I saw this movie at a family gathering.
Don't let the summary and title fool you. While this is a movie satiring the bureaucratic behaviors of the staff of a typical Singapore government agency, it goes all out to convince the audience that the problems lie with the staff, the ordinary Singaporeans and not the country's leaders. Instead the leader/minister in the movie is portrayed as a open minded visionary who supports and rewards new ideas. This is illogical considering that Singapore practices top down leadership to the extreme, so how can the leader be so different from the staff? Add in the indirect encouragement to Singapore's Prime Minister Lee to work harder for the next elections, one couldn't help but feel that Jack Neo tries harder to boot lick the country's leaders than to make a decent movie.
And as usual, Jack Neo tries to disguise government propaganda as social commentary. The portrayals are too familiar and can be found in the daily nation building newspapers. Just 2 of the false portrayals I remember clearly.
- Old folks scavenging for empty drink cans are portrayed as financially independent people who just want to kill time (You will easily see how absurd this is if you are a foreigner).
- Blue collar workers are portrayed as lazy under-skilled workers who spend all their money on lottery and luxury items, and thus cannot even afford their children's medical fees. The truth is that one's potential is limited and wages for blue collar workers in Singapore is very low while the cost of living is high. Most blue collars workers in Singapore put in 50, 60 hours per week and still stay poor. Lottery is their only hope of making big.
The subplot of the 2 main characters switching bodies is an old idea and the director adds in nothing new.
To conclude, don't waste your money or time watching a movie that insults your intelligence, insults you and has no original funny moments.