23 January 2021
“Tiong Bahru Social Club”
---A shop assistant: “Do you have a “Passion” card?”
A Bee: “No, (I don’t have) passion.”
Release Year: 2020
Country: Singapore
Director: Bee Thiam Tan
Cast: Thomas Pang, Guat Kian Goh, Jalyn Han
Location I watched: The Projector
Ah Bee, a 30 year-old Singaporean man is living with his mother at Pearl Bank, an old apartment that is about to be demolished. He is quiet and mild. Even when faced with a pile of claim forms at work, he accepts all claims with a smile. Now Ah Bee gets a new job as a Happiness Agent at Tiong Bahru Social Club. The Club is like a kind of community centre, but it is a pilot project by (I assume) the government aiming for a happy local community. Ah Bee says good-bye to his beloved mother (by the way, the distance between Tiong Bahru and Outram Park where Pearl Bank is located is just one stop away by train) and he starts living in a room provided by the Club. The room is controlled by an AI which is always checking his “happiness level” using an algorithm. Making the residents (especially the elderlies) happy is the Happiness Agents’ job. The Agents themselves must be happy. Calm and obedient Ah Bee gets used to this happy smiling world and becomes the top agent. He also gets a girlfriend who is one of his colleagues under the Club’s control. Everything looks good. However, is it right?
Generally, it is said that Singapore is a rich country looking at GDP per capita, but Singaporeans feel less happy. Or Singaporeans like complaining. Or the Singapore Government is good at management. “Tiong Bahru Social Club” took such Singapore’s “features” and turned it into a funny comedy with satire.
The Tiong Bahru Social Club itself looks like a parody of a cult community. It is suspicious, and at the same time, funny. The activities organized by the Happiness Agents are also sometimes quite hilarious.
The Club’s neighbourhood is shot with a soft colour tone and it looks retro and cozy. The design of the Club’s main building is based on pastel pink. It also looks cozy and cheerful. On the other hand, the control room and Ah Bee’s room is combined pink and blue. So the impression is slightly psychedelic and it can be called “future retro”. This “future retro” club and old Singapore neighbourhood are matching and they successfully create a cozy and weird atmosphere.
“Tiong Bahru Social Club” is an interesting film. However, after I finished watching, something uncomfortable was left in my mind. Although it is unclear and difficult to explain, there is a feeling that something important is not enough in this film.
In the Tiong Bahru Social Club, the management is always monitoring the “happiness level’ of their Happiness Agents. The “happiness level” is decided by an algorithm based on the data of their expressions, physical condition or situation and so on. There is no privacy for the Happiness Agents. Before joining the Club, they have to sign an agreement to give up their privacy. It is quite creepy. Especially since the Club seems to be the government’s pilot project, it is creepier. Even though the management team is not ill-intentioned. In the film, the Club itself is not criticized hard, but it is understandable because the film is a light satirical comedy and the protagonist, Ah Bee, is a very passive man. Even if Ah Bee has doubts about the Club policy, he will keep his silence and not make any trouble.
However, Ah Bee actually feels that something is wrong. He does not feel happy very much in the Club. So to trick the monitoring AI, he exercises in the dead spots in his room, hiding away from the AI cameras. His quick heartbeat is misunderstood by the AI as his “happy” condition (his excitement for a happy feeling). In the meantime, after taking care of an elderly resident, Ms. Wee, he is assigned to be in charge of listening to the residents’ complaints. This job is just to listen to the residents’ complaints, and he does not solve any problems. It is said that Singaporeans like complaining. This job is a kind of satire. Anyway, with this job, Ah Bee becomes the top Agent.
Ah Bee can accept anybody’s complaints or wishes because he does not have anything in his mind. He does not have any egoistic desire, but at the same time, does not have any passion. He is empty. Just accepting does not make others and himself really happy. Ah Bee eventually realizes that and he leaves the Club. He goes back to his mother who makes him happy and whom he wants to make happy. ------It was actually difficult to understand Ah Bee’s inner journey, so this part is all my interpretation.
Ah Bee hardly speaks in the film, but Thomas Pang acted Ah Bee quite well. For that, we can understand his feelings in each scene. Nevertheless, his adventure (“odyssey” in the cinema’s introduction) was somehow unsatisfying to me.
I think one of the reasons is because the Tiong Bahru Social Club working system is unclear. My understanding is that each Happiness Agent takes care of a partner elderly and they are also in charge of some public activity like a swimming class. The management evaluates the Agents’ work by always checking the residents’ “happiness level”. They rank the Happiness Agents and regularly fire the Agent at the bottom of the rank. The scene where they fire an Agent is quite funny. He was fired because his “Tour with a Cat in the Neighbourhood” was unpopular.
Ah Bee is also assigned a partner elderly, Ms. Wee, who is living alone with a cat, but he is not in charge of any activities. He is a new hire and does not get used to his job, so this situation is understandable. Then, however, after she passed away, Ah Bee is assigned to be in charge of a special room where the residents can complain of anything to him. Although the other Happiness Agents seem to have their activities as their own projects (that is why the “Tour with a Cat” Agent was fired due to his activity), for some reason, Ah Bee was not required to come up with his own activity. Besides he was not assigned any other elderlies to take care of anymore. The management seems to give only him a special job. Since Tiong Bahru Social Club is a pilot project, there may not be fixed rules to manage the Happiness Agents. However, I cannot understand why the management’s expectation of Ah Bee is so high and they give better consideration to his task.
Anyway, Ah Bee’s “listening to complaint” room becomes extremely popular. This is the victory of the management’ idea and assignment. Of course, Ah Bee is working hard, I guess. But the scenes in his “listening to complaint” room do not focus on his “super power” --- how much he is patient and obedient (just continue listening) or how much he does not do anything at all (again, just continue listening). The long long queue to the room alone was not enough for me to be convinced that Ah Bee was great as a Happiness Agent.
Besides, the attitude of the Club’s management does not make sense. About the death of Ms. Wee, it is very vague whether she died in an accident or killed herself. In any case, Ah Bee feels very sad and sorry. The Club’s manager comforts him and says that this is not Ah Bee’s fault and that she died happily. It is very nice to hear, but somehow it does not seem to make sense because the manager’s words are too ordinary. The Tiong Bahru Social Club is not normal, obviously. The management is always observing the Agents. When Ah Bee was matchmade and started living together with his girlfriend, they were in his bedroom to check whether he succeeded in making love or not. The management is abnormal like that, but the words to comfort him are too normal. If they rely on the algorithm for happiness, they should say that she died happily according to the algorithm or show the data to cheer him up. The manager in that scene is rather rational. Ironically, it seems to be irrational to me.
After all, how bizarre the Club is and how remarkable the existence of passive Ah Bee is - both are not enough to be expressed in the film. For that, his adventure in the Club is unsatisfying and his inner journey is difficult to understand. That is probably why I felt something that is uncomfortable. Although the film has the title of “Tiong Bahru Social Club”, its “Club level” is not enough for me.
Lastly, one of the main locations in “Tiong Bahru Social Club” is the Pearl Bank Apartments before the building was demolished. Generally, the design of recent condominium buildings is not so interesting for me. But the Pearl Bank Apartments, built in 1976, is unique and formidable. In the film, we can enjoy the overwhelming appearance. One of my former colleagues used to rent a room in Pearl Bank. It was in about 2006. She called Pearl Bank a “haunted house”. When her tenancy agreement finished, she started looking for a new room. The room she found is again in Pearl Bank. Maybe she actually liked that old building. Such memories came back to me with this film. (20 May 2021)
