David Neo makes time to catch Dear You movie with Tampines residents
Acting Minister for Culture, Community, and Youth David Neo has found time to watch the Dear You film with Tampines residents, a week after joking in Parliament that ministers do not have time to watch movies.
In a social media post on July 14, Neo said he had joined seniors in Tampines, where he is an MP, for a screening of Dear You.
Neo wrote that there was laughter and touching moments as the film “brought everyone together and sparked conversations about family and memories.”
He said his main takeaway from the film was “to cherish the people and relationships that shape our lives”, which he described using a Chinese phrase.
“Watching it together with our seniors was also a reminder that the Singapore we have today was built through the hard work of an earlier generation,” he said, adding that their stories are an important part of Singapore’s culture and heritage.
This, he said, is why the Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth (MCCY) and heritage organisations have been encouraging the younger Singaporeans to learn about their dialect heritage while promoting Mandarin.
“We do not have to choose one over the other — they each have a place in telling the Singapore story,” said Neo.
‘Thank you for making time now’: Netizens
Netizens acknowledged Neo’s efforts to make time for the film.
“Thank you for making the time now,” a commenter wrote, while others said it was about time he watched the film.
In a July 14 Reddit post that garnered over 150 comments, some netizens suggested Neo only watched the movie after facing scrutiny for the joke he made in Parliament.
“Make it consistent to show he means it,” a user wrote.
‘Ministers have no time to watch movies’
In a July 7 Parliament sitting, Workers’ Party MP Kenneth Tiong asked if ministers had watched Dear You, and if so, whether in Teochew or Mandarin.
Responding to Tiong, Neo quipped in Mandarin, “Ministers have no time to watch movies” — drawing laughter from other MPs in the house.
His remark drew widespread criticism online, with TikTokers speaking out against it and Reddit users weighing in.
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