FairyTales 童话 - An educational tool made into reality!

A society tragedy. 
Who is responsible?


This 45mins 'not-so-short' film was inspired by the teenage gang-related slashing incident at Downtown East last year.
- "Fairytales is a film that tells the story of three kids, a story that could possibly who your kids truly are, and not who you think they are. In our pursuit of a 'better' life for them, have we failed to be a better parent to them?" - as printed in their publicity brochure.




The intention and objective of this film was obvious and somewhat noble. After watching it, I have no doubt that the director/co-writer (Kelvin Sng) has successfully brought across a very important message -

To the Parents - So you think you know your kids? Are you sure?
                          So you think you've done everything for them? Are you sure?

To the Kids - Is this the 'only' way to get through this? Are you sure?
                      What other 'alternatives' you have?

To the Teachers - Is this the 'only' way to pass exams? Are you sure?

In our society, most of the time, we will use the excuse of 'No Choice'. We have no choice but to obey the rules of the society... We have no choice but to overwork ourselves... We have no choice but to give up our time with our loved ones... We have no choice but to continue to prove to others about ourselves and our success... We have no choice??

To quote one of the lines by veteran actor Chen-Shu-Cheng（陈澍城）in the film - 'Who said you've no choice? What kind of 'bullshit' are you saying?!'

There are parts of the movie that prompted us to think hard... as parents, as teacher, as an individual. I, besides being a member of SINdie, am also an educator myself, find this movie very sincere in their effort in reaching out to our society, directing our attention to question our very own educational system. Be it the system, the institutions, the educators or simply our beloved parents.

The message is loud and clear. Almost all the cast did well in their roles and one can definitely relate and find some 'similar doubles' in our daily life around us. However, I question the language spoken by the character Amenda (played by Siona Wu Murphy)... I was astonished by her fluent american-accentted-English, which did not do any justice to her acting, and has distracted me throughout the entire film. Err, we are not watching 'Glee', are we? If the objective of the film is to reach out to the majority of our heartland kids, wouldn't it be better if the character could speak in the manner which is closer to us (in Singapore)? By that, I really don't mean 'Singlish'... Just 'properly-pronounced' English. As compared, I can relate more with the Gang-Head (played by Maguire Jian) than this 'little princess' who seems to come from 'fairyland'.

On the other hand, Royston Ong (as Jason) and Yogendra Santhiran (as Guna) did a very close-to-life portrayal of their characters! The simplicity of Jason and the struggle of Guna makes one feel for them and at some point, one will be 'urged' to 'save' them from their agonies... I have to applause for the supporting cast for their dedication to their roles! Bravo! It's the combination of chocolate cookies with a cup of aromatic Kopi-O! Splendid!

This film is not scheduled for public release. It is to be brought to schools and education institutions for an all-round well-being experience! It will be packaged with a full workshop and in-depth counseling discussion to impact the audience. Personally, I think this film is not only good for the students but it will be fantastic to screen it during 'Meet-The-Parents' sessions...

Overall, it's a film worth it's educational values. Thank you for making us think...

To know more about FairyTales, click here:

The Official Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ-DFwxBjFQ
The Official Site -  http://fairytales.ksp.sg/
The Making of Fairytales - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SZ-BWeBy4g
Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fairytales-%E7%AB%A5%E8%AF%9D/179994185355811?v=info