Been really busy trying to catch up on the assignments. Besides the fleeting emotional flare-ups I had with my Perth cell group and stuff, I went out couple times (no pictures yet sad) and have a whole backlog to do now.
Posting one of the fruits of my labour here :D
I WROTE A SCRIPT TREATMENT.... (below)
May Ling is the protagonist in the story. Born as a single child to her loving middle-class parents, pretty May Ling is sheltered and often gets good grades in school. However she is quite rather, only book smart. The day that May Ling is finally stripped off the cocoon of comfort came. A series of events unfold the moment May Ling stepped into the land of Down Under, entering an Australian college life.
This story depicts how difficult it is to fit into a foreign culture by portraying a minority Asian in a dominantly Caucasian country. The theme would be comedy with a side-theme of romance. The moral of the story is to be tolerant and open to all different cultures because one day anyone can be an outsider too.
**
May Ling holds her air tickets, student visa and the university orientation booklet as she walks down the busiest shopping district in Singapore, where advertisements containing Caucasian people in various “cool” social settings are pasted everywhere, from the bus stops to shop displays to movie billboards. May Ling stops at one bus stop where the advert features that of a foreign university program- a mixture of international students look healthy, happy and fun hanging out together. In deep thought, she looks down on the documents she holds in her hands, the ticket to her wondrous future.
The sounds of the shopping street soon change to that of the airport. As the camera zooms out of the tickets, May Ling is now at the airport, bidding farewell to her parents. Speaking in Mandarin, her dad makes her promise to not drink beer even though beer is cheaper than water in his warped conservative ideal while her teary mother makes her promise to be a good girl and call back often.
Finally reaching the school hostel, exhausted May Ling suddenly became wary as she surveys the students hanging out at the shared lounge. This was not what she imagined to be. A group of Asian students was on side of the room, and the raucous Caucasians was on the other side. She quickly regains her composure, smiles and nods her head as if greeting to both groups, while lugging her luggage towards the direction of the corridor of rooms. The group of students eye her as she makes her way, some looking friendly, some looking disdainful, while some were nonchalant, and continues with what they were doing earlier on- in a midst of a joke or discussion.
May Ling puts away her spectacles, switches off the radio playing her Mandarin pop songs and turns off the light. In the pitch darkness a few moments later, rhythmic thumping noises jolt her awake. Curious, she switches on the lamp and puts on her spectacles, and puts her ears to the source of the sounds.
The next morning her Caucasian dorm-mate, Will, apologise for the sounds from the previous night. May Ling is embarrassed over his open attitude to sex. He invites her to the barbeque. May Ling is flattered, shyly agrees in her rather Asian-accented English.
At the barbeque, May Ling finds herself almost inappropriately dressed in “warmer” clothing. The girls at the barbeque are dominantly pretty, blonde, wearing sleeveless, while some show revealing cleavage. They are rather raucous and drinking beer. Will is surrounded by some girls. May Ling cowers, grabs a cocktail drink and tries to understand what some of the people are talking about but gets lost in their fast-speed Australian-accented English and jokes.
May Ling goes to a poolside lounge seat and stares into the water. The merry-making sounds grew louder as her stare fixates onto the waters and suddenly the waters on showing her reflection, gives way to that of May Ling drowning and screaming : “Help, I am drowning in a sea of English!” In reply to the screams, May Ling’s faraway voice in thought whispers “Is...is there something wrong with my English?”
May Ling begins her mission of transformation.
The camera pans over a pile of notes and schoolwork, dishevelled and strewn over the desk, and finally lands on a page in the A4 size binder notebook in the centre of the desk. The page is scribbled and on closer look, turns out to look like a magazine article- edited with May Ling’s own handwriting. Not of punctuations or grammar errors, but the words were changed to how it should sound like in the Australian accent. (Words like “don’t” were changed to “duoint”, “no” was changed to “noy” and they are underlining of words to draw emphasis to vowels).
Instead of Mandarin pop songs playing on the radio, it is now playing Hamish and Andy from 92.9, Perth’s youth radio station, who are talking about general day-to-day issues (prep by recording Hamish and Andy talking about racist or sexist stereotypes or about politics and Australia PM Gilliard).
The radio station changes to the song “Paper Planes by M.I.A” (a song about changing identities and being swagger cool about it)
A fast-paced (according to tempo of Paper Planes song) string of clips show how May Ling discards the CDs she brought from Singapore, how May Ling purchases many teenage magazines and reads them in detail, how May Ling changes her dressing style, May Ling trying on contacts and discarding her spectacles, May Ling watching The Chasers and The Farmer wants A Wife, May Ling purposely waiting up for Will to talk to him, May Ling eating Weet-bix and Vegemite, May Ling trying to make her room slightly messier on purpose....
One day May Ling bought some Ugg boots. She decidedly wears them out, but finds it slightly difficult to clomp around in them. The scene focuses on the Ugg-clad feet stepping out of the house in the cold weather, waddling awkwardly. Hearing something weird, May Ling turns around and begins to trip. In the mid-fall however, an Asian guy, Sureiyan, saves her in a rather cliché hero saving damsel in distress act. Bemused by her boots, he introduces himself and May Ling questions his Australian accent to find out that his parents are from Singapore and he is a first generation Australian. He walks her; they exchange numbers and agree to see each other around in school.
Sureiyan and May Ling meet to have packed lunch in the school grounds. May Ling opens her lunch box which contains a sandwich and salad, while Sureiyan has Nasi Lemak (Asian food- Flavoured rice with fried anchovies and peanuts). May Ling frowns at her food while Sureiyan chomps his down eagerly.
Sureiyan and May Ling starts to meet up to study and hang out often.
May Ling shivers in the cold having worn too little for vanity’s sake. Sureiyan takes off his sweater and puts them on her. At that moment where it seems obvious that May Ling feels quite natural around with Sureiyan, she exclaims: “Haiyer!” (An Asian expression of frustration) Sureiyan’s eyes twinkled and he shares how his mum always uses the term which sounds like “Higher” and he would retort “Lower!”. Both laugh- May Ling finds an inexpressible sense of joy in finally belonging.
Sureiyan shares stories about people who are FOBs (Fresh off the Boat) and try-too-hards to May Ling and May Ling is amused, although instinctively she begins to defend her Asian counterpart friends.
May Ling goes to supermarket to get groceries, and thinks about Sureiyan as she picks up a banana- how he is yellow on the outside, white on the inside- and starts to miss him.
Sureiyan and May Ling begin to fall in love amidst their vast cultural differences- he who is used to high school kids having sex with one another while she who is only allowed to date her first boyfriend only after being able to support herself financially.
Fast forward the days of courtship and graduating from college studies. Sureiyan decides to go back with May Ling to Singapore. The tables turn.
Both Sureiyan and May Ling are at the hawker centre for lunch. Whilst at a food stall ordering “Mee Goreng” (fried noodles) from a half-deaf, rather impatient, almost uncultured elderly auntie who runs the stall, Sureiyan faces the nemesis of all the Asian cultural aspects he stood against for. The auntie frowns in irritation of this boy standing before her with a “fake” accent and does not wish to serve him. Sureiyan, in determination, to have dinner for him and May Ling, changes his accent to that of the Singaporean one “Auntie, joking lah, one Mee Goreng for me can or not?”
Slowly as his words play out, the elderly auntie smiles as if in a conspiracy as an executor of fate. The story ends with Sureiyan looking doomed and bewildered.
*END*
May Ling is the protagonist in the story. Born as a single child to her loving middle-class parents, pretty May Ling is sheltered and often gets good grades in school. However she is quite rather, only book smart. The day that May Ling is finally stripped off the cocoon of comfort came. A series of events unfold the moment May Ling stepped into the land of Down Under, entering an Australian college life.
This story depicts how difficult it is to fit into a foreign culture by portraying a minority Asian in a dominantly Caucasian country. The theme would be comedy with a side-theme of romance. The moral of the story is to be tolerant and open to all different cultures because one day anyone can be an outsider too.
**
May Ling holds her air tickets, student visa and the university orientation booklet as she walks down the busiest shopping district in Singapore, where advertisements containing Caucasian people in various “cool” social settings are pasted everywhere, from the bus stops to shop displays to movie billboards. May Ling stops at one bus stop where the advert features that of a foreign university program- a mixture of international students look healthy, happy and fun hanging out together. In deep thought, she looks down on the documents she holds in her hands, the ticket to her wondrous future.
The sounds of the shopping street soon change to that of the airport. As the camera zooms out of the tickets, May Ling is now at the airport, bidding farewell to her parents. Speaking in Mandarin, her dad makes her promise to not drink beer even though beer is cheaper than water in his warped conservative ideal while her teary mother makes her promise to be a good girl and call back often.
Finally reaching the school hostel, exhausted May Ling suddenly became wary as she surveys the students hanging out at the shared lounge. This was not what she imagined to be. A group of Asian students was on side of the room, and the raucous Caucasians was on the other side. She quickly regains her composure, smiles and nods her head as if greeting to both groups, while lugging her luggage towards the direction of the corridor of rooms. The group of students eye her as she makes her way, some looking friendly, some looking disdainful, while some were nonchalant, and continues with what they were doing earlier on- in a midst of a joke or discussion.
May Ling puts away her spectacles, switches off the radio playing her Mandarin pop songs and turns off the light. In the pitch darkness a few moments later, rhythmic thumping noises jolt her awake. Curious, she switches on the lamp and puts on her spectacles, and puts her ears to the source of the sounds.
The next morning her Caucasian dorm-mate, Will, apologise for the sounds from the previous night. May Ling is embarrassed over his open attitude to sex. He invites her to the barbeque. May Ling is flattered, shyly agrees in her rather Asian-accented English.
At the barbeque, May Ling finds herself almost inappropriately dressed in “warmer” clothing. The girls at the barbeque are dominantly pretty, blonde, wearing sleeveless, while some show revealing cleavage. They are rather raucous and drinking beer. Will is surrounded by some girls. May Ling cowers, grabs a cocktail drink and tries to understand what some of the people are talking about but gets lost in their fast-speed Australian-accented English and jokes.
May Ling goes to a poolside lounge seat and stares into the water. The merry-making sounds grew louder as her stare fixates onto the waters and suddenly the waters on showing her reflection, gives way to that of May Ling drowning and screaming : “Help, I am drowning in a sea of English!” In reply to the screams, May Ling’s faraway voice in thought whispers “Is...is there something wrong with my English?”
May Ling begins her mission of transformation.
The camera pans over a pile of notes and schoolwork, dishevelled and strewn over the desk, and finally lands on a page in the A4 size binder notebook in the centre of the desk. The page is scribbled and on closer look, turns out to look like a magazine article- edited with May Ling’s own handwriting. Not of punctuations or grammar errors, but the words were changed to how it should sound like in the Australian accent. (Words like “don’t” were changed to “duoint”, “no” was changed to “noy” and they are underlining of words to draw emphasis to vowels).
Instead of Mandarin pop songs playing on the radio, it is now playing Hamish and Andy from 92.9, Perth’s youth radio station, who are talking about general day-to-day issues (prep by recording Hamish and Andy talking about racist or sexist stereotypes or about politics and Australia PM Gilliard).
The radio station changes to the song “Paper Planes by M.I.A” (a song about changing identities and being swagger cool about it)
A fast-paced (according to tempo of Paper Planes song) string of clips show how May Ling discards the CDs she brought from Singapore, how May Ling purchases many teenage magazines and reads them in detail, how May Ling changes her dressing style, May Ling trying on contacts and discarding her spectacles, May Ling watching The Chasers and The Farmer wants A Wife, May Ling purposely waiting up for Will to talk to him, May Ling eating Weet-bix and Vegemite, May Ling trying to make her room slightly messier on purpose....
One day May Ling bought some Ugg boots. She decidedly wears them out, but finds it slightly difficult to clomp around in them. The scene focuses on the Ugg-clad feet stepping out of the house in the cold weather, waddling awkwardly. Hearing something weird, May Ling turns around and begins to trip. In the mid-fall however, an Asian guy, Sureiyan, saves her in a rather cliché hero saving damsel in distress act. Bemused by her boots, he introduces himself and May Ling questions his Australian accent to find out that his parents are from Singapore and he is a first generation Australian. He walks her; they exchange numbers and agree to see each other around in school.
Sureiyan and May Ling meet to have packed lunch in the school grounds. May Ling opens her lunch box which contains a sandwich and salad, while Sureiyan has Nasi Lemak (Asian food- Flavoured rice with fried anchovies and peanuts). May Ling frowns at her food while Sureiyan chomps his down eagerly.
Sureiyan and May Ling starts to meet up to study and hang out often.
May Ling shivers in the cold having worn too little for vanity’s sake. Sureiyan takes off his sweater and puts them on her. At that moment where it seems obvious that May Ling feels quite natural around with Sureiyan, she exclaims: “Haiyer!” (An Asian expression of frustration) Sureiyan’s eyes twinkled and he shares how his mum always uses the term which sounds like “Higher” and he would retort “Lower!”. Both laugh- May Ling finds an inexpressible sense of joy in finally belonging.
Sureiyan shares stories about people who are FOBs (Fresh off the Boat) and try-too-hards to May Ling and May Ling is amused, although instinctively she begins to defend her Asian counterpart friends.
May Ling goes to supermarket to get groceries, and thinks about Sureiyan as she picks up a banana- how he is yellow on the outside, white on the inside- and starts to miss him.
Sureiyan and May Ling begin to fall in love amidst their vast cultural differences- he who is used to high school kids having sex with one another while she who is only allowed to date her first boyfriend only after being able to support herself financially.
Fast forward the days of courtship and graduating from college studies. Sureiyan decides to go back with May Ling to Singapore. The tables turn.
Both Sureiyan and May Ling are at the hawker centre for lunch. Whilst at a food stall ordering “Mee Goreng” (fried noodles) from a half-deaf, rather impatient, almost uncultured elderly auntie who runs the stall, Sureiyan faces the nemesis of all the Asian cultural aspects he stood against for. The auntie frowns in irritation of this boy standing before her with a “fake” accent and does not wish to serve him. Sureiyan, in determination, to have dinner for him and May Ling, changes his accent to that of the Singaporean one “Auntie, joking lah, one Mee Goreng for me can or not?”
Slowly as his words play out, the elderly auntie smiles as if in a conspiracy as an executor of fate. The story ends with Sureiyan looking doomed and bewildered.
*END*
No comments:
Post a Comment