Kenneth Tiong asks if ministers watched Mandarin or Teochew version of ‘Dear You’, David Neo says ministers have ‘no time to watch movies’

A light-hearted remark by Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo drew laughter in Parliament on Tuesday (7 July) during a broader debate on Singapore’s long-standing restrictions on dialect films.

Responding in Mandarin to a question from Workers’ Party (WP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Aljunied GRC Kenneth Tiong on whether ministers had watched the Teochew or Mandarin-dubbed version of Chinese hit film ‘Dear You’, Mr Neo joked that ministers have “no time to watch movies”.

His response came amid discussions on whether Singapore should relax its rules requiring dialect films to be dubbed into Mandarin for general commercial release.

Debate sparked by ‘Dear You’

‘Dear You’ has attracted strong interest in Singapore after audiences called for the film to be screened in its original Teochew audio, rather than only in its Mandarin-dubbed version.

The film, which follows a man travelling to Thailand in search of his long-lost grandfather, has become a box office success in mainland China.