Synopsis: A mother contemplates keeping her third child during a time when families were given disincentives and pressured to have no more than two children in 1970s Singapore.
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Director Statement: The 1970s and 80s was a time when the Singapore government was at its most controlling and one of its most well-known social campaigns was the “Two is enough” or “Stop at two” population control campaign. In researching this film, I questioned: Whose decision is it to have a child? Why do people have children? How do you decide, when you are influenced by your government, society, family, and partner? I specifically made this film in the Teochew dialect because such Chinese languages have been banned since 1979 over the preference of standard Mandarin – another example of social engineering. This film continues my interest in making films about the human consequences and impact of policy. |
About the Teochew language: The writer/director is a Teochew and this film is made in the Teochew language, a Southern Min language spoken by the Teochew people of the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong province, China, and by their diaspora around the world. This language, along with other Chinese languages, were effectively banned in Singapore in 1979 in favour of standard Mandarin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teochew_dialect
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaoshan_Min
