Sleepless in Singapore: Temasek Hall and "Fooled"

Sorry folks (whoever is reading), I'm a little behind on the blogging.. So, now, I'm playing catchup. Last week, I went to a theatre production by my hall called "Fooled". Theatre is one of the many things that Singaporeans do around here.. Infact, they have to. For each extracurricular activity that they do, they accumulate points. If they have enough points, they can opt for a better room. On the other side, if they don't have enough, they get kicked out of the hall and they cannot come back for the next year! So it is a "Do something, or lose everything" attitude that gets everyone in the hall involved and super spirited.

My hall is a sporty hall. We have won the Inter-Hall Games like 15 times in the last 18 years or something like that and everyone is really into sports and supporting their athletes. All the halls go to support their teams and they each have their own cheers. They are really loud and cheery. Infact, they are cheery about everything they do. Always laughing at the simplest of jokes and always just looking happy. It is an amazing culture because they know what they like and they are not afraid to show it/express it. In some ways, they are completely the opposite (Will talk about it more in "Kiasu"), but in terms of hall spirit, cheering on their friends and simply joking around, they are very enthusiastic. I played in the hall badminton team and it was an amazing experience. Everyone was cheering and encouraging for every point and it was great playing for an audience. In Canada, you barely have anyone watching you play. Even in tournaments, it is only the finals and sometimes semi-final matches that are watched with some interest. Even then, all you can hope for are a few claps and some "whoo"s. But playing badminton in Singapore was a whole different experience. I loved it. The people have like bottles, which they bang together to make the sound. This one hall brought drums and they had a super cool cheer that is still playing in my head! It went like "K.. K.. K.. K.. Arrrr" (For Kent Ridge Hall).



So, I went to the theatre production and it was really formal. Everyone were dressed in nice dress pants and shirt, and this was probably the first time that I saw students dressed in anything other than short shorts and a t-shirt. I was unaware of the dress-code and showed up in jeans shorts and a shirt I've been wearing the whole day and sandals. I arrived there and was too embarrassed to cross the street. Finally, I collected some courage to go over and all my hall mates were like "its OK". I quietly went it. The only reconciliation I had was that my other exchange friends were also dressed similarly, so I was not the only one!

I found my seat and got ready to see something I had never seen before. I didn't know what to expect because I still don't know what kind of humour these people have, or what kind of music they listen to, or what kind of plays they would like. The play started with a speech from our Hall Master. The play started with a hilarious scene of a bunch of coolies (workers in a port.. I was aware of the word coolie because it is the same in India). I knew some people and it was pretty hilarious. Most of the jokes were local, but I was able to understand some of them. The rest, I was able to figure out from listening to when the people would laugh (like "ohh.. that is supposed to be funny" or "maybe he meant this"..) The story was pretty unique and didnt follow any cookie cutter theatre format. It was like a play within a play where we constantly go back and forth from the actual play to scenes where the actors are talking about the play and their acting in it. So, there were two simultaneous plots where there are love stories in the lives of the real actors and at the same time, in the play within it!

The story revolved around Hua/Huat, who comes to Singapore and doesn't know much about it. As her brother gets arrested, she is forced to find her way in this dog-eat-dog world. So, she dresses up like her brother and takes up a job as a servant in some rich person's house. Now this rich person, Han, is courting a girl, Lady Sylvie, and takes help from his servants to pass on the letters and so forth. He takes the help from Huat and takes suggestions from her/him regarding his love affairs. Huat is the one being sent to deliver the letters to Lady Sylvie and after a few encounters, Lady Sylvie starts getting infatuated with Huat. In "real" life, the actress playing Huat/Hua has a crush on the actor playing Han. And Han and Lady Sylvie are in a commited relationship in real life.. If you are still following the story, I am confused because it is indeed pretty confusing. The ending is also pretty unconventional, because the play was resolved, but the "real life" plot ended ubruptly with the actress (Hua) being heartbroken.

In the midst of all this, there were scenes of the coolies talking in the "play" and "real life" and were very funny. Overall, it was a very good play. Apparently the people have been working on this for a few months and everything (from script to the sets to the music) was original. It was very impressive.

Overall, the Singaporeans are very hardworking and I suppose they have to be to survive in this country. It is extremely competitive and they have to stay at the top of their game if they want to be successful. Temasek Hall is a great place where they are learning about/being shaped into the ideal men and women for the country..