Noorlinah Mohamed

A retired civil servant in Singapore resorts to desperate measures to prevent his house’s demolition for a new train line.

Art student Ian Jing impresses the realism-loving art teacher Mrs. Hui from the get-go. Following her advice, he draws exactly what he sees, straining his eyes in the process. To Mrs. Hui’s horror, Ian’s artwork gets progressively blurrier. In turn, his online fame skyrockets, as art critics on social media praise his unique style as an abstract artist. They ascribe deep, profound (pretentious) intentions and meanings to his stylistic choices, when all he's actually doing is drawing exactly what he sees.

Ah Bee goes on a comedic odyssey through Tiong Bahru Social Club, a data-driven project to create the happiest neighborhood in the world. Little by little, his encounters with the neighborhood's residents reveal the absurdity of life.

In Frankfurt, Lailani, now 65, awaits a plane to Manila. She's returning home to the Philippines for the first time in 30 years. En route, she delays her return by stopping over in Singapore. Her interactions with her fellow Filipinos help her reflect on the nature of her loss, the cycle of sacrifice and longing that marks them all. Gripped by the fear of returning home to a life she has left behind but is still intricately connected to, she finds moments of enchantment among other lost souls. They've created their ways of living with disenchantment through a Dreamtime that shelters them from the storms of trauma.

After the end of World War II, when Singapore returns to British rule after four years of Japanese Occupation, the lives of several individuals are thrown into upheaval by the turbulence of the times.