Directed by
Wilfred Tan as his final year project, Out In The Cold is a heart-wrenching
glimpse into the quiet and forgotten corners of Singapore.
This city
of beautiful night lights and a hub for many international events is a familiar
place where more than six million people call home. When you ask any person
walking down the street to describe Singapore, the word “affluent” will come up
quite a lot.
However,
beyond the gorgeous architecture and relatively clean streets that many of us
know, there are pockets of people that lead lives that are far from picture
perfect.
This ten
minute documentary explores the plight of the homeless through the eyes of two
men – 81-year old Mr Chua and 24-year old Peter. Despite the difference in
generations, both of them share similar struggles and their yearning to reunite
with their respective families.
For me, I
was surprised that while some of us are taking our homes and family for
granted, there are young people out there such as Peter that do not have one of
their own. Homelessness is an issue that is mostly associated with the elderly
and the growing number of young adults following that trend is still mostly
unknown. For that, I applaud the team for opening my eyes to this reality and
shedding light onto the issue.
Besides
interviewing and speaking with the two men to give viewers an insight to their
lives, the team went on to share snippets of information ranging from homeless
shelters and the rising problem of homelessness on this sunny island.
Accompanied
by strong images and visuals, the documentary and words went very well together
to deliver a powerful voice for this group of people. I felt that the team
successfully brought out the essential issues that we as a country have to
think about: homelessness, family support as well as our social support
systems.
This
documentary is short and sweet with a very clear question for all viewers to
think about: What will the future hold for these wanderers with no place to
call home?
It is
definitely a good watch and left me wondering about questions that I probably
would never ask myself before.
Review written by Teo Dawn