The Polemic
TOC Feature, The Polemic, Top Story - Tuesday, February 16, 2010 21:08 - 56 Comments
Cultural revolutions, wilting flowers
By Choo Zheng Xi (Editor-At-Large) and KJ
We wonder if Rear-Admiral Lui Tuck Yew knows that our city was the subject of a Hollywood film. No, not Ivan Heng’s cameo in Luc Besson’s Fifth Element, but a full Hollywood film shot on scene in Singapore.
In 1978, Hollywood director Peter Bogdanovich adapted Paul Theroux’s novel “Saint Jack” to screen. Set in Singapore, the story’s protagonist Jack Flowers is a pimp who markets Singaporean girls for an international clientele. His grand scheme is to set up a posh brothel to service expatriates.
In 2010 Singapore, an admiral is tasked to dress up a repressed and repressive country’s arts scene and pimp it to the world. Yes, truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
With no hint of irony, Rear-Admiral Lui wants to launch a “sophisticated branding and marketing campaign” to sell Singapore as a Cultural Hub. Another Hub in the Singapore four-wheel drive, along with our Medical and Pharmaceutical Hub, Sports Hub and Technology Hub! But what if there is nothing to sell?
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