Just Follow Law

Just Follow Law
Directed by	Jack Neo
Starring	Fann Wong Gurmit Singh Moses Lim
Music by	Ocean Butterflies Music Pte Ltd
Studio	J Team
Distributed by	Golden Village Pictures
Release date(s)	15 February 2007
Country	Singapore
Language	Mandarin English Malay Hokkien Tamil
Budget	$ 1.05 million

Just Follow Law (Chinese: 我在政府部门的日子; pinyin: Wǒ Zài Zhèngfǔ Bùmén De Rìzi) is a 2007 Singaporean comedy film directed by Jack Neo, and starring Gurmit Singh of Phua Chu Kang fame, Fann Wong, Moses Lim, Samuel Chong, Lina Ng and Steven Woon. The title is a pun on the Singlish phrase "just follow lor", which means to comply with orders without questioning why. This film also changes Neo's trademark of producing movies filled with dialects that will contain English in most parts.

In the film, a blue-collar technician and the events and promotion department director swap souls after a freak accident at a fictional government agency Work Allocation Singapore (WAS). It presents a satirical look at the inflexibility of outdated governmental rules and regulations and the rigid mindsets of local civil servants who follow rules to a fault is portrayed.

It was first released in Singapore on 15 February 2007 and Malaysia and Brunei on 22 March 2007.

Plot

Lim Teng Zui is a WAS technician who is a single father with a young girl named Xiao Mei. He is often at loggerheads with his supervisor Tanya Chew. Tanya stays in a high-end condominium with her mother but rarely spends time with her. Alan Lui, the CEO of WAS, briefs Lau Chee Hong, Eric Tan and Uncle Tiong about Minister Seetoh accompanying China's Minister of Manpower, Mr. Chen and his delegates will be visiting the department.

In an effort to prepare for the VIP visit, they decide to put the things outside temporarily. However, during a Chinese minister's visit, Lim's poor work ethics, combined with his incompetence causes the minister to fall during a photoshoot when the wall gives way due to the use of masking tapes instead of nails. An investigation is carried out, and 'finger-pointing' is done to find the scapegoat, in which Lim is blamed. As a result, his bonus is cut, and Lim stems his anger toward Tanya. Their confrontation leads into a car chase in which he chases Ms. Chew's 1998 Seat Toledo in his Citroën Berlingo until the vehicles collide, causing both to run off the flyover and fall down to the beach.

The duo are knocked unconscious due to this resulting accident, and are sent to the hospital. There, they are in critical condition, but amazingly, both recovers, but Lim wakes up and finds out that he is in Tanya's body. Whereas Tanya is in her employee's body. They are forced to accept into living in each other's roles and work under their respective bodies' occupation. "Lim" upgrades her/his skills as a technician, while "Tanya" idles around, performing poorly in his/her capacity as a department director.

Due to "Tanya"'s negligence, the department grossly overspends and the CEO, together with Chee and Eric, two department heads who had been offended by Tanya earlier, plans to shut down the department. In an attempt to save the department from closure, Tanya and Lim plan to put on a successful Job Fair Exhibition so that the CEO would think twice about shutting it down. Tanya and Lim try ways of getting publicity, but red tape and lack of information gets in their way and they would have to wait at least three months to be able to do anything. However, it proceeds smoothly, and Tanya hires a pyrotechnics operator, who is actually a demolition expert. After a series of trials and tribulations, the Job Fair is realized.

During the fair, Chee and Eric attempt to sabotage the Fair, but Tanya and Lim repaired quickly by means of masking tape. Tanya and Lim deal with the obstacles as they come until the final sing-along session on stage, with the Minister. However, the stage catches fire as the planned pyrotechnics, combined with the pyrotechnic launcher's disobedience and the direction of the launching cannon towards the curtain. Having trapped in the ensuing utter chaos, the people dash about the stage in every direction, finding a way out. The Minister finally finds an escape route when a taped board falls off. Many of them have run down without any single casualty, and thus the situation is under control. As the Civil Defense firefighters arrive on the scene to put out the fires, Tanya rescues Lim's daughter.

A board of inquiry looks into the actions during the fire. During the 2007 National Creativity Award ceremony, Lim was awarded for his use of masking tapes to save 53 lives and his initiative to invent a fire escape wall. Two months later, the statutory board has folded as WAS shuts down. Uncle Tiong retires because of his heart attack. Eric is sacked and has his pension (CPF) confiscated when their plot is discovered. Chee becomes the first director in history to receive pink slip for skills obsolete. The CEO is blacklisted for making too many mistakes, but later establishes the Minced Pork Organisation, only to be dissolved months later.

Lim and Tanya, having going in their separate ways other than working, decide to re-enact the accident in an attempt to switch back to their original bodies. They start their same vehicles and drive off at the same time and place, doing the same collision. The actual result is left for the audience to decided as there are two different endings.

Cast

• Fann Wong as Tanya Chew
• Gurmit Singh as Lim Teng Zui
• Moses Lim played Eric Tan.
• Samuel Chong played Alan Lui.
• Steven Woon played Lau Chee Hong.

Other notable Singaporean media personalities and actors such as Henry Thia, Mark Lee, Hossan Leong, Selena Tan and Joe Phua were also cast as minor characters.

Production

Development and writing

The development of Just Follow Law began when Jack Neo pitched the idea of Fann Wong during one of their backstage meetings, though they had yet to agree on the location of the agreement. It was inspired by then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's speech at the 2006 National Day about the lack of professionalism among Singaporean workers. Most of the workers completes work on time during evenings and their mentality of staying beyond that time would be like doing as a favour. He hopes to use the movie to highlight the bureaucracy inefficiencies in office.

Filming

This film began shooting in high-definition video format starting in 1 February 2006 and ending in March 2006.

Release

It had a strong opening during Chinese New Year, earning $421,000 from 35 prints for second place in the chart.

• Singapore 15 February 2007
• Malaysia 22 March 2007
• Brunei 22 March 2007
• Hong Kong 10 May 2007
• Indonesia 21 August 2007

Reception

At the Golden Horse Awards 2007, Just Follow Law was nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Visual Effects, while Gurmit Singh was one of four considered for Best Actor. He did not win.

Movie connections

Just Follow Law contains many references and homages to films. The soul switching between the leading characters references to that from Freaky Friday and Vice Versa.

During certain sequences, some of the sound effects come from various sources, notably including the 2004 video game Half-Life 2. For example, the Minister falls down through a poorly erected wall during his visit of WAS; Lim Teng Zui's Citroën Berlingo crashes on the ground. Later on, the Ssangyong Istana doors open to reveal the bikini dancers and hunks; the Singapore Civil Defence Force's Dennis Sabre fire engine stops over a VIP lot.

See also

• No U-turn syndrome

External links

• Just Follow Law at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Just Follow Law Website
• A review of Just Follow Law