Political Commentary
Elements of Homerun compare and contrast Singapore's situations in 1965 and in 2003. For example, while Mrs Chew is giving birth, Lee Kuan Yew's voice can be heard on a radio in the background, announcing Singapore's separation from Malaysia. Other events in the film parallel those in Singapore's history, such as the riot at the rubbish dump alluding to the labour strikes and riots of the 1960s, as well as the threat of terrorism in the new millennium. One of Kiat Kun's friends is nicknamed "Little Red Dot", a phrase used by former Indonesian president Jusuf Habibie to disparage Singapore. The final scene in the film shows the Chew siblings standing before a long muddy path, which symbolises the uncertainly faced by both the newly independent nation in 1965 and the country in transition in 2003.
A number of scenes in Homerun contain references to political disputes between Singapore and Malaysia. The water dispute is portrayed by Kiat Kun (Singapore) quarrelling with Beng Soon (Malaysia) over the right to draw water from the kampung well. In another scene, one of Kiat Kun's friends produces a sheet of paper with details of the deal Beng Soon reneged on, prompting one of Beng Soon's friends to remark that this was like "writing a letter to a girlfriend and revealing it to the world". This echoes a comment made by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad, comparing Singapore's disclosure of letters between the two countries to "revealing letters sent to one's girlfriend". When asked about the references, Jack Neo said: "I'll leave this to the audience's imagination".
On 12 September 2003, Malaysian censors announced their decision to ban the screening of Homerun in Malaysia, citing scenes which "are easily interpreted by some Malaysian audiences' as containing political elements related to current issues". Raintree filed an appeal, arguing that the positive messages in the film were more salient than the political satire, but it was unsuccessful. Malaysian moviegoers polled by Life! and the China Press expressed disappointment with the ban, calling it "unnecessary" and stated a desire to watch the film via pirated VCD.
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