Homerun
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Homerun (跑吧,孩子) is a Singaporean film written by Jack Neo. It stars Huang Wenyong, Xiang Yun, Shawn Lee and Megan Zheng. The supporting cast includes Huang Po Ju, Joshua Ang, Ashley Leong, Zheng Xian Bin, Xiao Li Yuan, Marcus Chin, Mark Lee, MC King, Richard Low, Sharon Au and Patricia Mok. Homerun was released in Singapore on 7 August 2003 and bagged two nominations in the Golden Horse Awards 2003, for Best Theme Song (拥有) and Best New Performer (Megan Zheng). Megan Zheng, then 10 years old, became the first Singaporean to win a Golden Horse Award, sharing her Best New Performer award with Wang Baoqiang, who plays a miner in Blind Shaft.
Homerun is a remake of the award-winning Iranian film Children of Heaven, retaining the concept of a poor boy who loses his little sister's shoes and has to share his shoes with her. However, there are several notable differences between the two movies. While Children of Heaven's theme is poverty, Homerun's theme is friendship. Children of Heaven is set in Iran, while Homerun is set in Singapore in 1965, the year it separated from Malaysia. Homerun also contains Jack Neo's trademark humour and satire.
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Plot
Chew Kiat Kun (Shawn Lee) and his sister Seow Fang (Megan Zheng) are poor children whose father (played by Huang Wenyong) owes Richard Low's character money and does odd jobs for a living and to pay off his debt, and whose mother is heavily pregnant.
After getting Seow Fang's shoes fixed by a cobbler, Kiat Kun misplaces the shoes in a rice shop owned by Richard Low's character. After breaking the news to a devastated Seow Fang, and unsuccessfully trying to find the shoes, Kiat Kun tries to think of solutions to the problem. A statement made by his father inspires Kiat Kun to share his shoes with his sister, made possible because Seow Fang is in the morning session while Kiat Kun is in the afternoon session.
Tan Beng Soon (Joshua Ang) is a rich kid. His father bought him a football for his birthday, and he started a soccer team named ROJAK, which Kiat Kun's friends joined. Later, his father bought soccer shirts and shoes to support the team. However, trouble started brewing, and Kiat Kun's friends are kicked out of the team.
Kiat Kun is punished for being repeatedly late for school because he has to wait for Seow Fang to come back and give him her shoes. Seow Fang is also punished by her teacher for wearing the wrong shoes to school.
Kiat Kun's friends and Beng Soon's friends had previously agreed on a deal whereby Beng Soon's friends loan their ball, shoes and shirts to Kiat Kun's friends if the latter do the former's homework for them. With Kiat Kun's friends kicked out of the team, the deal is off, and Beng Soon's friends are punished by their teacher Mrs Ang (Patricia Mok) for sub-standard homework. As a result, they unwillingly strike another deal with terms that are inferior for Kiat Kun's friends. Despite a stormy debate, they eventually come to a resolution.
Kiat Kun is punished by the principal for being late and made to clean dirty trophies. Halfway through, his friend replaces him while he rushes off to give Beng Soon's friends their completed homework. Kiat Kun's friends are invited to a feast, but after a remark by Little Red Dot, Beng Soon gets angry and threatens to terminate their deal. They decide to keep the deal if Kiat Kun's friends can beat Beng Soon's friends in a game of soccer. Beng Soon's team score the first two goals, then Kiat Kun's team catch up by scoring two goals. The match concludes with one of Beng Soon's friends scoring an own goal. Because of the way the game was decided, Beng Soon terminates the deal as if Kiat Kun's team had failed to win, and then resigns as captain of his team. Mrs Ang discovers that Beng Soon has been cheating and gives him private caning in front of his furious parents, who make him give up soccer and study overseas.
Kiat Kun's father, Mr Chew, gets a job at Richard Low's character's shop, ferrying goods with a bicycle. His hopes of paying of his debts and buying Seow Fang shoes are crushed when they meet with an accident while riding the bicycle. In addition, Kiat Kun is almost expelled from school for his repeated late-coming to school, but is given a second chance.
Kiat Kun wins a pen for topping his class in a test, which he gives to Seow Fang. During a morning assembly, Seow Fang spots a classmate wearing her old shoes, and sneakily goes to her classmate's house to get her shoes back. Seow discovers that her classmate's father is blind and out of pity, decides not to take back her shoes.
Seow Fang misplaces her pen, and it is her classmate (who has her old shoes) who finds the pen and returns it to her. When Seow Fang's classmate returns the pen, Seow Fang sees that she has changed shoes, and finds out from her that she has dumped the shoes in the Kampung rubbish dump.
Kiat Kun and Seow Fang search for Seow Fang's shoes in the rubbish dump. They find one shoe, and while trying to take the other shoe, a riot occurs. Fighting between the rioters and police ensues, and in the process, Seow Fang's other shoe is torn into pieces and cannot be worn any more.
Kiat Kun's school is selecting representatives for the 1965 National Primary School Cross Country Competition. On that day, Kiat Kun is unwell and does not participate in the selection process. Later, when he discovers the third prize is a pair of school shoes, he pleads with his teacher (Mark Lee) who is sick with severe cough, to let him participate in the race. Kiat Kun's teacher refuses, until his cough gets very bad and Kiat Kun rushes to get him his medicine.
Kiat Kun discovers that Beng Soon is also participating in the race. In the middle of the race, Kiat Kun and Beng Soon run into a quicksand-like muddy area, but eventually break free and continue running. Kiat Kun appears assured of third place, but trips on a stone and finishes first, with Beng Soon finishing third. Kiat Kun offers Beng Soon his medal in exchange for the latter's shoes, but Beng Soon throws the shoes away.
Mrs Chew goes into labour, and Seow Fang runs across a path littered with glass to find a midwife. Finally, Mrs Chew gives birth to a healthy little baby, while Beng Soon turns over a new leaf and gives Seow Fang and Kiat Kun a new pair of shoes before he goes off to study overseas. Template:Endspoiler
Political satire
Homerun is criticised for having scenes containing political satire, mostly directed at Malaysia, given the setting of the movie. For example, in one scene, Kiat Kun's friends and Beng Soon's friends have an argument over water. This is a reference to the Malaysia-Singapore water conflict. Kiat Kun's friends represent Singapore and Beng Soon's friends represent Malaysia in their various arguments and negotiations. In another scene, when Kiat Kun and Seow Fang are finding the latter's shoes at a rubbish dump, a riot occurs - a reference to the strikes and riots in Singapore during that period. When Kiat Kun's mother was giving birth, the radio in the background was Lee Kuan Yew's voice announcing Singapore's separation from Malaysia. A line about "writing a letter to a girlfriend and revealing it to the whole world" is a reference to a quote by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad that Singapore's disclosure of letters between the two countries early this year was like revealing "letters sent to one's girlfriend". In addition, one of the kids is nicknamed "Little Red Dot", an obvious reference to Singapore.
Malaysia decided on August 17, 2003 to ban screening of Homerun in Malaysia.
Trivia and funny scenes
During the race, Kiat Kun's shirt bore the number 164, which sounds similar in Chinese to "all the way die" (一路死) in Chinese, while Beng Soon's shirt bore the number 168, which sounds similar in Chinese to "all the way succeed" (一路发).
Before the soccer game, Little Red Dot says he had a secret weapon, Brand's Essence of Chicken. This is a humorous reference to Brand's Essence of Chicken's commercials.