Singapore son takes swing back to 70s

THE mirror ball shimmers as the disco king hits the dance floor. Clad in a gull-wing collar shirt and white suit, this John Travolta lookalike struts his stuff under the lights as the crowd go crazy for his funky footwork. Nothing that unusual. After all, 70s retro is chic nowadays. But - in Singapore? 'Actually, the disco scene was very big in Singapore in the mid-70s,' says film-maker Glen Goei, whose disco fantasy Forever Fever contains this scene. 'Discos were banned in Singapore from 1971 to 1975. But when the ban was lifted in 1976, a disco craze broke out.

'We had the wing-collared shirts and wore a lot of sequins - the girls had incredible sequinned dresses. In fact, the whole dance scene was much more colourful and fun back then.' Goei's fond memories of his dancing days spill over into his debut movie Forever Fever. All the campy, corny things that comprised the disco craze - naff suits, slick haircuts, macho posturing - are lovingly portrayed in the film, Singaporean-style.

In fact the quirky disco movie has so much heart it has been picked for American distribution by US company Miramax.

Miramax was so impressed with Forever Fever it handed Goei a three-film production deal as well.

Forever Fever is a Singaporean take on Saturday Night Fever, the movie which inspired Goei to make the piece. Set in the Lion City, it begins with Hock, a young Bruce Lee fan, desperately wanting to buy a new motorbike, except he is broke. But if Hock wins the Galaxy Disco dance competition he will be in the money. All he needs to do is learn to dance.

Enter a magical reincarnation of Travolta, dancing queens, and a jilted rival out to make Hock's life hell and take the prize for himself, never mind a cross-dressing brother and a family coming apart at the seams.