Thread by @visakanv

I’m piecing together bits for an essay I’m probably titling “the Jack Neo moral universe”.

On the surface it may not be interesting to non-Singaporeans, but I think might become my best and most important essay since An Analysis Of Power In Mean Girls

I need to rewatch INS 1&2 and MNE2, but here’s a sketch of a thesis based on MNE1 and ABTM1+2

Jack Neo does a pretty good job of depicting the struggles of regular people - but the frustrating thing is that the central conflict of the stories do not address the core issues

In Money No Enough, the story goes something like this: we live in a materialistic society, money talks, it’s a rich man’s world, etc. Our 3 protagonists are friends with different-ish financial backgrounds and they all end up facing serious financial problems

I think it’s implied that all of these men are “down on their luck”, or “facing bad times”, “misfortune”, etc. That’s true at some level. But the truth is, they are also astonishingly reckless and irresponsible. Jack’s self-insert character earns $4k/mo while spending $5.5k/mo

Why do they do this? This is the important question, and it is barely addressed, although it gets revealed in little details if you pay attention. Hui here is showing off a handphone he cannot afford, and is eagerly condescending to his colleague who spends less $

side note: when Ong’s friend gets cheated out of his money, and then can’t pay Ong, he asks Ong to kill him. This is IMO an accurate depiction of the sort of conflict management techniques many of us are raised with. When there is a problem, use emotional outburst to evade it

Ong’s loanshark problem is resolved when the loansharks get arrested. Keong’s problem is resolved when his family wins the prize for a reality tv show.

None of them truly address the core problems of their spending!!!

there’s then this other really lucky thing that happens where the gang starts a car washing business, impresses a wealthy man, and end up getting lots of business and becoming successful. Effectively another lottery win type outcome. And again... doesn’t address the core issue

What is the core issue? It’s the dark side of materialistic culture. Truly confronting this would require our protagonists to question themselves, their beliefs, their behaviors etc. IMHO, the Jack Neo Moral Universe treats this aspect of culture as immutable, like air or water

In Ah Boys To Men (1+2), similarly, the core events of the plots are the feelings of entitlement that the protagonists have about their girlfriends. They get into a whole bunch of trouble for fighting, going AWOL, etc- one character’s dad almost dies- bc of “girl problems”

https://twitter.com/sharanvkaur/status/1290797759788748800

and you see that there is a pattern with Money No Enough. In the Jack Neo Moral Universe, men do not question or examine their feelings. If you feel like overspending to show off, or you feel like beating up the guy who “stole your girl”, you have no choice but to do it

To be more precise: you can be a little conflicted over whether or not you should defend your buddies when they are fighting outsiders over girl problems- then of course you join in, because it is brave and manly to stand up for one’s friends, isn’t that what the army teaches us?