Filmmakers' guide to prevent bad weather

December is the monsoon season in Singapore and within all four days of our principal photography, the weather threatened to turn bad. But fortunately, the weather somehow turned out fine, except for a huge downpour on the last day. But that did us no harm as we were shooting an indoor scene by then.
How we dealt with it was following a tradition passed down from the school's seniors and further encouraged and supported by our parents; onion and chili, a Chinese folk tradition to chase away the rain for bright and beautiful sun.
Each time the dark clouds came out and slight drizzle can be felt, we had sticks of garlic and chili "decorated" around the shooting vicinity. And surely within minutes, the sky cleared for the sun. It's seems just too real to be just a mere coincidence and it happened for us on three separate occasions on three different days.
We later found out from one of the teammate's parents that it is a form of prayer the Chinese do to seek the Taoist Earth God / Grandpa Earth / Earth Lord for blessing and protection from bad weather. I later went online and found out that even Prime Minister Lee talks about this custom being practised during the Singapore Grand Prix.

And there you have it, the filmmakers' guide to prevent bad weather. Some things are better 令可信岂有.

The Bodhi is no tree

菩提本無樹,明鏡亦非台;本來無一物,何處惹塵埃?

Fundamentally no pipala tree exists,
Nor the stand of a mirror bright.
Since all is empty from the beginning,
Where can the dust alight?

- 6th Patriarch Huineng

My mom was watching a Buddhist concert on DVD when the famous quote above was recited in a song. In a time like this, I am suddenly reminded of Master Huineng's famous quote. How and where can the dust alight?


Something to ponder about.

河大地本是微尘
何况是尘中的尘
是是非非 情情爱爱
你还要不要紧紧的抱着
舍不得 放不开

山河大地本是微尘
何况是尘中的尘
想要解脱 想要受缚
就愿你一颗心去判夺

Young Lions

I followed the Young Lions in this year's SEA Games (the atmosphere is missing here) but didn't had time to blog about them with the FYP. With an average age of 19 half years old, they were the youngest ever football team fielded in the Games history.

The Games started out promising for them, but they seemed to have the problem of holding on to their lead. Losing to Vietnam was a huge blow, especially while in the midst of shooting for FYP. But yesterday's victory against host Laos brought back another Bronze medal. A fine effort from a bunch of "schoolboys", most of them I read, are still studying in Poly and ITE. But the FAS shouldn't and cannot rest upon the bronze. Because if you read pass their age, surely you will have noticed that these "schoolboys" also get professional treatment week in week out with the S-League.

It's a wrap!

Four days of intensive filming and not to mentioned the countless hours spent on pre-production... principal photography for Lotus is completed. So many people to be thankful for, so many new experiences to hold on and bring forward in life.

While such a journey will definitely makes us wiser and advance our strengths, I would see however that the greatest lesson from this shoot is a greater awareness of our weaknesses and with this awareness, the onus is now on how to make ourselves become a better person.

In any case I am thankful. Thankful for all the friends who have helped walked this journey together and made this project a success. The WeeKimWee Juniors have been a wonder, almost like a perfect gift for the team.

I think the thesis film will be for the small island team, a celebration of the friendship that we've shared with the people who've helped contributed to make it happen. Of course the final but special mention must go out to our family members, who undying support for our passion for this craft help push us going forward.

The team has worked hard, now for a well-deserved break.

For the BIGGEST SHORT FILM PROJECT in my life

The cameras will roll for Lotus in 36 hours time.

Jittery? Yes of course, what with so much resources spent and such a huge number of people involved for only four of us to handle, and with good friends who have so helpfully volunteered to crew. We have more than 80 people on set on Sunday. It's gonna be a whole new experience. We have been working hard and we shall work hard to make a good film.

笑傲江湖

We haven't had a wuxia success for years since Lee Ang stunned the Western audience with Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. But it's not a Jinyong classic anyway and some film adaptations in the 90s haven't been giving justice to these popular wuxia classics. But news is that Yuen Woo Ping is going to direct a film based on The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, titled The New Swordsman. More news here. Takeshi Kaneshiro can make a good Linghu Chong but Jay Chou as Dongfangbubai?!?!?!?!?!?!???!

Swordsman 1 more than a decade ago was a disappointment, considering that King Hu was directing. He later left the set due to creative differences but Sam Hui as the young and suave Linghu Chong is rather out of place. Jet Li made a good rendition in Swordsman 2 and Brigitte Lin stuns the world of course as Dongfangbubai.


The theme song from Swordsman 1.

Of course our beloved Mediacorp, then TCS (I think) in their better days and their tv serial version.

Bodyguards and Assassins

Watching out for Bodyguards and Assassins.



Reminds me quite like some of old Shaw Brothers' classics, like The Ten Tigers of Kwantung.



Before Canton had Wong Fei-hung, Fong Sai-yuk and Yip Man, there were the Ten Tigers. Wong's father was one of them. Hua Yuan Jia was not part of the Cantonese fighters cos he was in Shanghai.

This was something from last year found within the hidden deep corners of the hard disk. Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, RADM(NS) Lui Tuck Yew impressed me as a very charismatic speaker.

On the other hand, feeling a little bit heart pain to lose all my film script and treatments when the MBP was reformatted.

FYP is going on fine now. Really thankful for so many people who have gave a helping hand.

You can't help but feel that many people are simply anti-establishment for the sake of anti-establishment.

It is easy to find faults but difficult to give praise when it is due.

If you are a frequent user of the roads here in the island, especially the drivers, you should notice the efficient and meticulous our roads and traffic are planned. How in certain roads you have wider lanes, in certain corners there are more leeway in turning, etc. Years before, Braddell used to be heavily congested, even during off-peak hours. Just less than 5 years ago, we have the existing tunnels ready for our use. Not to mention the many mini-sky bridges that now decorate the town estates. Both projects we see springing up across the island and the very one that is causing a disturbance now along Upper Serangoon Road.

Proper road planning, especially in town estates away from the city is something I have always failed to see even from the developed nations that so many of us admire. It takes a certain amount of efficiency and care to the populace to do up something like this. Lets not even mention the current subway extension.

Where the Wild Things Are

I never bother with children's classic adapted onto screen but damn I'm looking forward to this.

Kids picture book + Spike Jonze + Arcade Fire =

荷花

荷花是圣洁的代表，更是佛教神圣净洁的象征。荷花出尘离
染，清洁无瑕，故而中国人民和广大佛教信秆都以荷花"出
淤泥而不染，濯清涟而不妖"的高尚品质作为激励自已洁身
自好的座右铭。荷花是友谊的象征和使者。
中国古代民间就有春天折梅赠远，秋天采莲怀人的传统。 

Rehearsal

Our first rehearsal on our shooting locations.



My personal take for the thesis film at this stage now is to simply do not only our best, but to also just enjoy the process. It's important that we make a good film, but doing so, we must not lose sight of the many more important things there are in our lives. Whether the audience will like it or not, I think the most important thing for us now is to really learn and grow from the experience.

adidas Questra

Bought a new pair of football boots, after the previous one had its sole torn off.

Going back to hall to squat and play for the last IHG... and of course ISG. Lao le... have to retire soon.

Karwan Bazaar

A multimedia journalism project (a video consisting of photographs, video and sound recordings) we did as part of GO-FAR: Bangladesh.