Xiaohai bu ben

Being born and bred in Singapore for my entire life, I understand how the main leads in the movie faced because I was once part of the system years ago. I was once in the EM2 stream myself but yet, I so know how it feels.

Imagine facing the prejudice you will get when you are in EM3 here. Although the government had already kind of modified the primary school streaming system here, this movie will always remind us of despite how much many in the world who admire our education system and how we are always among the top for international mathematics and science competitions, there are always things which the students who were once part of the primary school streaming system will not forget.

But, coming back to the movie. Director Jack Neo had certainly strike a chord with the local audiences with this movie. I remembered back then when I first watched the movie when it was released here, it was one of those movies I know I can fully understand at once what it is talking about. The humour, the parodies...all of it really capture the essence of the movie.

When it was being made into a TV drama version, more things were explored. Definitely the one movie that will make the outside world understand about the humanity side of Singapore's education scene more or less.

Well I have to say that it was very true to life, things like that happen all the time in Singapore (so I really don't know why some people in Singapore call it "creative" since it was lifted straight from life). This movie was set in a primary school, I'm not sure which. I graduated from primary school 3 years ago, but being in a class with some EM3 students, I have to admit that life for an EM3 student was just seriously bad, when you have the misfortune of meeting people who judge you by your results. Even though I was never in EM3, I could still feel for the kids portrayed in the movie because I've seen it before in life, and some of the pressure was also felt by students in the EM2 stream as well (though not as much), which I was in.

I was skeptical about this film at first. Singapore is not a country known for their films! After so many positive reviews, and the fact that my family members liked the film a lot, I decided to watch it.

The film really blew me away. It was really that good! It explored so many issues within the short amount of time. And it explored these issues in a direct, in your face manner. The pressure on each person on different roles in the society, the tension between people, living up to unreasonable expectations, and even topics like politics, love and societal problems are touched upon. This is not just a film, but a documentary of the life of common people in Singapore. I can only recommend it!

Reviewer's background: a nearly 40 mum of 2 girls (8 and 3) from Hong Kong.

At first, I wasn't keen to watch, because this was touted as a kid flick in Hong Kong, and also "must be seen by all parents with their children" -- to me, this sounded hard-sell.

My elder daughter had earlier watched it (English version), and hadn't commented on it, so this added to my speculation that it must be boring.

I was recently recommended to watch it by an un-married female ex-classmate, which was surprising, considering she doesn't have kids of her own.

Her reason -- if you have Singaporean colleagues, please watch it, it's funny.

So I finally watched it (Mandarin version) on video -- and yes, it's well worth a watch.

Here's why -

1. for parents (especially Asians) -- tune in to the hardship of trying to get your kids excel academically (after I watched this, I stopped forcing my elder to get 100% in Chinese dictation ... only asked her to do her best, and enjoy what she's learning ...)

2. for people with Singaporean friends, colleagues, relatives -- you'd understand how / why / what Singies act the way dey do, and why dey dalk like dat ...

3. for people who are wondering / interested to know how Singapore is governed -- an eye-opener that this movie was censored by the local, since it had so many obvious jabs at the government!

4. for Singaporeans -- enjoy your home-grown movie, a well documented dramatic piece

5. for movie-goers -- the kids CAN act! Better than the majors on Potter movie, especially Shawn Lee, he really acts hurt when whipped by his mum

Since I was watching a video version, I was able to pause (and have to pause) many times during the show to attend to kids, so didn't find the themes choppy, tho there are some gaps and the cohesion could be better improved. Maybe Neo was trying to cram as much information in the film, so many parts might had been edited out.

I give this a 6.5 out of 10. (My 10's are for pieces like LOTR, 6th sense...)

This is a well made film for the Singaporeans to have a laugh at themselves and at their government. Do not be fooled at the title " I NOT Stupid" , which suggests a B-grade show, this is actually a satire with multi layered meanings inside.

It does not take much to figure out that the character of the rich and autocratic mother who meddles in her children's affairs too much, is a persona representation of the government. And her 2 kids, Selena and Terry, are the citizens who react differently under such an autocratic rule.

But it is indeed a surprise that this movie passes the strict censorship board. But maybe, the government by allowing this film to pass, is showing that the political situation has changed, for the better maybe.

If any foreigner wants to have a deeper understanding of the social situation of Singapore society, this movie is a great place to start.