I not stupid, too

"没有教不会的孩子，只有不会教的父母。"

I caught Jack Neo's "I Not Stupid, Too" on VCD today and I'm not ashamed to admit that I actually cried "bucket". My colleague has warned me that the movie is quite a tear-jerker. But I never expected a grown man like me to shed a tear so easily. Sniff.

I think Jack Neo makes a great satirist; at least in our local context. Like his previous movies, there are many subtle messages about government policies and socio-political issues in this movie. In his movie "Home Run", there's a scene in which two camps of boys were seen tussling over the use of a water well. To the uninitiated, this scene is really a portrayal of the never-ending dispute between Singapore and Malaysia over the water agreement. Any wonder that the movie has been banned in Malaysia? And surpise surprise, Jack seems to have gotten away with "murder" back home. He didn't come under fire despite his many jabs at our government policies, nor his prevalent use of the dialects in his movies. In fact, he was worthy of a mention by our then PM Goh in one of his speeches.

Jack Neo's latest offering is a poignant story on the social problems brought about by the generation gap between parents and their kids; their lack of communications; the demands on the kids by the parents who are in turn pressured by the social norm of our society. Indeed, we can identify and see in us the many Singaporeans depicted in the movies:

1. The professional parents who have no time for their kids and try to compensate them with money and material wants;
2. The uneducated and handicapped father who has problem expressing his love to his 15-year-old son and has never offered him a word of praise since the child turned 3;
3. The teenagers troubled by their teenage angst and lack of understanding from their parents;
4. The mother-tongue teacher from the "old school of thought" whose method to make the kids learn the Chinese language is to humiliate the kids in front of the class when they failed their tests;
5. The protective grandma who comes to the rescue of the grandson each time the kid takes a beating from the parents.

Of course, Jack Neo will not be Jack Neo if he does not take swipes at some of our government polices, however subtle the messages are:

1. The old Mother-tongue policy, which, for the longest time, had been a bane to many otherwise brilliant students trying to gain a place in our universities. This policy has been relaxed and teachers are now told to "Teach Less" and help the kids to "Learn More";
2. The way some school principals expel students whom they think are "beyond hope". The boy in the movie joined the street gang when he was expelled, having nothing to do to while away his time. Indeed, some schools expel students for the sake of the school reputation. But teachers, and not just parents, have a social responsibility to guide and correct the youngsters from their wayward ways, and not turn them away. As one father puts it in the movie, "没有教不会的孩子，只有不会教的父母."

The parents portrayed in the movies are quick to find fault with their kids but slow to praise them when the occasions arise. The underlying message in the movie is that we parents must take time to understand our children and don't just concentrate on their shortcomings and negative traits. Just like a piece of paper with a blemished black dot in the centre. Why focus on the black dot and isolate the rest of the white? Why, indeed. And much as I hate to admit, I can't help but draw some parallels in the way I treat my sons after watching the movie.

Category: Movies