<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>If CSJ is the producer of this movie, the MDA dogs would start barking?
Gantries dumped into sea? Censor says OK 10 min
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Even LTA staff can see the funny side of ERP scenes in Jack Neo's latest movie </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Shuli Sudderuddin
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The movie's gantries are labelled EPR instead of ERP. Scenes of them being thrown into the sea were conceived before the recent increase in their numbers and rates. -- PHOTOS: SAMUEL HE
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->At the start of the new Jack Neo movie, Money No Enough 2, mobs of angry Singaporeans are shown attacking Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries.
In dramatic scenes enhanced with computer graphics, some in the crowd then throw the gantries into the sea, eliciting delighted cheers from the others.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>ERP: Er... Parodies?
Jokes or spoofs related to the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) scheme have also popped up on the Internet.
The website vinyarb.com, for instance, has a doctored photo of Pedra Branca with an ERP gantry on it.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>In real life, ERP gantries have been making the news. More have been installed to manage road usage and charges have been raised, leading to angry reactions from some motorists.
It is no wonder then that Neo - who actually conceived the gantry scenes long before the recent ERP developments - was worried that his movie would be censored.
But the Board of Film Censors had no problem with it. It passed the movie without cuts and gave it a PG rating. The movie opened in cinemas on July31.
Ms Amy Chua, the chairman of the board, told The Sunday Times that the regulatory landscape has changed, with a classification system in place to provide audiences with more informed choices while protecting the young.
'During the classification process, a film and its scenes would be assessed according to the theme, treatment, context, content and overall impact on the audience,' she said.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA), which is behind the ERP, also did not have a problem with the movie's anti-ERP sentiment.
Said an LTA spokesman: 'Jack Neo has always been good at using his movies to turn topical issues which are close to the hearts of Singaporeans into entertainment. While he made a jibe at ERP, with his comic touch, those of us who went to see his movie were entertained.'
Indeed, Neo was surprised that the film was left uncensored.
'We are always worried when we try new things as there is no point of reference for the censorship board, and we don't know whether it's acceptable,' said the 48-year-old, who won the Cultural Medallion, Singapore's highest artistic honour, in 2005.
He attributed the fact that the movie was passed uncut to the authorities being 'open-minded enough at this stage to allow it'.
The film, about three brothers with money and family woes, stars Henry Thia, Mark Lee and Neo. It made $1.19million in its first weekend - the most for any Neo movie outside the Chinese New Year period - and movie-goers have lauded it as being daring and different.
Referring to the many anti-ERP segments, student and blogger Goh Yong Wei, 16, said: 'I'm surprised that such scenes are allowed. I'm happy that the local film scene is allowed to be more open. We should be able to show how we feel.'
Neo's movies - he has directed 10 so far - frequently zoom in on hot issues. I Not Stupid (2002), for example, examined the education system and Just Follow Law (2007) took potshots at bureaucracy. None of his movies has been censored.
Sharp-eyed movie-goers would have noticed that the gantries in his latest movie are labelled EPR instead of ERP. Was it to soften the criticism of the gantry charges?
Neo said this wasn't the case. Instead, the acronym used stands for Every Price Rise.
'The gantry represents that all prices are rising together. My thinking is that I hope price rises in general can be 'thrown into the sea',' he said.
[email protected]
What do you think of the ERP gantry scenes in Jack Neo's latest movie? Send your comments to [email protected]
Do you think that Jack Neo's movies have a good grasp of the issues that bother Singaporeans? Visit straitstimes.com to vote.
Gantries dumped into sea? Censor says OK 10 min
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Even LTA staff can see the funny side of ERP scenes in Jack Neo's latest movie </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Shuli Sudderuddin
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
The movie's gantries are labelled EPR instead of ERP. Scenes of them being thrown into the sea were conceived before the recent increase in their numbers and rates. -- PHOTOS: SAMUEL HE
</TD></TR><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->At the start of the new Jack Neo movie, Money No Enough 2, mobs of angry Singaporeans are shown attacking Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries.
In dramatic scenes enhanced with computer graphics, some in the crowd then throw the gantries into the sea, eliciting delighted cheers from the others.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>ERP: Er... Parodies?
Jokes or spoofs related to the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) scheme have also popped up on the Internet.
The website vinyarb.com, for instance, has a doctored photo of Pedra Branca with an ERP gantry on it.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>In real life, ERP gantries have been making the news. More have been installed to manage road usage and charges have been raised, leading to angry reactions from some motorists.
It is no wonder then that Neo - who actually conceived the gantry scenes long before the recent ERP developments - was worried that his movie would be censored.
But the Board of Film Censors had no problem with it. It passed the movie without cuts and gave it a PG rating. The movie opened in cinemas on July31.
Ms Amy Chua, the chairman of the board, told The Sunday Times that the regulatory landscape has changed, with a classification system in place to provide audiences with more informed choices while protecting the young.
'During the classification process, a film and its scenes would be assessed according to the theme, treatment, context, content and overall impact on the audience,' she said.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA), which is behind the ERP, also did not have a problem with the movie's anti-ERP sentiment.
Said an LTA spokesman: 'Jack Neo has always been good at using his movies to turn topical issues which are close to the hearts of Singaporeans into entertainment. While he made a jibe at ERP, with his comic touch, those of us who went to see his movie were entertained.'
Indeed, Neo was surprised that the film was left uncensored.
'We are always worried when we try new things as there is no point of reference for the censorship board, and we don't know whether it's acceptable,' said the 48-year-old, who won the Cultural Medallion, Singapore's highest artistic honour, in 2005.
He attributed the fact that the movie was passed uncut to the authorities being 'open-minded enough at this stage to allow it'.
The film, about three brothers with money and family woes, stars Henry Thia, Mark Lee and Neo. It made $1.19million in its first weekend - the most for any Neo movie outside the Chinese New Year period - and movie-goers have lauded it as being daring and different.
Referring to the many anti-ERP segments, student and blogger Goh Yong Wei, 16, said: 'I'm surprised that such scenes are allowed. I'm happy that the local film scene is allowed to be more open. We should be able to show how we feel.'
Neo's movies - he has directed 10 so far - frequently zoom in on hot issues. I Not Stupid (2002), for example, examined the education system and Just Follow Law (2007) took potshots at bureaucracy. None of his movies has been censored.
Sharp-eyed movie-goers would have noticed that the gantries in his latest movie are labelled EPR instead of ERP. Was it to soften the criticism of the gantry charges?
Neo said this wasn't the case. Instead, the acronym used stands for Every Price Rise.
'The gantry represents that all prices are rising together. My thinking is that I hope price rises in general can be 'thrown into the sea',' he said.
[email protected]
What do you think of the ERP gantry scenes in Jack Neo's latest movie? Send your comments to [email protected]
Do you think that Jack Neo's movies have a good grasp of the issues that bother Singaporeans? Visit straitstimes.com to vote.
