劇情提要|剧情提要(Jùqíng tíyào) Outline
The movie is a 2002 Singaporean comedy movie about the lives, struggles, and adventures of three Primary 6-grade pupils who are placed in the academically inferior EM3 stream.
EM stands for “English and mother tongue”
As the classmate in the EM3 category, the three boys are labeled by society as worthless, and the corresponding social pressure confounds these 3 boys in their attempts to improve themselves
The movie’s satirical criticism of the Singaporean education system and social attitudes sparked public discussions and parliamentary debates that led to reforms in the education system.
This movie has won 1st place in Singaporean movie box office for 4 weeks continously when it was launched, reaching the record of 3.8 million SGD.
This movie is spoken in English, Chinese(Mandarin), and Hokkien, and this is not only famous in Singapore, but also in Taiwan. Therefore, this movie was adpated into series drama and comics. Its sequel, I Not Stupid Too, was also released in 2006.
主角(Zhǔjiǎo) Main Character
邱達利 ( Qiū dálì)Terry: The child who is fully following his mother’s instructions without independent thinking and ideas all the time.
邱達利 – 黃柏儒 飾 source:ETtoday星光雲
The actor himself even attended 康熙來了(Kangxi is coming)
劉(刘)國(国)彬（Liúguóbīn）: The child who is not good at tests but have genius on painting
劉國彬－李創銳 飾 source:ETtoday星光雲
洪文福(Hóng wén fú): The child whose family is poor but he takes brotherhood seriously.
洪文福 －洪賜健 飾 source:ETtoday星光雲
![I Not Stupid (Chinese: 小孩不笨; pinyin: Xiǎohái Bù Bèn; lit. 'Children are not stupid') is a 2002 Singaporean comedy film about the lives, struggles, and adventures of three Primary 6 pupils who are placed in the academically inferior EM3 stream. Written and directed by Jack Neo, and produced by Mediacorp Raintree Pictures, the movie stars Huang Po Ju, Shawn Lee, Joshua Ang, Xiang Yun, Jack Neo, Richard Low and Selena Tan.
Released in cinemas on 9 February 2002,[1] I Not Stupid earned over S$3.8 million, becoming the second-highest grossing Singaporean film. Its satirical criticism of the Singaporean education system and social attitudes in Singapore sparked public discussions and parliamentary debates that led to reforms in the education system. Its sequel, I Not Stupid Too, was released in 2006.](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/panasia/aj6293/i_not_stupid.jpg)
Plot ( 劇情, 剧情Jùqíng)
This movie criticizes many aspects of modern Singaporean culture, including streaming in the education system, deference to authority, and sociocultural stereotypes in indirect and humorous ways. The movie can be read as an allegory for social realities of modern Singaporean society – one of the main characters, Terry, who is a chubby and spoiled child, is one stereotype figure. His family background is very rich, and his mother and father are the government servant and the food industry tycoon respectively. However, their “parents-knows-best” mentality comes from love for their kids, and especially her mother invariably strips her child of their freedoms in the process. Also, Terry’s intellectual failings lead him to be placed in the inferior EM3 stream.
Terry’s friends 劉國彬(Liúguóbīn) and 洪文福(Hóngwénfú) symbolize those students left behind in the high-pressure and overwhelming educational system. Though 劉國彬 has the talent on the arts, his inability to perform well in academic subjects such as Math and English, causes people to look on him as a failure.
Despite being unfairly labeled by society, 洪文福 remains hard-working and strives to pull himself out of the EM3 chasm to win others’ respect.
The movie also discusses about other issues including public caning, student suicide, the use of Singlish, and the differences between English and Chinese.
Classic quotes from Movie
符老師:人家都笑你們是爛蘋果，你們一個個可不可以爭氣一點。
洪文福:如果我們真的是爛蘋果，你是我們的老師，你有沒有想過，是誰讓我們爛的?
Teacher Fu: People laugh at you and describe you as the rotten apple. Could you behave better with more proactiveness?
Leading actor:If we are really rotten apples, have you,as a teacher, ever thought” who makes us become such a rotten apple?”
鄰居:最後一次稱讚你兒子是什麼時候?
洪文福父:兩歲的時候
Neighbor:when is the last time to make a compliment on your son?
Father:when he was 2 year old.
校長:公開鞭刑的重點不在於皮肉痛，而在於羞辱。
劉國彬母:囚犯被鞭打，也是在牢房裡關起來打。
劉國彬母:我們對付大人都有考慮到他們面子，小孩子就不用面子了嗎?
The principal:the public caning focus on not the pain on the flesh, but the shame
Mother:Even though the prisonors are caned, they are punished in their inmates instead of in public.
We consider the adults’ faces(the sense of shame) when punishing them, don’t we need to consider children’s faces?
劉國彬父:你有什麼地方讓我欣賞的?你說?
劉國彬:是，我是一無是處!我在你們眼裡就是一無是處!不管我做什麼，你們都覺得不好!
Father:what aspects do you make me to aprreciate? Can you list them?
Leading actror: yes, I feel myself useless in front of you. You think negatively about whatever I did.
I Not Stupid小孩不笨 also has comics version
source:carousell
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