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SCMP Reporter

A heart-warming Singaporean comedy that highlights problems in contemporary parent-child relationships will hit screens this week.

A sequel to the popular schoolboy drama I Not Stupid (2002), which shed light on the problems of education and language policies in Singapore, I Not Stupid Too paints a funny - and at times heartbreaking - portrait of a caring family being torn apart by communication breakdown.

The story revolves around three teenagers: Tom (Shawn Lee), his younger brother Jerry (Ashley Leong) and their friend Cheng Cai (Joshua Ang).

Tom and Jerry, despite living in a wealthy family, are upset that their demanding and ever-bickering parents are too busy to care about them.

On the less prosperous side of the tracks, the opposite problem. Cheng Cai's father, the owner of a humble hawker-stall and single father, wants to show his love but doesn't know how.

Both situations parallel realities in Hong Kong, and the result is every parent's nightmare: Tom and Cheng Cai,  unhappy at home  and in school, join a gang and get into trouble for stealing.

Lee and Ang, who also starred in I Not Stupid six years ago, said the message of the movie lay in the tagline: When is the last time that you have praised someone?

'The film is about acknowledging  children's ability, praising them more and not being embarrassed  to do so,' said the 16-year-old Lee, whose character is scolded for wasting time by his mother  after winning an award for his blog-writing skills early in the film.

Lack of quality time to communicate is another problem. Ang, 17, said it's common for both parents in a Singaporean household to work, which leaves little time for them to sit down and talk with their children.

'I believe   many families have such  problems. Everybody is busy - parents are busy with work, and children are busy with school,' said Ang.

'There is a line [from Lee's character] in the movie: 'This home appears to have everything, but in fact it has nothing.' I was quite touched by it.'

To  make the movie more realistic, director Jack Neo - who has a knack  for cultivating Singaporean teenage actors  - recruited juvenile delinquents to play  gangsters in  the film. This allows Lee to see up close and personal his peers who are living on the wrong side of the tracks.

'All teenagers at this age

are quite lost. They will seek people who will listen to them. Unfortunately [for my character] he gets into bad company,' said Lee.

'They [juvenile delinquents] are not that naughty. Maybe they have a slightly different perspective  on life. They want to appear to be more outstanding in  a crowd, so they smoke or dye their hair. Most of them misunderstand their parents and think their parents don't care about them, but actually they are good-hearted.'

The sweetest moment of the film comes when Jerry  tells his distraught parents that the word 'family' stands for father-and-mother-I-love-you.

And Ang believes that message is vital. 'Your family will always be there for you,' he said.

I Not Stupid Too opens on Thursday.



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