maybe it’s time we took a cold, hard look at where we’re going

last week, i caught a long-anticipated show - sicko.

judging the movie by its title initially, i had imagined that this will be a movie akin to those like scary movie 1, 2 or 3 which were lame and featured slapstick, copy-cat humourless jokes. however, upon reading the film’s description from the net, i realised that this was more of a reality-type of movie.

although it will be too much of a stretch to call sickoa documentary, this film paints the hard reality of how the health-care system operates in the united states. using an often sarcastic but humorous way, michael moore explored and portrayed how the less-than-privileged (i.e. those with no health insurance) were suffering in the states.

you might ask “why didn’t these people get health insurance then? wouldn’t it make things easier for everyone?”

yeah, like they didn’t think of that huh. things ain’t so simple. to buy a health insurance, you’ll need to go through approval processes which are determined by the health insurance companies themselves.

as for those who are privileged enough to have health insurance, there are still barriers such as the scope of their insurance, under what circumstances did you fall sick etc etc. fail any one item - your insurance is rendered invalid - and that means no compensation.

the most horrifying thing is that these health insurance companies actually hire people to employ scare tactics to “persuade” the patients not to claim their insurance (from what i interpreted from the movie). doesn’t this sound like mob-like?

the movie also revealed the following scenes:

• some major health insurance companies have their fingers and toes dipped in politics to lobby for health bills to be passed so that they could make more money off their drugs or treatments.

• patients and people in dire need of medical treatment being brutally thrown out of hospitals because they’ve no money for medical bills. one of the scenes included an old lady patient being discarded from a hospital onto a cab and later, onto a public road from the cab some distance away. disorientated and lost, the old lady just wandered around along the busy road until a volunteer from a shelter found her.

moore also compared the health-care systems in the states against those of canada and other europe countries where they practised universal health-care (i.e. free health-care for everyone - paid with the people’s taxes).

apparently, in the past, there were some voices in the states which advocated the implementation of universal health-care. these voices were, however, quickly silenced by the all-powerful health insurance companies who claimed that it was a socialist movement which is inefficient and ineffective while we all know that it’s just because this system will be detrimental to their bottomlines and profits.

in an attempt to validate this claim, moore also interviewed health-care stakeholders in these countries. through analysing his findings, the universal health-care system does seem to be more satisfactory compared to a free-market system.

oh no, i’ve given away too much on the movie.

anyway, i must admit that i don’t know how much of these information from the movie is true and realistic. however, even if only 25% was true, the thought is pretty chilling…

…even much more so when i could, in my head, imagine singapore going the same way in future.

sometimes, in our haste to progress into a first-world country like the states, we sometimes forget that not everyone is able to keep up and accelerate at a comparable speed. in this case, we risk leaving them behind which will result in a heavily segmented society. is this what we really want?

moreover, it’s a generally-known fact that a large portion of our younger generation looks towards the west (especially the states) as the ideal state/environment/society. wouldn’t such attitudes propel us toward that direction even faster?

looking at our present health-care system, i’m worried - very very worried.

does it not resemble the situation that is being portrayed in the movie?

i don’t want to become old…and have to worry about whether i’ll have enough money for my medical bills when i fall sick or whether i’ll be kicked out of the hospital anytime.

that’s just too sad. what quality of life are we looking at?

i’ll strongly recommend this movie to everyone…. maybe it’ll help us gain some perspective. personally, i really feel that this movie is like us looking into a crystal ball - like a preview of how our future system will be like.

i ish saded.

movie rating: 4.5/5 - a must-watch!

retro back!

last saturday, i caught one of the movies on my must-watch list - hairspray.

retro and musicals - two of my loves together

i stepped into the cinema without knowing what to expect since it was a relatively new film and i haven’t read or seen the movie trailer yet.

i didn’t even know that it’ll be a musical-movie but the retro theme, by itself, was already more than sufficient to capture my attention.

*disclaimer: contains spoilers ahead. read at your own risk.

***

the storyline was simple, cliche and light-hearted (for most parts). yet, the deceptively simple plot highlighted many issues that we’re still facing today.

acceptance of differences, racial segmentation and segregation, courage, love. these elements formed the core of the story.

the music, the songs and dances inside were full of hope, optimistism - so cheery that it will even lighten up your mood. compare this to our modern pop - full of angst, sadness and broken hearts. where did it go wrong?

somehow, musicals move me in a way that i can never quite understand. it just stirs something within me - a strong, mysterious and alluring force that makes me want to lose myself in it.

and now, this reminds me of yet another musical….

for no want of a better saturday…

after spending the early half of my saturday recuperating from friday’s activities, i was fully prepared to stay at home and snuggle up with my computer and idiot box. however, things were not meant to be and plans made were to be changed!

instead of nuaing (generally means doing nothing at all), i met up with gracey and km for dinner and a movie. we had wanted to watch this movie.

despite 8days giving it only 2.5 stars (and giving The Hils Have Eyes 3 stars),i think it was wayyyyy better than what they credit it for. or maybe the reviews at 8days just aint suckers for dance-themed movies like me.

Antonio Banderas was hot, hot, hot! he has this electrifying and intense look that makes you think he can see right through you. ooooooooooooh. sexy. besides this sexy devil, the sensual dance moves also kept the movie heated throughout. dancing, i like!

the movie activated my itchy feet to go dancing again and coupled with 2 groups of friends that jio-ed me down to dbl o and o bar respectively, i succumbed to the temptation and went forth to mhd sultan.

12.30am - reaching the club, the quene for dbl o was soooo freaking long (retro night what…hahaha), i decided to hit o bar for some RnB grooves first before going up to dbl o later. Oh, before i forgot, i met alyvn and friends (yen and dave, i think) there too.

1.30am - time to head up to dbl o for some retro fun! all was lost once i hit the dance floor with my long-time dbl o kakis. the night was spent dancing away to awesome retro tracks until the lights came on.

4.30am - with alcohol pumping through our veins, we were not yet ready to go home and so, we did what anyone else would do which is to go for supper! i was so exhausted i barely touched my prata while dear brother mr. m and jr were talking away. ready to admit defeat to the Z monster, we finally crawled home at 5am.

my habit to bathe after i reach home is really not helping and it is also the reason why i am blogging at such weird hours. my hair is wet, my mind has shutdown, but i still can’t sleep because i am so fucking refreshed after the shower.

what the hell.

but yay, i like the movie! what a good saturday!

of v for vendetta

i’ve finally watched the v for vendetta.

initially, i thought it was going to be a dry and heavily laden political show, somewhat like a documentary. to my surprise, it turn out to be everything…not.

the show depicted uk being ruled by a communist-like political party. this party played on citizens’ fears of diseases and wars to gain their absolute obedience. under the cruel ruling party, its citizens cowered and continued to live their mundane lives, closing their eyes, minds and hearts to their environment, to their feelings.

only one man had dared to think freely, to embrace ideas that he deemed to be worthy. he undertook a mission, an ambitious and seemingly-unachievable mission - to wake all of his fellow countrymen up. he wanted his fellow countrymen to think for themselves, to decide for themselves their fates and not to live in fear of their government.

to accomplish his mission, he sacrificed his identity, his life and his love.

truth to speak, i’m really quite moved by the storyline. no, not by the love story that the scriptwriters had painstakingly woven into the plot. i’m moved by the fact that the hero in the show did not try to take credit for his mission. the hero had no name. he had no face. he had no identity.

all he wanted, was to be seen as an idea. he said “that the man might die, but the idea will live on”. it was a truly un-selfish act.

how many of us can claim to be like him? to claim that whatever we are doing is for a greater good, and that there are absolutely no selfish ulterior motives behind.

i can’t say that. it will be a lie.

for heaven’s sake,if you haven’t watched it, try your best to find it. it’s truly worth 160minutes of your time.