Bukit Orang Salah
At various points in its history, tiny St. John's Island was where Singapore's colonial founder Sir Stamford Raffles docked his ship upon arrival, a quarantine centre for immigrants and pilgrims returning from Mecca, a penal colony for political detainees and secret society leaders, and a sleepy holiday resort. Unlike its neighbouring islands, however, St. John's was never fully developed. It occupies an in-between space, the vestiges of its history scattered around the land. Its indeterminacy stands in sharp contrast to Singapore, where land use is meticulously planned to fulfil economic and social functions. In this film, St. John's Island - otherwise known as 'Bukit Orang Salah', a nickname coined by the people who were quarantined there - becomes a site of and for reflection, prompting questions about our history, heritage and identity.
Storyline
At various points in its history, tiny St. John's Island was where Singapore's colonial founder Sir Stamford Raffles docked his ship upon arrival, a quarantine centre for immigrants and pilgrims returning from Mecca, a penal colony for political detainees and secret society leaders, and a sleepy holiday resort. Unlike its neighbouring islands, however, St. John's was never fully developed. It occupies an in-between space, the vestiges of its history scattered around the land. Its indeterminacy stands in sharp contrast to Singapore, where land use is meticulously planned to fulfil economic and social functions. In this film, St. John's Island - otherwise known as 'Bukit Orang Salah', a nickname coined by the people who were quarantined there - becomes a site of and for reflection, prompting questions about our history, heritage and identity.
Recommended
Shirkers
2018
Tricked: The Documentary
2013
Spider-Man: All Roads Lead to No Way Home
2022
A Plastic Ocean
2016
Being James Bond
2021
Night Will Fall
2014
Hitchcock/Truffaut
2015
The Class of ‘92
2013
Sherman's March
1985
Seduced and Abandoned
2013
Public Speaking
2011
Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return
2022
McQueen
2018
Our Planet: Behind the Scenes
2019
Lionel Messi: Destiny
2023
Overnight
2003
Heart of a Dog
2015
As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
2000
Fuck
2006
Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski
2018
More Like This
I Choose to Live
2013
Natalia Uzhviy
1959
Golden Hands
1957
D'où viennent les faux cheveux
1909
Pulmonary Hydatid Cyst Operation
1899
Speed
1984
Circuito de São Gonçalo
1909
Série 7 (Éclatements de bulles de savon)
1907
A Graveyard and Beggar
1975
Summer's Tale
1941
The Wind from the West
1942
Fazzoletti di terra
1963
Light Protect Me From Oblivion
2024
The Key Issue
2011
Samenverbreitung
1983
Lua Morales - The Documentary
2021
Guten Tag, Herr Doktor
1972
The Big Swim
1964
Alfonso Sánchez
1980
Feeling Wanted
2015