Because the world has altered so rapidly over the past twenty years, with new ways of analysing, modifying and recording human behaviour, it’s already quite usual to see this reflected in cinema. The thing is, it’s more often than not treated as a grave concern, coming to us via technological horrors which plump for a series of worst case scenarios. That’s not the only way to do it, as proven by Tiong Bahru Social Club (2020), a charming, light-touch Singaporean comedy; it’s equally possible to just laugh at the absurdity of it all, even whilst learning a couple of gentle lessons too.
Ah Bee (Thomas Pang) has reached a series of milestones when we are first introduced to him: it’s his 30th birthday, he has just left his job at an insurance claims firm (so surely any way is up) and, best of all, he has been accepted to join the Social Club of the title. This is both a new place to live and a new job: their slogan, or at least one of their slogans is ‘putting unity back into the community’, by working as a Happiness Agent to improve the lives of others. Tiong Bahru achieves this by careful monitoring, using algorithms to improve its residents’ experiences and monitoring individual data. This all sounds very hi-tech, and whilst it is, it comes in a very pleasant, pretty package. It’s not often we get to describe films as straightforwardly pretty on this site, but this one is – think the suburbia of Edward Scissorhands (1990) only refracted through the brightest, cleanest and most lush aspects of modern Singapore. Ah Bee is lucky to get into this little utopia.
Still, there is a progression route here, as anywhere else, and in order to move towards promotion Ah Bee has been assigned an elderly neighbour. His job is, simply, to make her happier. His client, Ms Wee (Jalyn Han) is not massively receptive to his almost-mute early overtures, however. Her first proper conversation with him is to take him through a long list of cats she’s known and loved, with added details on how they died. In the wrong hands, this could be a dreadful misjudgement of what to include in a comedy, but in testament to this film’s tone, it’s deeply, darkly funny. When he’s not trying to please the very forthright Ms Wee (oh, she’s glorious) Bee is taking part in happiness-boosting activities…cuddle workshops, team-building mornings in the pool…and his results are soon in. He’s not as happy as the management would like him to be. This begs the question: what happens to people who are just not able to get happy? And what if you reach 100% on the algorithm – then what?
Happy…happiness…these words are used pretty relentlessly throughout the film until they start to come apart at the seams, and in all likelihood this is the point. In inviting us to consider what happiness actually means, the audience is kept on a par with Bee himself, who is ever the sweet, slightly bewildered everyman, taking it all in and trying to make sense of it all. The film is also busy with terms which have, at the time of writing, become ubiquitous: ‘algorithm’, ‘data’, ‘consent’, ‘analytics’ and ‘KPIs’. These are important aspects of modern life, and come complete with a lot of legitimate concerns for us, but in the world of the film these don’t morph into anything monstrous. It’s too subtle for that, picking its more philosophical moments with great care and prioritising its very own brand of gentle humour. The activities which do – and don’t – raise Bee’s happiness data will almost certainly get a knowing laugh, whilst some of the moments are so bizarre and awkward that laughing out loud is unavoidable. Without going into spoilers, Bee’s misinterpretation of the rules of a question and answer game he’s asked to play with some of his neighbours is just superb.
There are some deeper meanings here, but getting to this point through a film so bright, clever and charming is a really pleasant change from the norm. Tiong Bahru Social Club is a warm and eccentric comedy, and one which deserves to be known everywhere as a timely, feelgood film.
Tiong Bahru Social Club (2020) will screen as part of the 25th Fantasia International Film Festival. For more details, please click here.