I thought the new (or interim) Black Panther was underwhelming. I did not get the impression of strength or agility or resilience from the new Black Panther. The new protector of Wakanda was more pussycat than panther. An angry or vengeful pussycat, but still a pussycat.
Namor was also underwhelming. Killmonger was more menacing, and had more swagger. Namor was calm, reasonable, and civilised. There was no sense of dread or menace from him.
And the movie was too long.
<The Press Briefing. 9 Aug 1965. Lee Kuan Yew and his Cabinet faces the press. The journalists wait expectantly, respectfully quiet. Lee would be speaking. He is gathering his thoughts. There is no prepared statement. No carefully worded press release. No notes. Lee is speaking off the cuff. The silence is deafening. It's quiet enough to hear a clock ticking....>
LKY: "You see, the whole of my adult life, <pause> I had believed in Malaysia and Merger and the unity of these two territories. You know it's a people who... connected by geography, economics and ties of kinship <pause. tears up> <This segment could be the recorded TV footage. After the pause, Lee could speak>
"Would you mind if we stop for a while?"
<Time Stops. The ticking clock stops ticking.>
LKY: Where do we go from here?
Choo: <off stage/screen, sings echo-ey> "Where do we go from here." <Walks on stage.> So you're singing songs from Evita now? [Note: Evita was written in the late 70s, so this is an anachronism.]
LKY: I don't know what to do!
Choo: That has never stopped you. You may not know the exact next step, but you always know where you are heading.
LKY: And look where I have brought us: to disaster! I wanted Merger. I wanted a future with Malaysia. I wanted Singapore to be the shining gem in Malaysia... And now we will NEVER be!
Choo: We may never be a shining gem in Malaysia, but there's no reason we can't be a shining gem, anyway.
LKY: How do we even survive?
Choo: <sings "What do you see?">
There’s a jewel on the ocean,
a gem upon the sea
Where the future is an open book
A land of destiny
LKY <Sings> "What do you see? What do you see?"
Choo: <sings>
See the moon and the stars, look how far we have come
Look around at our faces, they shine brightly in the sun
With our hopes and dreams, imagine what tomorrow it may bring
What do you see?
LKY: <Sings> What do you see?
Choo: You wanted Singapore to be independent of British rule, of Japanese rule. And then you sought to put Singapore under Malaysian rule? Why would you think that that would be better? For almost two years, you and your colleagues tried to make it work, try to wring some benefit out of this Merger. But all you got was grief. They take from us, exploit us, tell us what we can and cannot do, and we never got the access to the common market we had wanted. All we got was blood for our sweat and tears. You call this your Moment of Anguish -- what are you anguished about? They gave us independence, not out of altruism or for our best interest. But to see us fail. To see your Moment of Anguish. And now you have given them that Moment of Anguish. They are laughing at you back in Kuala Lumpur, Harry. They are patting themselves on their backs for finally getting back at the redoubtable Harry Lee. They are gleefully recounting to each other your Moment of Anguish. Laughing at your tears. And now, they are waiting for you to fail. For Singapore to fail. For your silly idealistic "Malaysian Malaysia", meritocratic equality to fail spectacularly.
LKY: <pauses for a long while. reflects. tears. Then quietly defiant.> Tan Ku Ku.
Choo: I see your Hokkien lessons are bearing fruit.
LKY: What has happened, has happened. There is no use crying over spilt milk. The only way forward, is forward. I have to change... how I see things. As you say, we may not be a shining gem in Malaysia, but we can still be a shining gem... to the world.
Choo: <sings preface to "We are Singapore" second verse/second half of preface>
"If all that we are is what we believe "
LKY: <Sings> "Then I know I’ve got to be the change I want to see "
Choo: <sings> "How easy we forget that everything takes time "
LKY <Sings> "No, nothing's ever perfect, but it will still be fine."
Choo: Let Malaysia be Malay. We will be Singapore.
LKY: We won't be a Chinese nation, or a Malay nation, or an Indian Nation. We will be a shining example for unity in a diversity of language, religion, culture. Everyone will have a place here. Everyone will be equal under the law.
<Time resumes. The clock starts ticking again.>
LKY: <To the camera, to the journalists, after composing himself> To the People of Singapore. What has happened, has happened. Be firm. Be calm. We are going to have a multi-racial nation in Singapore. We will set the example. This is not a Malay nation. This is not a Chinese nation. This is not an Indian nation. Everybody will have his place. Equal. Language, Culture. Religion.
Cast: <sings to the tune of "One People, One Nation, One Singapore" (words slightly tweaked)>
We'll build a place for us with our hands
We're searching for a place in this land
Look how far we've had to roam, searching for our new homeLet's reach out for the future, join our hands forevermore
What do you see
The script/screenplay for Spiderman: No Way Home can be found here.
Here is the opening page of the 182 page script:
Below is a speech to the graduating class of 2008 at NTU convocation ceremony by Adrian Tan, a litigation lawyer and the author of The Teenage Textbook. Read it! It's hilarious but very meaningful.
Adrian Tan
[Nov 2008]
But true!
(Probably.)
Here's a resource:
https://www.suecoletta.com/crime-writers-resource/
From an email from September 13, 2004
[Note: Most (if not all) of our trains, NEL, Circle Line, DTL, are driverless.... and humourless...]
A list of actual announcements that London Tube train drivers have made to their passengers....
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I do apologise for the delay to your service. I know you’re all dying to get home, unless, of course, you happen to be married to my ex-wife, in which case you’ll want to cross over to the Westbound and go in the opposite direction”.
“Your delay this evening is caused by the line controller suffering from elbow and backside syndrome, not knowing his elbow from his backside. I’ll let you know any further information as soon as I’m given any.”
“Do you want the good news first or the bad news? The good news is that last Friday was my birthday and I hit the town and had a great time. The bad news is that there is a points failure somewhere between Stratford and East Ham, which means we probably won’t reach our destination.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, we apologise for the delay, but there is a security alert at Victoria station and we are therefore stuck here for the foreseeable future, so let’s take our minds off it and pass some time together. All together now....’Ten green bottles, hanging on a wall.....’”.
“We are now travelling through Baker Street, as you can see Baker Street is closed. It would have been nice if they had actually told me, so I could tell you earlier, but no, they don’t think about things like that”.
“Beggars are operating on this train, please do NOT encourage these professional beggars, if you have any spare change, please give it to a registered charity, failing that, give it to me.”
During an extremely hot rush hour on the Central Line, the driver announced in a West Indian drawl: “step right this way for the sauna, ladies and gentleman... unfortunately towels are not provided”.
“Let the passengers off the train FIRST!” (Pause ...) “Oh go on then, stuff yourselves in like sardines, see if I care - I’m going home....”
“Please allow the doors to close. Try not to confuse this with ‘Please hold the doors open’. The two are distinct and separate instructions.”
“Please note that the beeping noise coming from the doors means that the doors are about to close. It does not mean throw yourself or your bags into the doors.”
“We can’t move off because some idiot has their f***ing hand stuck in the door” “To the gentleman wearing the long grey coat trying to get on the second carriage - what part of ‘stand clear of the doors’ don’t you understand?”
“Please move all baggage away from the doors (Pause..) Please move ALL belongings away from the doors (Pause...) This is a personal message to the man in the brown suit wearing glasses at the rear of the train - put the pie down, four-eyes, and move your bloody golf clubs away from the door before I come down there and shove them up your a**e sideways”
[Cooment: So much for the much vaunted, “stiff upper lip” and Brit reserve, eh?]
“May I remind all passengers that there is strictly no smoking allowed on any part of the Underground. However, if you are smoking a joint, it’s only fair that you pass it round the rest of the carriage”.
