#SINGAPOREAN ACTOR

[madeinthephilippines-blbambeyond]

MCF: MADE IN THE PHILIPPINES/SINGAPORE

TOMMY ALEJANDRINO

[aka: TOMAS SANTOS]

RAYNOLD TAN

@pose4photoml

[bl-bam-beyond]

BAM- BEAUTIFUL ASIAN MEN:

& BEYOND

LEE LONG SHI

[Nickname: LONG]

Walking into TIN TEM JAI (where he's playing a support role called Pao) like a boss. A HOT AF BOSS.

[offtay]

not to be all emo & shit but off being THE STAR of the kenzo paris event ABROAD is making me go 🥺😭 like my man is really going inter huh 🥰

[nigft]

yk once I got over the euphoria of realising that overwatch had a singaporean character and actually took a look at her the more laughable it gets.

like, you have dr mina liao who would totally be an extremely cool playable character and has a really big lore significance, and then you immediately kill her and replace her with a fucking robot. what. (also from my limited knowledge of ow lore, this is the second time the introduce a woc scientist only to have an omnic be playable instead)

also echo is just,,, bad representation,, her singlish is the worst thing I have ever heard (it has no rhythm and is pronounced horribly) and there are like a total of. 3 cultural references found in her skins and sprays (durian, marina and that spray where she's holding a vanda miss joaquin)

I think the interaction that she has with mei is probably the best like,, character wise and culturally

echo: could you describe the taste of chicken rice?

mei: oh, it's very tender and tasty but... subtle?

echo: thank you. it was dr liao's favourite dish.

mei: I'll have some and explain it better next time!

it's cute and mentions our national dish as well as expanding on some character stuff for echo. that's all the good I have to say on the cultural aspects (also dr liao is so correct chicken rice is delicious)

oh yeah finding out they got a british actor to voice a singaporean character felt like getting kicked in the stomach

[madeinjapan-thailand-blbambeyond]

MAN CRUSH FANDOM ▪︎ MADE IN THAILAND

LEE LONG SHI

[Nickname: LONG]

[conandaily2022]

Juhi Nar Singh biography: 13 things about Miss Universe Singapore 2023 finalist

Juhi Nar Singh is a Singaporean actress, model and beauty queen. She is of Indian descent and she is an alumna of the Singapore Institute of Technology in Dover, Queenstown, Singapore. Singh is also known as Juhi Nars. Here are 13 more things about her: From 2009 to 2014, she attended Rosyth Primary School

[pastelpressmachine]

Black Mirror’s Demon 79 and the Justification of Brown Feminine Rage (warning: spoilers)

What if intrusive thoughts can be valid, and it is okay, maybe even necessary to act on them sometimes? If violence isn’t the answer, why must it so often be the question? 

Set in Northern England, 1979,  “Demon 79″ is the final episode of Black Mirror’s sixth season. It follows Nida, a meek sales assistant with a mousy appearance, who is tasked with the most complicated and important mission: to save the world by taking the lives of three human sacrifices in the days leading up to May Day.

Champions of the extended metaphor, Black Mirror employ the talents of Anjana Vasan (an Indian-born, Singaporean-raised, and U.K.-based actress) who plays Nida Huq and Paapa Essiedu (an English actor of Ghanaian descent) who plays Gaap*, the demon Nida accidentally invokes upon finding a talisman that begins this stressful mission of her. Gaap, devilishly handsome and charming, trying to earn his “wings” and be initiated into demonhood reassures the panicking Nida that she is not going mad, she is not a bad person, and the people she is encouraged to kill are vetted through his soul-reading as deserving of death.

*Gaap is considered through stories of demonology and texts related to the Testament of Solomon to be the Prince of Hell, with angels as siblings and a penchant for manipulating women and rendering them infertile. 

Gaap adjusts his form to something more comfortable for Nida by changing into a look-a-like of Bobby Farrell from the famous disco-funk German-Caribbean vocal group known as Boney M. Having the representation of a demonic entity be a Black man while allowing him to manifest into a symbol of appeal for Nida turns the inherent vilification of Black men on its head without contributing to the hypersexualization of Black bodies. Gaap is never presented as a love interest for her, but viewers do get to see them develop a snarky back-and-forth. I almost never see Black and brown leads banter like this. 

Another reason I’m glad Gaap was not portrayed as a sinful symbol of sexual desire is because Indian women already have to navigate a shame-fueled purity culture, and I wouldn’t want to see her grapple with her feelings for someone who is not only outside of her race and religion, but isn’t human. Writers avoided the idea that to love Gaap was to love something forbidden in all possible ways. And we don’t need to see Black folks depicted as not-human. The history of both American cinema and politics has acted on that dangerous perception already. 

When I saw the opening scene of Nida with her wide eyes waking up to get ready for work, I recognized the doe-like innocence in her face as the one I have been raised to emulate. She looks so much like my mother 30 years ago. Minimal makeup, modest clothes, hair neat and tied back.

Moments of Nida’s inner demons being unleashed start off as fantasies she has. She is quietly scurrying through her life as an oppressed minority in 1970′s England, where xenophobia and racism showed up everywhere, from the actions of the British Nationalists to the microaggressions Nida faces at work for simply bringing her potent biryanis to the stock room and “stinking up the place”.

Indian women are some of the least visible in politics historically and presently because we are raised to not make a fuss of things, to be quiet and reserved and let white people act how they want towards us because we are guests in their countries, even when they’ve colonized and pillaged our own. I feel Nida’s pain as she thanks the white people around her for the bare minimum (allowing her an alternative place to eat, such as the basement - where she finds the talisman that changes her life) and avoids the confrontation and rage within her, even sighing in defeat at the NF* tag that has been spray-painted on her front door. 

*NF stands for the National Front, a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom, founded in 1967. 

I crave catharsis for Nida. And for her late mother, whom she has a photo of in her apartment. She explains after the first sacrifice that her mother was perceived as crazy, and now Nida is afraid that people will think the same of her, and this time, because of what she’s done, it will be true. I wondered if Nida’s mom was called crazy because she had stood up for herself, reported abuse or harassment that was occurring within the Indian community itself or in her own home, or tried to leave Nida’s father. None of these scenarios would make the show seem like fiction at all, at least not for many of the South Asian women trapped by the chains of patriarchal ideals. 

There are moments where I am concerned Nida is enamored by Michael Smart, a white politician giving a campaign speech outside the store she works at, as if his mere acknowledgment of her existence without visible disgust is enough to make her heart flutter. Again, I enjoy seeing a Black and brown lead in this episode, and knowing that other viewers are getting to see the many instances of white culture that exposes the racist ignorance and unfair power structures that exist in western society, workplaces, and even the homes of white folks themselves. (I was so happy for little Laura to hear of what was done to her assailant).

When it comes to stopping the world from absolute destruction in a nuclear holocaust, the heroes have never really been people who look like Nida. (It is worth noting that the head writer for this episode was Bisha K. Ali, who also is the executive writer for Disney+’s Ms. Marvel and has tackled many of the same representation issues in her work). People like her don’t have the permission to be loud, angry, or violent without consequences, no matter how justified. Meanwhile, with unchecked authority, bombs go off and innocent people die and children cower in their beds and white men get to act on their worst traits and impulses, however sinful, with little to no accountability.

Even when Nida is being violent, it is for the greater good. Because it has to be. Even female rage has to serve a purpose for others. It cannot just be hers. If she’s going to be angry, she better be trying to solve crime or save the world. 

And through this most guttural and sometimes poisonous part of being a human, Gaap sees her. Maybe it’s because he has transformed in the image of Nida’s celebrity crush or maybe it’s truly the way in which he interacts with her, Gaap sees Nida. He recognizes the type of violence she would and would not indulge in. He tells her she should feel more at ease after killing the first sacrifice, a pedophile she clobbers with a brick before he falls into a river. He continuously recognizes her hesitation, and suggests “Dutch courage”, or booze before following through with the second kill. It is inappropriate in Indian culture for women to drink, which Nida notes when she tells Gaap she doesn’t. Then he asks her if she wants to, something, from the expression on Nida’s face, it doesn’t seem like she has ever been asked. 

Upon entering a pub full of (yes, all white) men, Nida is dismissed by the (also white) female bartender who looks just as irritated by her existence as her coworker Vicky, who had reported how unfair it was that she had to smell Nida’s lunches and endure the lingering scent at work. An older (also white) bartender (who might be the owner) takes her order with the same polite and quiet discomfort of her boss, who had presented her with the basement lunch “solution” to appease Vicky. It’s subtle but the approaches in which different age groups and genders of white English folk take with engaging with Nida demonstrate the variety of ways in which people of colour experience discrimination. At its worst, it is violent hate crimes and unjust legislation that mutates into full blown genocide. At its mildest, it’s passive aggression and strained tolerance. 

It’s more apparent with the second killing (of a man named Keith who killed his wife) that Nida does have the option to be as righteous as she wants to be, which is something I really appreciated about her character. Even if she was killing to prevent the literal apocalypse, and the clock was 6 minutes from midnight -- she must follow the cadence of at least one kill a day -- the moment she has to hear Keith’s justification for what he did and his attempt at absolving himself with the statement “I’m not a bad husband, but --” she swings a hammer at his head to shut him up. She then bashes his head in repeatedly, even to the point where Gaap is wincing at the sight. If this was just about killing people to stop a bigger disaster and loss of life, she wouldn’t be losing herself in the act like she did. 

The third and final kill occurred in the next few minutes, as Keith’s roommate, witnesses her trying to exit, which presents itself as problem in allowing her to continue with the mission if she’s arrested. It’s messy because it was fast, the least premeditated, and she doesn’t know who the man is or if he’d done anything as bad as the previous two skills. Because of this, she’s much more apologetic as the man dies, later finding out from Gaap he was Keith’s brother, Chris, an “ordinary” person who would not have been one of Nida’s choices. 

But as Gaap says, “What’s done is done”. And the three lines on the talisman should have disappeared indicating that Nida has fulfilled her duty. But it still has a line remaining, so a confused Gaap dials 666 (of course) on Nida’s rotary phone to explain the issue to his superiors. He tells Nida that Keith apparently didn’t count because he’s a murderer and anyone who’s been directly responsible for the death of another human being (not counting future deaths they might be responsible for) is off limits. Chris counted because his death still occurred just before midnight. 

Nida doesn’t snap psychologically and decide she enjoys this and is going to become a serial killer, which is a direction I find common in other Black Mirror episodes, where the white and/or male character loses it and/or goes on a killing spree. She grapples once more with her initial unwillingness to participate in this because even when given the go-ahead and to have the most reason to, she enters a mental boxing ring with her instinct v. culture v. morals. From my own experience and what I have seen in my own community, outward expression of rage is never the first emotion a woman reaches for...because she can’t always afford to in the way others can. 

“My whole life, I never wished harm on anyone.” 

Gaap tells her what’s at risk for him, and he describes a fate of punishment that she says sounds like her life now. She stands, empathizing with an actual demon, and deciding to continue with the mission. Gaap also reminds her this isn’t solely for him; she possessed a darkness within her that drew her to the talisman. So, he asks her, who pissed her off?

To Possette’s Shoes they go. 

Vicky, a prime choice for the grand finale, delegates the task of attending to the young girl Laura (from earlier) and her mother to Nida. Because the little girl creeps Vicky out. Gaap informs Nida that because she killed Laura’s dad, Laura doesn’t kill herself at 28 and instead goes to therapy, becomes a mother at 29, and a grandmother at 57. It’s a comforting thought amidst the mayhem of it all. 

Michael Smart makes an appearance once more, as his father and the boss’s father, are old college friends, and Nida’s boss had promised him a suit and shoes on the house. The boss unsurprisingly selects Vicky as the sales attendant, with Gaap grumbling to himself as Nida’s eyes go from ‘excited crush’ to just crushed. Her boss then chooses to notice the boxes on the floor from when Vicky could’ve been cleaning up and hisses at Nida, “Could you pick up the bloody mess?” This prompts Gaap to suggest the boss be the next to go. 

Nida moves on to cleaning up the boxes, eavesdropping on the conversation between Michael and Vicky. When Michael says he hopes he has her vote, she says she is siding with the National Front who she believes will help rid the town of all the pesky foreigners. And then Michael Smart reveals himself to be what a lot of politicians are: covert bigots. He explains to Vicky that an explicitly xenophobic campaign would be too polarizing, so you have to elect a moderate who can win over the masses and put the evil plans in motion. (Sound familiar?) 

There is a subliminal language spoken among white supremacists, even if they smile politely at people who look like me and Nida. And this revelation that she witnesses presents an even more justifiable option for Nida’s third kill. 

She asks Gaap to give her information about Michael’s future, which he hesitantly reveals to her. Michael Smart wins the election, eventually becomes prime minister, and leads a new world order built on white supremacy. Nida decides he is the final target, but Gaap tells her he wouldn’t be the right choice because the Satanic world he comes from is a fan of his work and everyone there would want Michael to be able to facilitate the upcoming deaths that occur as a result of him first winning the election to become a member of Parliament. 

But Nida is set on him, or no one, giving Gaap the ultimatum to get on board or risk his own banishment after failing his initiation. 

Meanwhile, a police investigation occurs which leads to the bar staff identifying Nida as a “muttering Indian woman” who was at the bar the night Keith died. Len Fisher of Tipley Police arrives at Nida’s apartment, as part of routine questioning, and she invites him in, with Gaap’s suggestion to kill him. 

Fisher is the first white person to speak to her as person, too, even though he’s there on the premise of Nida being a potential suspect. Maybe this is more covert trust-building behaviour, maybe as a cop, maybe as someone generally suspicious of people of colour. He is the most mild-mannered, middle-man in the whole story. 

Fisher follows Nida who follows Smart after his speech at town hall. This is where I’m a little surprised but not displeased. The other episodes end with something sad, violent, and/or redemptive. Nida gets a bit of everything, but as with all things Black Mirror, not in the way you’d expect. In society, Nida may be reduced to a mad woman telling an insensible story, enduring the same perception people had of her mother. But society doesn’t last long, and she walks off into a kind of nuclear, fiery sunset with a new friend. 

The deadline for the sacrifices had been May Day, also known as Workers’ Day or International Workers’ Day to commemorate the struggles and gains made by workers and the labour movement. Nida, representing intersectional identities of the working class (immigrants, women, people of colour), was not listened to or believed, and the world ended because of it. Her weapon of choice had been a hammer, a tool meant for building that was used for destructive but necessary purposes. This could be a reference to the Communist party’s symbol of a hammer and sickle, which represents proletarian solidarity. The meaning of the episode, particularly its ending, captures the significance of the working class and how our world relies on them to function and last. When their efforts are stunted, their sacrifices are in vain, or they are not heard, the world ends. 

[shuttershocky]

So ive been on a binge of watching commercials from different countries with my friends and ive noticed the ones from the phillipines would sometimes have their actors speaking english inbetween tagalog and just wanted to ask why is that?

Colonialism.

After the Spanish-American war, when the US bought the Philippines from Spain, they quickly realized they could overtake 333 years of Spanish rule in only 30 years if they took over our education system.

So, they brought over a whole ship of American schoolteachers and set up schools that resembled American school systems, which led to almost the entire population having at least a rudimentary understanding of English, as well as accents that are most understandable to Americans (as opposed to our main regional rivals in English literacy, the Singaporeans).

Approximately 100 years later and English fluency has become something of a status symbol. Your fluency in it speaks of the education you got. My dad for example, was very poor and didn't learn to speak English very well in school, so when I was born he insisted I be taught English as my first language so I would "have the advantage he never got"

Random codeswitching in both home and at work is completely ordinary now for most Filipinos working in a corporate environment and it's not even intentional most of the time, but I do say it is extremely funny to fuck with your (foreigner) bosses by using just enough English to get them invested in a conversation you're having with someone else only to switch halfway through and leave them confused. We did this all the time in one of my past jobs, it annoyed my boss so much we got an announcement to please stop randomly codeswitching at work so he wouldn't get left out.

[madeinthephilippines-blbambeyond]

MCF: MADE IN THE PHILIPPINES

TOMMY ALEJANDRINO

RAYNOLD TAN

[bl-bam-beyond]

LEE LONG SHI

[Nickname: LONG]

[ctrlrps]

`   DESMOND CHIAM GIF PACK —

—  click here  —  to view a page of #201 gifs of the chinese-singaporean actor, desmond chiam ( 1987 ), as zi-xin ‘z’ min in partner track. all of these gifs were made from scratch by me, so don’t repost and claim these as your own. you are welcome to edit these for personal use, but you must ask for my permission and give credit if you plan on editing them for re-release.    ›   content warnings: partial nudity    ›   size: 270x150 — last updated: may 12

[icedsodapop]

Me watching Monkey Man and seeing a Singaporean actor:

[cassiopeiathewraith]

See what you can get when you hire english-speaking actors who doesn’t have to be white?? These singaporean actors can ACT

[madeinjapan-thailand-blbambeyond]

MCF: MADE IN SINGAPORE/THAILAND

LEE LONG SHI

[juneviews]

i LOVE your post about your favorite thai actresses, can you do one with your favorite actors?

I sure can! I also have a full video ranking every thai actor I know, though my mind has evolved a bit since then for sure :)

MY FAVORITE THAI ACTORS

off jumpol: I mean I'll try to stay brief bc everyone knows how much I adore off, but for me he's truly the one actor who has it all: he can act great, he's beautiful, has literally the best personality out of any actor, has a great fashion sense, can sing well, is hilarious af, an amazing leader & mc, a great friend & phi to literally everyone around him... like HOW can you not love him? I've been his fan for 3 years now and literally fall in love with him more every day <3

mond tanutchai: speaking of love, here's another actor I'm literally in love with <3 so mond is objectively one of the most beautiful men on this earth, and on top of that he's an amazing actor, is very charismatic, and has the cutest personality! I just hate how underrated he is bc he deserves to be a leading man in every series, and I hope he can get to that very soon bc he only deserves the best of the best :)

tay tawan: so "everybody loves tay" is a popular saying in the fandom for a reason. I usually think actors who are loved by everyone are overrated, but for tay it's 100000% warranted. even though he's not the greatest actor (he's a good actor don't get me wrong!), he has the best personality (infp's unite) and is just... happiness in a human being :) he's also an amazing presenter and extremely genuine & passionate about everything he ever talks about. he transpires honesty & I would trust him with my life <3

drake laedeke: so on top of being very incredibly handsome, I feel like drake really has one of the best personalities out there in the fact that he's not afraid of being silly or "too much." a pattern you'll find in every actor I love is their genuine-ness, and drake definitely has that! he's extremely hyper & fun and while he still has some work to put in acting-wise, he's getting better every year and I'm very excited to see where he goes <3

first kanaphan: so I always brag that I've liked first since his first role, but it's true! I've always felt like he had so much potential, especially when I saw him alongside off in wolf, or drake in blacklist. but ngl since his first role in wake up chanee that was great, I felt like he was delegated to mediocre & okay series where, even though he did shine, he didn't get to show his full potential either. then not me happened, and like everyone in that show, he fucking SLAYED and bodied yok in a way literally no one else could have, and now he's also killing it in the eclipse so I'm literally standing here like a proud mom like "FINALLY! my son gets some good material!" so yeah, I love first & his talent, as well as his silly & loving personality. he's just... pure good vibes <3

earth pirapat: so even though I'm not a super fan of where earth's career is going, very much caged into his ship, I've loved him for a very long time. he's literally the only actor I've seen every role of (even his singaporean show), and he's had my attention since his first role in water boyy, but stole my heart as un in theory of love who's part of what was my main favorite ship, untwo, for years. that love truly culminated in 1000 stars, where he finally got a main role that made him shine like he deserves to! so yeah, I will always support earth, bc he's an amazing actor, genuinely one of the most beautiful men on earth & truly such a sweetie <3 all good vibes towards him!

joss wayar: to complete the hottie trinity (with mond & earth), we of course have joss! so the dude is literally the most beautiful man on this earth & it's kinda rude... but I also really appreciate the fact that he's chosen a variety of roles including a bi poly icon like neo in 3 will be free. I also think he definitely has the potential to become THE male lead of thai series if he works a bit more on his acting, especially in emotional scenes, and while I don't really love the "hustle culture" part of his personality, I still love his response to someone asking him if he was gay back in 2019 that showed how open-minded he is. I'm very excited to see where his career goes :)

gun atthaphan: so what is there to say about gun that hasn't already been said? an obvious INSANE talent for acting, an incredible fashion sense & the cutest personality... it's no coincidence why gun is so beloved. I have nothing but great things to say about him, and while his personality is very private so I wish I knew more about him, I will always support him in every endeavor & wish him the best <3

fluke gawin: a recent addition to my faves’ list, gawin has always been on my radar since his first role as mork in dark blue kiss. while he hasn't had that many roles, he's stolen the show in pretty much all of them! mork was already my favorite part of dbk, I rooted for his character in girl next room over the male lead and he was adorable in enchanté... but of course it's his role in not me that truly sealed the deal for me, managing a super complex character with many emotional scenes & truly showing me that besides a beautiful man who can sing insanely well, there truly is an amazing actor. I'm extremely excited to see where fluke goes next, even though y'all know I'm not a fan of him starring in be my favorite, bc I truly know he has many great things ahead of him. very, very excited for what's to come <3

non chanon: so it's funny bc non has been on my radar for a while, through his roles in bad genius the movie & project s: shoot! I love you, but I always found his roles incredibly bland & boring. then, this past year happened: he gave a twist to the boring male lead trope in 46 days, played one of the most interesting complex roles ever in one of my all-time favorite thai dramas the revenge, and once again a layered messed up rapper in wannabe... and now he's gonna be in the first historical thai bl too! so to say my opinion of him has changed would be an understatement bc he's not only a really, really, REALLY solid actor & absolutely gorgeous, but he also seems like a lovely person who loves pushing himself into new interesting roles. I'm very excited to see his future roles, especially as he seems to want to work with gmmtv more, and I'm really glad to have changed my mind about him <3

other actors I love: white nawat, jaylerr krisanapoom, arm weerayut, mek jirakit, khaotung thanawat, gunsmile chanagun, billkin putthipong & toni rakkaen <3

xxx

[conandaily2022]

Singapore's 10 most handsome men alive 2022

Singapore’s 10 most handsome men alive 2022

The Republic of Singapore is a sovereign island city-state in Southeast Asia. The country borders the South China Sea to the east, the Straits of Malacca to the west and the Riau Islands, Indonesia to the south. On August 6, 1965, Singapore was expelled from Malaysia and became independent. Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew died on March 23, 2015. Singapore’s incumbent and third…