Kiasu is an oft-used word in Singapore, a trait that is supposedly very Singaporean. Squidoo defines it as thus: “Kiasu is a typical word used by Singaporeans and Singaporeans only. It is to describe a uniquely Singapore way of being overaggressive in the bid to “win” to get what you want. To put it descriptively, you have an impulsive desire to get what you want even at the expense of doing silly things. For eg, queuing up in tents in the middle of the night so as to ensure you are the first one to get a freebie or to purchase something that is on big discount. So common is it in Singapore that we coined a term for it “Kiasu” or “Kiasuism.”
Whenever I encounter the word, one moment in my life springs to mind – that time when my friends Caloy, Zenie and I lined up outside Powerbooks at 6am just so we could get our hands on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as early as possible.
I remember how other people asked me back then why I had to get in line, didn’t I reserve a book already, so I obviously wouldn’t run out of a copy?
“No, you don’t understand,” I had replied. “I need to get the book early so I can finish reading it early so that I won’t hear spoilers. When other people talk about it, I want to know what they’re talking about. I want to be one of the first ones to finish reading it.”
Oh so very kiasu, right?
Or maybe it’s just my EQ. I just really, badly wanted to know how it would end.
Well it happened again, that is, my kiasu-ness has once again surfaced three years later, and it was once again related to the same Harry Potter story, only this time it’s the movie version.
A friend invited me to watch it last Saturday but I couldn’t because I had a birthday picnic to go to, so she said maybe we can go next week instead. I can’t go next week, my mind screamed, my EQ can’t handle waiting that long.
So when my roommates said they were watching it on Friday night at 8pm, guess who decided to jump onboard and dragged Rodel and Monet along with her?
I’m glad I went, though. It was a great movie that stayed faithful to the book, obviously not incorporating everything because that’s just plain impossible, but keeping the essentials.
The cinematography was brilliant, the darkness and fear of Voldemort’s reign is so palpable, you can feel it seeping out of the screen and into the cinema. There were also some scenes that felt as though they would literally leap out at you that Cate couldn’t help but comment that if this had been a 3D film, we would have died of a heart attack.
There were action scenes that left you at the edge of your seat, there was light romance, too – Ron’s and Hermione’s was highlighted, and most importantly, there was comedy – Ron’s humorous one-liners brought the house down.
That much-talked about dirty kiss between Harry and Hermione (in Ron’s imagination) really deserved all the hype.
If there were scenes that sort of dragged, the movie couldn’t help it because it really happened like that in the book – you know what I mean, all those camping about scenes.
The movie ends with the first scene in the book that had me in tears – Dobby’s death, and got the same reaction from me as the book did.
The ending leaves you wanting for more, and now suddenly I’m wondering how my EQ could possibly handle the wait till July of next year, when part 2 is slated for release. @.@
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