WAYANG BOY (戏曲小子) (2014)

Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: Raymond Tan
Cast: Denzyl Yashasvi Dharma, Loh Ren Jie, Tan Wei Tian, Law Kar Ying, Michelle Yim, Chua Enlai, Chantel Liu, Kym Ng, Chen Tian Wen, Bobby Tonelli, Suhaimi Yusof
RunTime: 1 hr 46 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: MM2 Entertainment and Shaw
Official Website:

Opening Day: 13 November 2014

Synopsis: Wayang Boy is a family comedy about Singaporeans living amidst the influx of foreign immigrants. Caught in all the hoo-ha is an Indian boy…Raja. Raja is new in Singapore and he was brought to Singapore by his Chinese stepmother Emma after his father married her. On his first day of school, Raja is branded ‘a foreign talent’ by the class bully, Xavier. The two promptly get into a fight, dragging classmate Shi Han, into the mess. As punishment, the principal lays an ultimatum: join the Chinese Opera troupe, or face a month in detention. Queen Elizabeth is visiting the school in three weeks and the principal wants to impress her with a multi-racial Chinese Opera performance... Through the mayhem of the children’s multi-racial wayang performance, everyone learns anew the meaning of living together as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion.

Movie Review:

You can credit Jack Neo for rejuvenating the local movie scene with his record-breaking Money No Enough back in 1998 when the financial crisis just happened round the corner. Social issues have since served as the inspiration for subsequent Neo’s movies including I Not Stupid about our nerve-racking education system and Just Follow Law which took a dig at our red-tape filled government services.     

Not forgetting the recent award-winning Ilo Ilo that tells the tale of a domestic servant employed by a local family or Eric Khoo’s arty drama 12 Storeys which talks about the troubled lives of heartlanders. Hot button local issues have generally become the default genre for local filmmakers and Raymond Tan’s Wayang Boy is no exception.

The story of Wayang Boy on the whole is a simple one and it basically touches on one current hot topic: the influx of foreigners and the acceptance level of fellow Singaporeans. Raja (Denzyl Yashasvi Dharma) is a primary five student. Newly arrived from India with his Chinese stepmother (played by Taiwanese actress Chantel Liu), Raja finds settling down in Singapore hard as he misses his dad while in school, he is being bullied by a classmate, Xavier (Loh Ren Jie) for being a foreigner.

When it’s announced that the Queen of England is paying a visit to Xi Wang (meaning hope in Chinese) Primary School, the school principal, Mr Ho (Chua Enlai) decides to task the Chinese teacher Mr Koay (HK veteran actor Law Kar Ying) to put on a Chinese opera performance to impress the VIPs. Assembling Raja, Xavier and the snack-loving Shi Han (Tan Wei Tian), Mr Koay must put on a performance of the Chinese classic novel, Wu Song Slaying the Tiger with the three assigned students. But first he must face against Xavier’s xenophobia dad, Henry (Chen Tianwen) and also helped Raja battles his inner demons.   

The character of Henry exemplifies the topic of foreigners encroaching on our territory. His long-awaited post of VP is once again given to an expatriate, Steven (Bobby Tonelli) and when he learnt that Raja is playing Wu Song instead of his son Xavier, he becomes hysterical. Despite the controversial theme, Wayang Boy is largely a safe and occasionally funny movie. Safe meaning it never actually delve hard into the issues discussed. And by funny, there are some clever lines spouted by Enlai’s character and some silly play-for-laughs gags by TV host Kym Ng and her onscreen husband (theater veteran Huang Jiajiang). A car challenge segment, a spoof of the popular yearly Subaru challenge is a good example. 

Tan who also contributed to the script tends to have a problem juggling drama and comedy that the pacing obviously seems a bit off course at times. The part especially the relationship between Raja and his stepmother dragged down the story significantly. Fortunately he milks the most out of Law Kar Ying’s performance given the man is known for his contributions to the opera scene in his native country. I can’t say the same for Michelle Yim’s screentime as the secretary of Principal Ho but her English is surprisingly fluent. Mediacorp actor Chen Tianwen is receiving quite a presence on television and movies after Ilo Ilo and he is again playing the loutish character for the umpteen times. The young cast members Denzyl Yashasvi Dharma, Loh Ren Jie and Tan Wei Tian put in commendable efforts especially Wei Tian’s scene-stealing, gung-ho Shi Han.

There’s a crucial lesson of being less xenophobic towards foreigners though the message is so repetitive covered in the movie that you prefer to switch it off. There are also brief mentions of other issues such as the high costs of owning a car and the increasingly crowded mrt if you must know. If not for the genuinely affecting performances from the cast, Wayang Boy will be just another bland local movie that uses a hot issue as a bait. 

Movie Rating:  

(Not this year’s best local movie but good-natured enough to give it a watch on a weekday)

Review by Linus Tee