Tea time avec The Drum

Interview with Jiyuan Ler, director of The Drum

 Can you tell us about the family arrangements? Why was the young man living with the couple? 
If the “young man” you are referring to is Chandran, he is the lead character Kang’s tenant. He is an Indian expat working in Singapore as an engineer. We catch him at the beginning of the film on the day he goes back to India, after staying at Kang’s place for nearly three years. The room Chandran stayed in was Ah Boy’s (Kang’s son) old room. Like many Singaporean elderly people, Kang had rented out what used to be his son’s room when he got married and moved out. Over the years, Kang has developed a strong friendship with Chandran. Kang’s relationship with his own son, on the other hand, grew estranged. This situation caused Kang to unconscious seek solace in Chandran’s company, regarding him as a kind of surrogate son. The title The Drum is actually referring to a set of tabla drums left behind by Chandran. His departure is the emotional trigger point that sets this short film in motion.

 What would you say makes him pick up the drum? 
The short, abstract answer would be: the drum is “calling out” to Kang. A more long-winded answer would be:
The tabla plays a very significant role in this short film. To me it’s a metaphor for “grace”, as well as the courage to step into a new world. The drum and the lead character of the short film share something in common – they are both empty inside. I guess this film is about that. It’s about how we deal with that emptiness – do we let ourselves be consumed, or do we use it as a source of inspiration, like how the drum is able to make a beautiful sound even from a hollow body.

 Can you tell us more about the situation of the Hokkien? 
Sorry but I do not understand this question. I believe something is lost in translation. “Hokkien” describes both:
1) the language – a dialect used by Chinese Singaporeans. It is one of many – Hakka, Cantonese, Hainanese, etc.
2) the people – it can be used to refer to the group of Chinese people who speak the same dialect.
Something interesting to note in The Drum:

• Kang speaks in Hokkien to everyone, but for Elise he makes an exception – he speaks Mandarin to her.
• His son, Ah Boy, speaks Mandarin when he talks to Kang (he understands Hokkien but doesn’t speak it). Yes, in every scene they had together they actually spoke to each other in two different languages!
• Ah Boy speaks in Mandarin with his mother, a more forward-thinking woman, and English with his own daughter Elise.

Hokkien, along with all other Chinese dialects in Singapore, is fading really fast. Pretty much only the older folks still speak dialect. Most people of my generation (I am 36 this year) no longer speak Hokkien, even though most of us still possess a good understanding of it because of our parents. Our children, therefore, will definitely not speak any dialect. They will prophetically be the generation that finally realises the goals of the Speak Mandarin Campaign.
In The Drum, I wanted Kang and Ah Boy to speak in two different languages because each of them simply refused to speak the other’s language. This is a reflection of their estranged relationship, and on a larger level, a reflection of the current state of our society, in which the old – like Kang and the Hokkien language – is fast becoming obsolete.

 It’s a very moving story. What made you want to tackle old age and its frustrations?
At the time I was developing the story idea with Singaporean novelist Dave Chua (he wrote the script with me), I was exposed to several stories of elderly people committing suicide in Singapore. The emptiness of old age is something that is very prevalent here. We are a highly competitive society obsessed with progress and efficiency, constantly erasing the old in order to make way for the new. I guess like many cities around the world, the by-product of such intense materialistic pursuits will be ultimately a kind of growing collective emptiness.
In the short film, Kang is emblematic of the typical old man in Singapore who worked all his life to provide for his family. When retirement is suddenly forced upon him, he doesn’t know how to deal with it. All he knows is how to work. He does not know how to live!

 Any other cinematic projects?
I have just finished post-production for my next short film Paper House. It is also adapted from a short comic by Dave Chua, and comic artist Koh Hong Teng.
Paper House is a short film set against the backdrop of a traditional Chinese funeral and its customs. The film follows the story of a family as they descend into disharmony after the death of their patriarch. The title of the film refers to the old Chinese tradition of burning paper offerings for their deceased loved ones. This short film is a eulogy for this colorful art form that is fast disappearing in Singapore’s modern society.
I haven’t sent the film out to festivals yet, and I hope it will do as well as The Drum.

 If you’ve already been to Clermont-Ferrand, could you share with us an anecdote or story from the festival? If not, what are your expectations for this year? 
This will be my first time at Clermont-Ferrand. In fact, this is the first time I actually have a short film in competition at a major international film festival. In many ways, I feel close to the character Kang in The Drum. Like him, it was an emptiness inside me that motivated me to step out of and do something new. I have been a working director in Singapore for more than ten years, doing primarily TV drama and commercial work. After working ceaselessly for so long, I felt tired, lost and unfulfilled. I felt like I had lost track of why I stepped into the industry in the first place – which was of course to make films! So in 2016, I decided that I would make films. Many thanks to the Singapore National Arts Council and The Filmic Eye who commissioned me to make The Drum – it became my first short film in ten years. This was followed by Paper House which was completed recently. My last short film of 2016, a comedy called Cab Fight is on the way as well. So I guess I am making up for lost time. Haha.

The Drum is being shown in International Competition I7.