Invitation to It's a Great Great World Gala Premiere

Have you watched It's a Great Great World on screen yet? I have, thank to Peter Chan who turned my ordinary Wednesday evening before Chinese New Year into a dazzling one. My celluloid adventure started when Peter sms-ed me on Monday. Did he have a mission for me? Was it some explosive document he found in the UK archives? Or has he unearthed Yamashita's Gold?

Movie Poster

When I checked my mail, I was beyond delight. As "heritage advisor" to the movie set, Peter had a lobang for select FOYers - tickets to the gala premiere for It's a Great Great World on 26 Jan 2011 (the movie premiered to the public on the 27th). I scanned the list of lucky winners and thought it was an honour to be the only young adult in his distribution list. Put it another way, I was the only person in the list who has not been to the real Great World Amusement Park. Just who are the other winners? Read Peter's article to find out.

Ticket collection point. Thanks to James Seah who was coordinator, we did not have to queue up. Nope, he did not print the tickets. He queued up on our behalf.

All of us responded with enthusiasm and we met up at VivoCity Golden Village for the event. Unfortunately Peter couldn't make it due to some business engagement overseas. A pity as he could have watched the movie with us and filled us in on the real stories which the movie was based.

The gala premiere gave me a chance to be on the red carpet. So this is how your fans welcome you if you are a star. I'm no star and rightfully should belong here instead.

It was a star-studded evening as most of the actors and actresses were present at the gala premiere. Unlike these famous personalities, it was my first time at a gala premiere and while I did not rub shoulders with them (I'm shy lah), all of us watched the movie for the first time that night. That's right, till they stepped into the theatre, none of them had seen the movie after it was shot and edited.

Director Kelvin Tong (唐永健) - first to be on stage

In short, It's a Great Great World takes the audience back to the heydays when Great World Amusement Park or Tua Seh Kai was the place for entertainment. Through four short stories, director Kelvin Tong recreates for us some very nostalgic landmarks, occupations, thrills and even food in Great World. No spoiler here. I'd say it is a pretty well-researched movie by the director and the cast was nothing short of excellent. Some of Mediacorp's biggest names are in it, so watch out for them.

After Kelvin Tong, the stars arrived - up from the escalator and true to their status, marched down the red carpet. I think their arrival must be staged because they would arrive in groups according to their appearance in the four stories and the next group would only arrive after the previous group had left the stage.

Henry Thia and Lin Ruping from Story 1. Henry gave one of the most hiliarious performance in the movie.

Aunty Li Ming (黎明阿姨) in a pyjamas. Must be easy for her to hit the hay after the gala premiere.

Gurmit Singh, accompanied by two beauties - Olivia Ong and Yvonne Lim. The film was Olivia's movie debut. Yvonne's nice dress did not betray her role in the movie as a tomboy.

Arrival of Joanne Peh from Story 2. I can't say I like her outfit that night though. Guess who was the one behind her?

We all know it is so hard reaching for the stars. Even when they are less than 10 meters away, there will be a crowd - fans, photographers and occasionally the rotten egg or shoe thrower - standing in your way. How do you beat up the crowd? Luckily I had a piece of clever contraption with me. With my hand and head raised, I managed to shoot some pretty decent pictures. Of course with the benefit of a good device and standing position, you can fare like the pros with better pictures - see the official photos from the facebook page.

Photographers eager to get a shot of Joanne Peh. One was even standing on something. I just used my clever contraption.

Stars from story 1. Olivia Ong is pretty! On the backdrop you can see Gurmit and Yvonne's characters in the movie.

Stars from story 2. Joanne Peh, Zhang Zhen Huan, Ah Nan and Joanne Peh in the movie.

Stars from story 3. The four gorgeous ladies: Xiang Yun, Paige Chua (蔡琦慧), Babes in the City (宝贝姐妹) Teresa and Tracy Ong.

Stars from story 4. Apple Hong and Kym Ng are gorgeous too. On the backdrop you can see Dennis Chew's "Aunty Lucy" character in the movie.

In my next article on the gala premiere, I will blog about what happened in the theater and a pleasant surprise awaiting me.