Dear reader,
A newsletter in three parts.
“Singapore This Week”. In our weekly digest, we look at why Singapore handed the “Donald Trump of Beijing” some Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act (FICA) directives; help for low-income transnational families; the second volume of S.Rajaratnam’s biography is released, the passing of James C. Scott; the first Singaporean film to compete for the top prize at the Venice Film Festival; new semiconductor fabrication parks; and Grab’s acquisition of Chope.
How we make our docs. Yes, our slow journalism takes time, but today’s 17-min documentary, “The Euphoria is Real”, is a real zinger. It’s been in the works for over a year. Last July, Jere-Jaymit Singh, who works in the media (and is my brother-in-law), pitched an idea. His former colleague Julianna was about to go for gender reassignment surgery in Bangkok, and was keen to share her story.
Another written essay? Not this time. With two TV people on board, including the protagonist, it seemed like we should explore video storytelling. So, we commissioned Jom’s second-ever video (after the one on Dover Forest). Charmaine Poh, my co-founder, led the effort on Jom’s end, working from Berlin. The on-the-ground work was done by Jaymit and Grace Baey, a director with prior experience with the transgender community, along with Basil Tan on camera and sound, and Denise Oliveiro, the editor who, among other things, trawled through hours of archival footage. It’s because of them, in the wider Jommunity, that our work here is even possible. Thank you.
But how does Jom approach a topic, that has become so politically charged? What’s the right approach, tone, and language? One early storyline focused on Julianna as the corporate executive. And later in the process, we wondered: given the parlous state of contemporary gender discourse in Singapore, should Jom pontificate in the video about transgender rights?
We’re glad that Grace kept the focus on the individual, the self-discovery, and the endearing familial support. There’ll be more from Jom soon on the topic, but for now…
Uncertainty. Self-discovery. Kinship. Euphoria. Trapped in a red dinosaur outfit, a Singaporean child wonders why they can’t present themselves in another way, the threads of prehistoric prejudices swaddled around our shared consciousness, our realms of possibility.
School! Army! Reservist! The regimented rituals of life offer little in the way of hope, of liberation, for the beautiful reality they never countenanced.
Yet saviours and salvation flicker over time, cosmic blips whose meaning is known only after meaning has been created: a role model in Rome, a brother on the court, an apologetic mother, a teary-eyed father, and an unsuspecting grandmother, whose name becomes a bridge to the ancestral past.
And then, she finds the courage to be who she is. The Euphoria is Real.
Jom tonton,
Sudhir Vadaketh
Editor-in-chief, Jom
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