As Singapore celebrates its 59th birthday, ST examines portrayals of the Republic on global screens.
From films to TV shows to video games, Singapore has seen a surge in its representation on global screens in recent years.to the TV series Westworld to the video game franchise Battlefield, the island-nation punches above its weight when it comes to visibility in the global media.
As the Republic celebrates its 59th birthday, a growing number of works – many by local creators – are finding their way to international audiences and winning praise for the care that went into carving out authentic renditions. Dr Jinna Tay, a senior lecturer at the National University of Singapore’s department of media and communications, says that with Crazy Rich Asians, “Singapore is essentially serving as a backdrop, but it is not a Singapore film”.
Still, Crazy Rich Asians is part of a broader trend when it comes to depicting Singapore for global audiences. The prevailing focus is on the country’s futuristic and modern aesthetic, luxurious trappings, colonial history and appeal as a dystopian setting. The character, voiced by a British voice actress, has lines referencing its Singaporean origins, using Singlish phrases such as “alamak”, “shiok” and “can or not?” in a foreign tone.
The fan of international cinema adds that this is especially noticeable in Crazy Rich Asians. Still, he concedes that achieving authenticity would have been difficult because one would need to understand three to four dialects and languages to get it right. However, most of these locations were repurposed on screen as a futuristic version of Los Angeles four decades into the future.
Westworld is not alone in making use of Singapore’s ultra-modern aesthetic. The Call Of Duty video games depict it as a futuristic city overrun by disaster, becoming an abandoned wilderness. Global narratives set here tend to use global spaces such as Chinatown or the Central Business District, because these are created for worldwide consumption.
Ilo Ilo , which delves into the lives of a middle-class family and their Filipino domestic helper, was the first Singaporean feature film to win an award – the prestigious Camera d’Or prize – at the Cannes Film Festival. The cast includes Liu Xiaoyi as Wang, a disillusioned migrant worker from China, and Ishtiaque Zico as Ajit, a migrant worker from Bangladesh. When Wang disappears, Peter Yu’s detective Lok retraces his steps by diving into crammed worker dormitories and dusty construction sites.
Film-maker Yeo Siew Hua says that part of the motivation behind creating A Land Imagined was to give viewers a rare glimpse into the lives of Singapore’s migrant workers. PHOTO: AKANGA FILM ASIA In A Land Imagined, this artificiality and focus on the industrial grind of Singapore’s land reclamation sites are more than just a backdrop and aesthetic.Another set of works which delve into lesser-seen perspectives of Singapore are period dramas.
“I think historical dramas have two ways of dealing with this,” says Dr Tay. They can use familiar frames like the strapping and good-looking male protagonist, or feature characters who break with the norms of their time. Mr Melvyn Loey, 43, watched the film for the first time in 2024 and says: “I thought it was sentimental, nostalgic, exaggerated but beautiful. It is unapologetic about the seedier side of Singapore that existed before the 1980s, which I’m nevertheless proud of because it’s part of our heritage, culture and history.”
He played Dr Toh, a supporting character who leads a double life: doctor by day and larger-than-life queen of Bugis Street by night. Foo believes the film’s enduring power lies in its universal narrative. At Sin Sin Hotel, the protagonist Lien discovers a new world where people have found a place where they belong and, in doing so, find themselves.
Within the Marvel comics and Marvel Cinematic Universe, the island-state of Madripoor is said to be modelled after Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong. PHOTO: MARVEL STUDIOS Hong Kong actor Chow Yun Fat stars in Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End as a pirate lord, and is introduced in an 18th-century version of Singapore. PHOTO: WALT DISNEY PICTURES
In video game Ghostlore, which features enemies inspired by South-east Asian culture and folklore, the iconic Rafflesia flower is an adversary that protagonists must overcome. PHOTO: GHOSTLORE Singaporean and South-east Asian culture also influence the game’s settings – a Singapore-inspired Seaport serves as the main hub of the game, alongside levels such as Pulau Hijawan and Hantu Tinggi’s Domain – as well as in-game weaponry, food and storylines.
Just starting up the game presents players with a cinematic introduction that takes them through a lovingly crafted and pixelated re-creation of North Bridge Road between Clarke Quay and the Civic District, in glimmering and cyberpunk style. “We made the decision early on that if the character is Singaporean, the voice actor has to be Singaporean,” says the game’s creative director, Mr Mark Fillon, 37, a Filipino.
He created the game’s sprawling visual sequences and settings using photographic references taken by Mr Fillon and by exploring the city through Google Maps. Faithfulness to the real-world inspiration was a key principle for the designer. “Chinatown Detective Agency allowed Ricardo and I to take this clean image of Singapore and kind of artistically destroy it and turn it on its head, because our world-building involved a Singapore that is going through a tumultuous and chaotic period in the world,” says Mr Fillon.
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