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Theatre review: Xinyao musical Moonlit City too generic retelling of Lee couple's romance

Theatre review: Xinyao musical Moonlit City too generic retelling of Lee couple's romance

Straits Times3 days ago
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Lee Kuan Yew (Timothy Wan) and Kwa Geok Choo (Sunny Yang) are stopped by the Kempeitai during the Japanese Occupation.
Toy Factory Productions
Gateway Theatre
July 26, 7.30pm
This seven-decade-spanning, schmaltzy interpretation of the romance between Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and his wife Kwa Geok Choo treads the familiar ground of a well-known story.
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Viewpoint: What happens when you use AI to make a National Day song?
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ST music correspondent Eddino Abdul Hadi tried to come up with a National Day song using generative AI. The result was lifeless and dull. SINGAPORE – As someone who has been playing the guitar for many years and has had experience writing, recording and releasing music before the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), I have mixed feelings about using the technology to come up with songs. I understand it can be a tool to discover new sonic possibilities, but I am also wary of its potential to devalue, and even replace, human labour. So, when the assignment from my editors – to come up with a National Day song using AI – fell into my lap, I approached it with both curiosity and dread. After reading up on the various platforms that allow users, regardless of music experience or expertise, to come up with music using generative AI, I decided on Suno. Based on reviews and feedback, it seems to be among the more intuitive ones that let users come up with songs quickly. A few minutes later, a complete song with lyrics, a human-like singing voice and instrumentation such as drums, guitars, strings and synthesizers was born. All I had to do was type in a few text prompts – which in this case was essentially something based on recent National Day Parade anthems such as Not Alone (2024) and Shine Your Light (2023). But I cannot take credit for, or feel any sense of ownership over, this tune, no more than I can call myself a chef after I microwave a frozen meal bought from 7-11. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Zero Day Attack so realistically portrays what a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could look like that it is also a wake-up call for the territory's residents. – As enemy warplanes and ships surround an island in a military blockade, chaos ensues on city streets: Convenience stores are looted, the internet is knocked out, and panicked residents attempt to flee. These are scenes from Zero Day Attack, a new Taiwanese television fictional series. The show so realistically portrays what a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could look like that it is also a wake-up call for the territory's residents. Ahead of its release on Aug 2, trailers of the 10-episode drama – the first of its kind – have already sparked discussions and emotional reactions over a potential conflict close to home. 'Goosebumps! It's hard to imagine how we will face it when the day (of invasion) comes… When the day comes, will Taiwanese be ready? 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This aligns with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's whole-of-society resilience strategy, which aims to strengthen civilian preparedness in the face of Beijing's aggression. This strategy includes civil defence training as well as testing responses to communications blackouts and transportation disruptions. 'It is said that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure,' Mr Lai had said in a speech in March. 'To ensure Taiwan's security, we hope to rely not just on the armed forces, but also on the forces of defence resilience throughout our society. In that way we can achieve peace through strength,' he added. In July, Taiwan's largest annual Han Kuang military exercise manifested this strategy, combining conventional war games with urban survival drills for the first time. Some of the civil defence activities included simulations of mass evacuations from supermarkets and department stores during an air raid. 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Data from Taiwan's National Security Bureau also showed that 64 Taiwanese were charged for Chinese espionage in 2024, three times more than in 2021. Before Zero Day Attack, Taiwanese TV show creators have rarely dared to address the topic so directly for fear of losing access to the lucrative Chinese entertainment market. When Taiwanese pop stars and actors are found to be critical of Beijing, for instance, they are often blacklisted. Reportedly, Taiwanese performing artists have also been coerced into signing written pledges to support Beijing's territorial claim over Taiwan in order to be allowed to work on the mainland. In the case of Zero Day Attack, some crew members dropped out of the production at the last minute; more than half of the TV show crew also asked to be left out of the credits list. But Ms Cheng pushed on to complete the series, whose cast includes Taiwanese-American actress Janet Hsieh, Taiwanese actor Kaiser Chuang and Hong Kong's Chapman To, a vocal critic of Beijing, who became a naturalised Taiwanese in 2022. 'This TV show is a story that only Taiwanese people can tell – and one that urgently needs to be told,' said Ms Cheng. 'I hope that while Taiwanese audiences enjoy its entertainment value, they will also become more aware of the infiltration of modern grey-zone warfare,' she added. Mr Marvin Park, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think-tank, noted in a brief that the series' trailer has already 'captured people's imaginations in a way that official government messaging efforts are unlikely to achieve.' 'The goal is not for people to conclude there's no point in resistance, but to spur action towards resilience efforts now,' he wrote.

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