“THAT GIRL IN PINAFORE” (A Singapore Love Story) Movie Review. 我的朋友，我的同學，我愛過的一切. Watch your hazy dazy Teenage Days roll by in this Sweet, Mushy Film.

“THAT GIRL IN PINAFORE” (A Singapore Love Story) Press Review.

“我的朋友，我的同學，我愛過的一切”.

Reach for a hankie please, should you feel the “emo” thing in this Singapore love story tugging at your heartstrings.

Like I have expressed many times before in my previous writings, it’s great to be young.

And what price youth?

You go figure, ‘cos everyone can only be young once.

Take stock of your teen years if you are an adolescent right now. You may not realize that those pre-adult, hassle-free years may be the best part of your life.

Growing up is fun, but should you fail to treasure “the little moments” that tick away your days of youth, “the little moments” may just dance right in front of your eyes and flicker off in a jiff.

The camaraderie you share with your chums, the incessant rubbishy school banter, slogging for the  examinations and ah…  falling in love … they are all laced here carefully, courtesy of the film director.

The young years is a subject close to everyone’s heart and it’s like demonstrating that the film director is taking the  baby boomers (the secondary group), on a nostalgic journey down memory lane.

Yes, (repeat) it is exhilarating to be young.

“THAT GIRL IN PINAFORE” is a high-spirited and hilarious film by renowned Singapore director CHAI YEE-WEI.

It is an unfiltered, albeit comedic take on the Singapore Xin Yao period and has a notable balance of romance, puppy loves, controlling parents and growing up healthily and happily.

There is something for everyone here, young and old alike.

It is a song-led drama set in the 1990s revolving around the lives of a group of teens who dare dream.

After a dismal flunk with his ‘O’ Level exams, Jiaming (DAREN TAN) helps out at his parents’ pub by performing in a band with his friends.

He then meets May (JULIE TAN) and drawn together by their common love for xinyao music, they slowly discover they have the hots for each other.  But this romance is short lived as May’s mum objects to the budding relationship, and is adamant about sending her daughter to the US for further studies.

The musical score is excellent.

Whether it’s Xin Yao, Ma Yao or Thai Yao, it’s just a juggling of regional musical terminology depicting a certain period.

The plot is not just boy-meet-girl and falling in love. If you dig hard enough you can unearth a common reminder, that of living in the present, and finding solace and hope in each moment.  Grown-ups stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. Kidding. Where’s the other land? Youth is a time where you can watch the world sail by, without pretensions.

When you are an adolescent, there’s little chance that you’ll be swarmed with problems of the adult, that of injustice, competing and poverty. The young will find a different, innocent way to beat the odds.

At the press conference I ribbed Director YEE-WEI whether it was necessary to inject so much “crap” in the movie.  There appeared a dedication of farts, pee and poop scenes to entice your guffaws.

I needn’t have asked, as this appears to be a favorite Singapore joke, an adherent “toilet” issue proudly featured in Singapore’s Media Corp drama series such as IT TAKES TWO and HOUSEWIVES’ HOLIDAY.

Singapore loves this kind of testy jokes, my colleague roared.

The film director’s painstaking attention to timing details, ably supported by a commendable  young cast  with the newly arranged hit songs add authenticity to the film.

“THAT GIRL IN PINAFORE” 我的朋友，我的同學，我愛過的一切  is definitely worth a see.

Watch your hazy dazy Teenage Days roll by in this Sweet, Mushy Film crafted in Singapore.

You will certainly be glad you did.

“THAT GIRL IN PINAFORE” PRESS CONFERENCE IN KUALA LUMPUR on

7th NOVEMBER 2013

PRESS PHOTOS COURTESY of TI CHIN HAN

Director CHAI YEE-WEI leads his merry team