Singapore Dreaming is a Singaporean drama film that premiered in 2006. It touches on several aspects of Singaporean society, which includes the aspiration for material prosperity and success (similar to The American Dream), socio-economic class, importance of education, work culture, as well as family values.
The film follows the Loh family, a typical working-class family in Singapore, as they go through daily lives aspiring (or dreaming, if seen from another perspective) towards a better life. The core family members are the the father/patriarch Loh Poh Huat, mother/housewife Siew Luan, son and first-generation college graduate Seng, and daughter Mei, who is heavily pregnant with a baby. Other members of the extended family are Irene, Seng's live-in girlfriend, and CK, Mei's husband and strugging insurance agent.
The story begins as the Loh family prepares to welcome back Seng after returning home from his overseas studies. On the surface, it looks like any other happy family gathering. Nevertheless, all is not as it seems as tensions are brewing under this seemingly peaceful facade, with each family member overcoming their struggles and challenges. Then, Poh Huat strikes the lottery, seemingly changing the fate of the Loh family forever...
Contains examples of:
- Beleaguered Assistant: Mei is this for her boss. She does her job role and more - personal assistant, wife therapist, coffee maker, photocopier, you name it, she's done it. She almost loses it while her boss asks her to rush back to the office just to photocopy some unimportant documents during her father's funeral.
- Bilingual Bonus: The film's dialogue is a combination of English, Mandarin, and Hokkien. Justified as Siew Luan doesn't speak or understand English.
- Death by Irony: Poh Huat dies from a heart attack in the very country club that he had wanted to be a member of so badly.
- Dinner and a Show: The Loh Family gathers at a table for dinner at two significant plot points: the first is homecoming dinner for Seng's return from USA, and the second is to celebrate Poh Huat's win from the lottery. Both meals shows the relationships and the dynamics (both pleasant and unpleasant) between the Loh family members.
- A Fool and His New Money Are Soon Parted: Poh Huat strikes the lottery and wins a cool $2 million. Most of the winnings immediately go to paying off his debts, as well as giving Seng unlimited credit access for to buy a shiny new car and to start a business.
- Held Back in School: Seng is an example of this, having stayed back in secondary school and flunking his polytechnic once. He also doesn't complete his college education as well.
- Henpecked Husband: CK is often at the receiving end of this from his wife Mei, as she constantly nags at him to perform better at his insurance sales job.
- Hollywood Heart Attack: Poh Huat experiences this midway through the movie as he walks around the country club while waiting for his membership interview. He collapses and passes away, setting in motion the plot for the second half of the movie.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: CK has a moment like this after storming off from an argument with his wife Mei, grabbing a drink with a beer girl.
- I See Dead People: Siew Luan sees an apparition of Poh Huat as she takes one last look at her old family home. Poh Huat's apparition is wearing the same suit he wore to the country club and holding a bottle of herbal tea, as if giving her a toast to wish her the best in her new life.
- Meaningful Funeral: The second half of the movie takes place throughout Poh Huat's wake and funeral as further conflicts and plot points evolve.
- Moving-Away Ending: The ending scene of the movie shows Siew Luan locking up the Loh family house (which was handed over to Seng), leaving her old family life behind and moving back to her hometown in Muar, Malaysia to start afresh. Also applicable to Irene, who decides to pursue her passion by studying photography.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: This is Poh Huat to CK. Poh Huat often makes condescending and snide remarks towards CK, due to Poh Huat's perception that CK isn't a capable man.
- Parental Favoritism: Seng is definitely favored over Mei, much to the chagrin of the latter. This even meant that she sacrificed her opportunity to further her studies in other to fund Seng's overseas education, despite Mei performing better academically in school.
- Passed-Over Inheritance: Poh Huat willed everything to Siew Luan, and so she decided to give Seng a paltry one thousand dollars out of 1.2 million due to his debts from his education. Naturally, Seng is furious at the decision.
- Secret Other Family: Poh Huat is shown to be spending time another woman and a boy, all the time while apparently keeping it a secret from the Loh family. It is revealed to everyone during Poh Huat's funeral as the woman and boy grieved openly, much to shock of Siew Luan. However, Siew Luan eventually accepts this and even distributed some of her inherited assets from Poh Huat to the mother and son.
- Social Climber: Almost all members of the Loh Family are examples of this trope to various degrees, with the exception of Siew Luan and Irene.
- Undying Loyalty: Irene is an embodiment of this as a loyal girlfriend towards Seng, so much so that she lives in with his family and even loans him a huge amount of cash for his overseas tuition fees. Subverted when Irene finds out Seng did not graduate at all.
- Worthless Foreign Degree: Seng experiences this during a job interview, where the interviewer very matter-of-factly mentions this point to him. It doesn't help his case that his college was in Idaho, and it was not even a fully-fledged college program. Subverted when he reveals that he did not even graduate from his program at all.
