Meanwhile, as Asians collectively cheered Michelle Yeoh’s “the pride of Chinese people everywhere” Oscar nomination on the third day of New Year, I couldn’t help but wonder how we often see the world through our biased lens, especially in the past through rose-tinted glasses.
Again, I am grateful for StarHub’s generosity this Lunar New Year, as we enjoyed free viewing of movie channels we don’t usually subscribe to. In between welcoming the Water Rabbit amid the rainy, cool days last week with the regular visits and mahjong sessions, I got my annual fix of Chinese New Year movies from a bygone era. Whether it is Stephen Chow’s buffoonery, Jacky Chan’s stunts or my perennial favourite Andy Lau’s 2002 film Fat Choi Spirits, I was once again transported to the heyday of Hong Kong in the 1990s, where the spirit of entrepreneurship was matched only by its influence in pop culture.
Nostalgia certainly played a big part in forgiving some terrible special effects, slipshod scripts and cringey acting. Especially when compared to creative storytelling in Korean movies and dramas popular today, or even Chen Sicheng’s Detective Chinatown series on iQIYI.
