranakan meals in the red-light district. The gay parties, with syringe-based liquor shots and fund-raising for tsunami victims, that one friend hosted at the end of 2004. The nightlife entrepreneur who rhapsodized over his mother’s char siu and who’d drive with his pals in their sports cars into the kampongs of Malaysia in search of Singaporean food how it used to be (made with lard, not vegetable oil).
Those bits and pieces of weirdness are everywhere in Singapore, hiding just under the surface and, I’d argue, undergirding the gleaming, sweat-free, billionaire’s Singapore you see in Crazy Rich Asians. That kind of mainstream, fancy-brand, fundamentally boring Singapore can exist only because Singaporeans displace their weirdness elsewhere—hide it in their government-owned housing projects, behind the perpetual A/C, under a package of frozen fishballs.
And, I should note, by “weird” I don’t mean truly weird. None of my Singaporean friends is truly strange. (Well, maybe this guy. Kidding!) By “weird” I really mean human—full of quirks and faults and obsessions and emotions, the very things that tourism-board movies like Crazy Rich Asians seeks to hide away in favor of easy materialism and neat rom-com narrative arcs. The sidewalks of Singapore may be sparklingly free of chewing gum, but underneath is dirt, like exists everywhere. Mee Pok Man—which I haven’t seen since 1997, when it showed at the First Biennial Southeast Asian Film Festival, in Phnom Penh, which was utter weirdness unto itself—is all about the dirt we hide from the surface, and from ourselves.
And maybe Eric Khoo, the film’s now-celebrated director, is the best example of all of this. Because he himself is the son of a billionaire, Khoo Teck Puat, a banker who owned boutique hotels, had 14 children, and died in 2004. Currently, the Khoo family is Singapore’s fifth richest, their net worth is estimated by Forbes at $6.7 billion. That kind of money buys a lot of fishball noodles—which would be a pretty damn weird thing to do.
I bet someone in Singapore is doing it right now.
This article was originally published on Medium

NOT SO CRAZY RICH “CRAZY RICH ASIANS” DOESN’T SHOW THE REAL SINGAPORE, BUT THIS MOVIE DOES

NOT SO CRAZY RICH “CRAZY RICH ASIANS” DOESN’T SHOW THE REAL SINGAPORE, BUT THIS MOVIE DOES
NOT SO CRAZY RICH “CRAZY RICH ASIANS” DOESN’T SHOW THE REAL SINGAPORE, BUT THIS MOVIE DOES.Long before I saw Crazy Rich Asians last weekend, when it opened in Taiwan, I was reading everything I could about it. I read the novel first; not only did it make for fun summer-travel entertainment, it was a fascinating catalog of the near-infinite types of crazy rich Asians: old money, new money, Singaporean, Hong Kongese, mainland Chinese, ABC, tasteful, abusively tasteful, stuck-up, clueless, gaudy, gay.
Then I started reading the articles: how it was going to change Hollywoodhow to watch it like an Asian-Americanhow the novelist was wanted for draft-dodging in Singapore; how Michelle Yeoh supplied her own jewelry for use as the movie’s engagement ring. (I saved Jeff Yang’s great explication of the mahjong scene for after I’d watched the movie.) And I read with great interest the criticisms: that the movie is more relevant to Asian-Americans than to Asians; that it doesn’t represent poor or middle-class Asians; that the movie is a step backward because it frames Asian achievement in terms of mainstream white values; that the movie excludes Singaporeans of South Asian and Malay backgrounds, except as servants.
The articles (and social media posts) that interested me most, however, were those that questioned whether Crazy Rich Asiansshowed the real Singapore. It’s a fair question: I mean, the Singapore of the movie did not look like the Singapore I experienced when I visited a lot back in 2004–2006. And the movie’s Singaporeans did not really resemble my own Singaporean friends, although, to tell the truth, I haven’t seen any of their jewelry collections—or their abs. (This guy, though, does have a lot of shoes.) Also, no one was sweating all the time, and I was sweating all the time.
There is, however, a Singaporean movie, released in 1996, that does resemble the Singapore I know and love. It’s called Mee Pok Man, and it was directed by Eric Khoo, who’s generally credited with reviving the Singaporean film industry in the late 1990s. Mee Pok Man follows the life of a mee pok vendor (Joe Ng), a painfully shy guy who sells fishball noodles not at a hawker center, or to Anthony Bourdain types, but to low-lifes and randos. No Michelin stars here! Mumbling and shuffling, he’s obsessed with Bunny (Michelle Goh), a prostitute who frequents the stand but pays no attention to him. One night, she’s hit by a car, and he rescues her (eh, sort of), bringing her to his apartment, where she falls into a coma and eventually… Oh god, you need to buy the DVD to find out what happens next. Trust me when I say that the ultra-strict rating it received was entirely justified.
This is the Singapore I recognize. Not because my friends are all prostitutes, gangsters, and necroph— (Never mind!) But because this is the weird Singapore that I’ve run headlong into whenever I’ve visited: The pipe-smoking, middle-aged pimp with a plummy British accent, who politely inquired whether I might want female companionship for the night and, when I declined just as politely, returned to his tobacco. The wonderful Peranakan meals in the red-light district. The gay parties, with syringe-based liquor shots and fund-raising for tsunami victims, that one friend hosted at the end of 2004. The nightlife entrepreneur who rhapsodized over his mother’s char siu and who’d drive with his pals in their sports cars into the kampongs of Malaysia in search of Singaporean food how it used to be (made with lard, not vegetable oil).
Those bits and pieces of weirdness are everywhere in Singapore, hiding just under the surface and, I’d argue, undergirding the gleaming, sweat-free, billionaire’s Singapore you see in Crazy Rich Asians. That kind of mainstream, fancy-brand, fundamentally boring Singapore can exist only because Singaporeans displace their weirdness elsewhere—hide it in their government-owned housing projects, behind the perpetual A/C, under a package of frozen fishballs.
And, I should note, by “weird” I don’t mean truly weird. None of my Singaporean friends is truly strange. (Well, maybe this guy. Kidding!) By “weird” I really mean human—full of quirks and faults and obsessions and emotions, the very things that tourism-board movies like Crazy Rich Asians seeks to hide away in favor of easy materialism and neat rom-com narrative arcs. The sidewalks of Singapore may be sparklingly free of chewing gum, but underneath is dirt, like exists everywhere. Mee Pok Man—which I haven’t seen since 1997, when it showed at the First Biennial Southeast Asian Film Festival, in Phnom Penh, which was utter weirdness unto itself—is all about the dirt we hide from the surface, and from ourselves.
And maybe Eric Khoo, the film’s now-celebrated director, is the best example of all of this. Because he himself is the son of a billionaire, Khoo Teck Puat, a banker who owned boutique hotels, had 14 children, and died in 2004. Currently, the Khoo family is Singapore’s fifth richest, their net worth is estimated by Forbes at $6.7 billion. That kind of money buys a lot of fishball noodles—which would be a pretty damn weird thing to do.
I bet someone in Singapore is doing it right now.
This article was originally published on Medium

Wednesday 9 May 2018

Steam's new apps let you play your games and video on phones, tablets, and TVs

Steam's new apps let you play your games and video on phones, tablets, and TVs

Steam's new apps let you play your games and video on phones, tablets, and TVs

Steam's new apps let you play your games and video on phones, tablets, and TVs

Steam's new apps let you play your games and video on phones, tablets, and TVs

Saturday 18 March 2017

Defending champ Villanova ousted by Wisconsin, When the season ended suddenly and shockingly, much earlier than Villanova expected, Kris Jenkins bent over in disbelief near mid-court.
Defending champ Villanova ousted by Wisconsin
Defending champ Villanova ousted by Wisconsin
There would be no game-winning shot, no confetti-filled celebration, no more games. The defending champions - and No. 1 overall seed - are done.
On Wisconsin.
After two relatively routine days, madness returned to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday as top-seeded Villanova was bounced from the brackets and the East region 65-62 by No. 8 seed Wisconsin, which added another major upset to its resume and stormed into the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive year.
Nigel Hayes scored 19 points, dropping a layup in traffic with 11.4 seconds left, and Bronson Koenig shook off foul trouble and added 17 for the tournament-toughened Badgers (27-9), who will play next week at New York's Madison Square Garden after knocking off a Villanova team that never found its traction in snowy Buffalo.
"Seeds don't matter," Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. "I told these guys I don't care where we're seeded. We have to win six games. Let's start with these two this weekend."
Mission accomplished.
Senior Josh Hart scored 19 to lead the Wildcats, but the guard was bottled up and stripped by Wisconsin's Ethan Happ and Vitto Brown on a drive in the final seconds. Brown then split two free throws with 4 seconds left, but Villanova struggled to corral the rebound and then couldn't get off a final shot.
It was a bitter ending for the Wildcats, who were trying to be the first team to repeat as champions since 2007. But starting with an unimpressive performance against No. 16 Mount St. Mary's in its opener on Thursday, Villanova looked vulnerable and instead became the first No. 1 seed to be sent home.
"To me, there's no dishonor in losing in this tournament," said coach Jay Wright, whose team lost as a No. 2 in Buffalo three years ago. "We've lived through it. You are judged by how you play in this tournament and that's the reality of it. So, you have to accept it."
When the horn sounded, Wisconsin's red-clad fans erupted in celebration and the Badgers stormed the court after taking down a No. 1 seed for the third time in four years. Wisconsin beat Arizona in 2014, Kentucky in 2015 and now can add Villanova to its list.
Flushed with pride, Gard hugged his wife and children as the Badgers' pep band played their hearts out. A few minutes later, Wisconsin's players doused each other with water and tore a few signs off the walls in KeyBank Center for souvenirs.
Hayes has been part of all those previous upsets by Wisconsin.
"All of those games we've been the underdog," he said. "You have all types of ranking systems, statistics. The thing with all those algorithms is they can't calculate heart, will to win, toughness, desire. And that's the thing we have."
Villanova came into the NCAAs on a roll after winning the Big East Tournament and was expected to at least escape the East but had their hopes busted and will have to relish those moments from last year when they won their first title since 1985.
Wright was concerned about Wisconsin, calling them a "great number eight" seed and compared them to Butler, which beat Villanova twice during the season. As it turned out, the Badgers were more than that, as savvy seniors Koenig and Hayes made several key plays in the closing minutes as Wisconsin overcame a 57-50 deficit.
Super sub freshman Donte DiVincenzo scored 15 and Jalen Brunson added 11 for Villanova. But the Wildcats got little from Jenkins, the hero of last year's title game when he drained a 3-pointer to beat North Carolina. Jenkins couldn't shake a prolonged shooting slump and went just 2 of 9 and 4 of 22 in two games.
Jenkins and fellow seniors Hart and Darryl Reynolds finish their career 129-17 in four years, but the sting of their last loss might linger.
"We're close on and off the court and that bond is never going to be broken," Hart said.
UNDER PRESSURE
The Badgers have been at their best when it matters most.
Under Gard, Wisconsin improved to 39-1 when leading or tied with 5 minutes remaining, including 24-1 this season.
MORE PRESSURE
With a crown comes expectations, sometimes unrealistic ones. Tabbed as the team to beat - well, at least one of them - Villanova's players and coaches knew anything less than a return to the Final Four would be looked at as failure.
Maybe not fair, but Wright knows that's the reality.
"You're a one seed, you're supposed to get to the Final Four, get out of your bracket," he said. "That's probably what we have to be to be a success. And as you know, we accept that, we'll take it. We're not going to define ourselves that way, but we do get it."
BIG PICTURE
Villanova: There would be no magic this March for the Wildcats, who didn't talk about repeating but were constantly reminded about trying to repeat. Jenkins and Hart are NBA bound, but in Brunson, DiVincenzo and Eric Paschall, Villanova has a solid core coming back.
Wisconsin: All that's left for the Badgers seniors - Koenig, Hayes, Brown and Zak Showalter - is to win a national title. They've won 13 NCAA tourney games in the past four years and can't be overlooked. This team can play almost any style and in Koenig Wisconsin has a player capable of taking over.
UP NEXT
Wisconsin: Will play the Florida-Virginia winner next week.
---
For more AP college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Defending champ Villanova ousted by Wisconsin

Defending champ Villanova ousted by Wisconsin, When the season ended suddenly and shockingly, much earlier than Villanova expected, Kris Jenkins bent over in disbelief near mid-court.
Defending champ Villanova ousted by Wisconsin
Defending champ Villanova ousted by Wisconsin
There would be no game-winning shot, no confetti-filled celebration, no more games. The defending champions - and No. 1 overall seed - are done.
On Wisconsin.
After two relatively routine days, madness returned to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday as top-seeded Villanova was bounced from the brackets and the East region 65-62 by No. 8 seed Wisconsin, which added another major upset to its resume and stormed into the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive year.
Nigel Hayes scored 19 points, dropping a layup in traffic with 11.4 seconds left, and Bronson Koenig shook off foul trouble and added 17 for the tournament-toughened Badgers (27-9), who will play next week at New York's Madison Square Garden after knocking off a Villanova team that never found its traction in snowy Buffalo.
"Seeds don't matter," Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. "I told these guys I don't care where we're seeded. We have to win six games. Let's start with these two this weekend."
Mission accomplished.
Senior Josh Hart scored 19 to lead the Wildcats, but the guard was bottled up and stripped by Wisconsin's Ethan Happ and Vitto Brown on a drive in the final seconds. Brown then split two free throws with 4 seconds left, but Villanova struggled to corral the rebound and then couldn't get off a final shot.
It was a bitter ending for the Wildcats, who were trying to be the first team to repeat as champions since 2007. But starting with an unimpressive performance against No. 16 Mount St. Mary's in its opener on Thursday, Villanova looked vulnerable and instead became the first No. 1 seed to be sent home.
"To me, there's no dishonor in losing in this tournament," said coach Jay Wright, whose team lost as a No. 2 in Buffalo three years ago. "We've lived through it. You are judged by how you play in this tournament and that's the reality of it. So, you have to accept it."
When the horn sounded, Wisconsin's red-clad fans erupted in celebration and the Badgers stormed the court after taking down a No. 1 seed for the third time in four years. Wisconsin beat Arizona in 2014, Kentucky in 2015 and now can add Villanova to its list.
Flushed with pride, Gard hugged his wife and children as the Badgers' pep band played their hearts out. A few minutes later, Wisconsin's players doused each other with water and tore a few signs off the walls in KeyBank Center for souvenirs.
Hayes has been part of all those previous upsets by Wisconsin.
"All of those games we've been the underdog," he said. "You have all types of ranking systems, statistics. The thing with all those algorithms is they can't calculate heart, will to win, toughness, desire. And that's the thing we have."
Villanova came into the NCAAs on a roll after winning the Big East Tournament and was expected to at least escape the East but had their hopes busted and will have to relish those moments from last year when they won their first title since 1985.
Wright was concerned about Wisconsin, calling them a "great number eight" seed and compared them to Butler, which beat Villanova twice during the season. As it turned out, the Badgers were more than that, as savvy seniors Koenig and Hayes made several key plays in the closing minutes as Wisconsin overcame a 57-50 deficit.
Super sub freshman Donte DiVincenzo scored 15 and Jalen Brunson added 11 for Villanova. But the Wildcats got little from Jenkins, the hero of last year's title game when he drained a 3-pointer to beat North Carolina. Jenkins couldn't shake a prolonged shooting slump and went just 2 of 9 and 4 of 22 in two games.
Jenkins and fellow seniors Hart and Darryl Reynolds finish their career 129-17 in four years, but the sting of their last loss might linger.
"We're close on and off the court and that bond is never going to be broken," Hart said.
UNDER PRESSURE
The Badgers have been at their best when it matters most.
Under Gard, Wisconsin improved to 39-1 when leading or tied with 5 minutes remaining, including 24-1 this season.
MORE PRESSURE
With a crown comes expectations, sometimes unrealistic ones. Tabbed as the team to beat - well, at least one of them - Villanova's players and coaches knew anything less than a return to the Final Four would be looked at as failure.
Maybe not fair, but Wright knows that's the reality.
"You're a one seed, you're supposed to get to the Final Four, get out of your bracket," he said. "That's probably what we have to be to be a success. And as you know, we accept that, we'll take it. We're not going to define ourselves that way, but we do get it."
BIG PICTURE
Villanova: There would be no magic this March for the Wildcats, who didn't talk about repeating but were constantly reminded about trying to repeat. Jenkins and Hart are NBA bound, but in Brunson, DiVincenzo and Eric Paschall, Villanova has a solid core coming back.
Wisconsin: All that's left for the Badgers seniors - Koenig, Hayes, Brown and Zak Showalter - is to win a national title. They've won 13 NCAA tourney games in the past four years and can't be overlooked. This team can play almost any style and in Koenig Wisconsin has a player capable of taking over.
UP NEXT
Wisconsin: Will play the Florida-Virginia winner next week.
---
For more AP college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-Top25