''I Not Stupid Too'' () is a 2006 Singaporean

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

and the standalone sequel to '' I Not Stupid'' (2002). It portrays the lives, struggles and adventures of three Singaporean youths—8-year-old and Primary 2

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most The Commonwealth, commonwealth countries, a "student" attends ...

Jerry Yeo Xueqiang, his 15-year-old brother Tom Yeo Xueqian Secondary 3

and their 15-year-old good and best friend Lim Chengcai Secondary 3

—who have a strained relationship with their parents. The film explores the issue of poor parent-child communication. The

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

Jack Neo Jack Neo Chee Keong (born 24 January 1960) is a Singaporean filmmaker, comedian and actor who was a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 1983 to 2003. He established a unique presence with his genuine and relatable stories that highlight societa ...

, was inspired to make the film by a book about appreciation education. The movie was produced by Mediacorp Raintree Pictures on a budget of S$1.5 million. It stars Ashley Leong, Shawn Lee, Joshua Ang, Xiang Yun, Jack Neo and Huang Yiliang. Filming took place at several Singaporean schools in June 2005. The film was released in cinemas on 26 January 2006, and earned over S$4 million in total. The film became the second-highest grossing Singaporean film in history: only '' Money No Enough'' grossed more. At the 2006

Hong Kong Film Awards The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies typically take place in April, and have mostly been held at the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre since 1991. The a ...

, it was nominated for Best Asian Film, but lost to '' Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles''. Critical reception was largely positive, though some criticized the film as overly preachy.

Plot

The plot revolves around the lives of Jerry Yeo Xueqiang (Ashley Leong), his older brother Tom Yeo Xueqian ( Shawn Lee) and their good and best friend Lim Chengcai ( Joshua Ang). 8-year-old Jerry and Primary 2

enjoys the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

and has the lead role in his

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

, while 15-year-old Tom and Secondary 3

is technologically inclined and a talented

Blogger A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

, Karen and Steven Yeo's ( Xiang Yun and

)'s busy schedules give them little time to spend with their children, leading to a strained relationship. With his mother absent, 15-year-old Chengcai and Secondary 3

and interested in

Chinese Martial Arts Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...

, was raised by his ex-convict father Mr. Lim ( Huang Yiliang), whose fighting skills he inherited. During a school check for mobile phones, Tom is caught with a

pornographic Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...

VCD Video CD (abbreviated as VCD, and also known as Compact Disc Digital Video), (not to be confused with CD Video which is a type of LaserDisc, Laserdisc) is a home video format and the first format for distributing films on standard optical di ...

. As his Form Teacher and Chinese

Teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

of their class which falls under the Normal (Technical) stream, Mr. Fu Dabing (Johnny Ng) confiscates it, Chengcai argues with him and eventually assaults him together with Tom. Consequently, the

School Principal A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the teacher, staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. Role ...

( Selena Tan) decides to expel Chengcai due to multiple disciplinary records and subject Tom to public caning respectively. As their punishments tear them further from their families, Tom and Chengcai join a local

street gang A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Wiktionary:territory#Noun, territory in a ...

; as their initiation, they are forced to shoplift an

iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...

. However, they are caught by two conmen posing as

police officers A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of ...

, who demand that they pay S$2,000 within 2 days or be arrested. While

tutoring Tutoring is private academic help, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assis ...

Jerry in

Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

, Steven tells him that people will pay S$500 for an hour of his time. Jerry, who wants his parents to come to his

, starts saving money and eventually resorts to

stealing Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal short ...

once at school canteen. After he is caught, an extremely infuriated Steven canes his younger son Jerry, but calms down when the latter comes clean and explains that he wanted S$500 to "buy" an hour of Steven's time; and that stealing was the last resort for Jerry. This prompts Steven and Karen to read Tom's blog and realise how unappreciated and alienated their children Jerry and Tom feel. Meanwhile, out of the blue right on the same day Jerry's

caning Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits (known as "strokes" or "cuts") with a single Stick-fighting, cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks (see spanking) or han ...

occurred, Tom and Chengcai rob an old lady of her necklace, but regret their action and try to return it to her. A struggle occurs, and Chengcai bumps into several gangsters, while Tom's

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

falls out of his

pocket A pocket is a bag- or envelope-like receptacle either fastened to or inserted in an article of clothing to hold small items. Pockets are also attached to luggage, backpacks, and similar items. In older usage, a pocket was a separate small bag o ...

. The phone hits the ground, accidentally calling Steven, who is doing a presentation about 3G Handphones for a contract worth S$3,000,000. Later, the gangsters whom Chengcai bumped into earlier beat him up. Mr. Lim, who happens to be nearby, tries to protect Chengcai, but is beaten and falls down the stairs as a result, which causes him to be rushed to

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

. Meanwhile, at Tom's side, Steven rushes off to the scene and pleads with the old lady to give Tom a second chance. When the

arrive, she tells them she made a

prank call A prank call (also known as a crank call, a hoax call, or a goof call) is a telephone call intended by the caller as a practical joke played on the person answering. It is often a type of nuisance call and can be illegal under certain circumsta ...

. 2 days later, Steven meets the conmen and gives them thousands of dollars of hell money; and then the conmen are arrested by real

who have been waiting in ambush close by. On his deathbed at the

, Mr. Lim tells Chengcai that he loves him and that he should pursue his talent for

. Witnessing this scene, the

is touched and allows Chengcai to return to school. Chengcai then eventually becomes an internationally recognised Chinese Martial Artist. Having finally understood their children Jerry and Tom, Karen, Steven and Tom watch Jerry's

, much to his delight.

Cast

* Ashley Leong as Jerry Yeo Xueqiang
The younger brother of the Yeo family, and doubled as the film's

everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin and history The term ''everyman'' was used ...

and

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

, similar to

Huang Po Ju Eric Huang Po Ju (, born 4 October 1990) is a Taiwan former actor, most notable for his role as Terry Khoo in the Singaporean successful film known as ''I Not Stupid''. Early life Huang was born in Taichung, Taiwan, and moved to Singapore at an ...

as Terry Khoo from the prequel film. ** Charles Chan as infant Jerry ** Raffles Neo as baby Jerry * Shawn Lee as Tom Yeo Xueqian
The older brother of the Yeo family. * Joshua Ang as Lim Chengcai
A close friend of Tom and a good

chinese martial arts Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...

street fighter is a Media mix, Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Capcom. Street Fighter 1, The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by List of Street Fighter video games, six other ma ...

. * Natalli Ong Ai Wen as Wang Jingjing
Tom and Chengcai's classmate under Mr. Fu Dabing's class. * Johnny Ng as Mr. Fu Dabing
Tom and Chengcai's Chinese

. He was praised by the school as a dedicated teacher who invested money on Chinese dictionaries and time as a remedial teacher for

Chinese language Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39& ...

, though sometimes strict in terms on the student's academic results. He was also the Form Teacher for Tom and Chengcai's class, which falls under the Secondary 3 Normal Technical (NT)

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

. * Xiang Yun as Karen Yeo
Jerry and Tom Yeo's Mother, Steven Yeo's Wife and a Chinese Magazine editor. *

as Steven Yeo
Jerry and Tom Yeo's Father, Karen Yeo's Husband and a phone salesman. * Huang Yiliang as Mr. Lim, Lim Chengcai's Father
It was revealed in the film that he had previously lived in an environment of thugs and an ex-convict, though was overprotective on Chengcai's actions. * Selena Tan as the principal of Tom and Chengcai's Secondary School
As a principal with inarticulate

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

, as seen in the film she was attempting to speak fluent Mandarin while mixing some with English. Tan previously portrayed the role as the Mother of Terry and Selena Khoo from the

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

, in which she spoke a majority of English dialogue during the previous installment. * Ng Suan Loi as Jerry and Tom Yeo's Grandmother and Steven Yeo's Mother and Karen Yeo's Mother-In-Law
She served as an advisor to Karen and Steven Yeo, and also shares experience as a parent to her own son Steven Yeo. * Nick Shen as Mr. Hao Letian
A school teacher who teaches another class from the Express stream. * Liu Lingling as Yang/Lady Boss
She was the coffee shop owner and a close friend of Lim. Following Lim's death at the end of the film, she was later a

legal guardian A legal guardian is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent, ca ...

for Chengcai. * Yati Asmiyati Asbah as Yati, the

maid A maid, housemaid, or maidservant is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era, domestic service was the second-largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids a ...

for the Yeo family. * Tan Xinyi as Xiaoxi
Jerry's classmate and closest friend. *

Henry Thia Henry Thia Hiok Hui (born 25 February 1952), also known as Alamak and Hui Ge (), is a Singaporean actor and comedian. Career Thia was a member of the main cast of ''Comedy Nite'' throughout its run, having the opportunity to work with both Ja ...

as the owner of a retail shop selling bags. * Jimmy Nah as a scammer impersonating as a police officer. * Anna Lin Ruping as Mrs. Alicia Tan, a principal in another secondary school. * Yoo Ah Min as an elderly lady who is a victim of a stolen necklace caused by Tom and Chengcai. * Dr. Winston Hwang as Mr. David Goh, a principal in another secondary school.

Production

After the release of the prequel film, a sequel was suggested, but Neo had difficulty finding a suitable topic.Mervyn Tay, "I Not Stupid again", ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'', Singapore, 1 June 2005. His inspiration was a book on appreciation education, a method of teaching developed by Chinese educator Zhou Hong. Through the film, Neo hoped to capture the

culture of Singapore The culture of Singapore has changed greatly over the millennia. Its contemporary modern culture consists of a combination of Culture of Asia, Asian (Malays (ethnic group)#Culture, Malay / Tamil culture, Tamil / Chinese culture, Chinese) an ...

at the turn of the millennium,Ng Bao Ying. "I Not Stupid Too tackles communication problems in families", ''Channel NewsAsia'', Singapore, 18 January 2006. and to explore the issue of poor parent-child communication. Neo and Rebecca Leow co-wrote the script,"I Not Stupid Too", ''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remaine ...

'', Hong Kong, 22 June 2006. which was completed in May 2005. This film was produced by Raintree Pictures on a budget of S$1.5 million.List of Singapore Movies (1991-2006)
", Singapore Film Commission, December 2006. Retrieved 5 December 2008.

Shanghai Film Studio The Shanghai Film Studio (), one of the three biggest film studios in China, is the film division of the Shanghai Film Group Corporation in Shanghai, China. It is responsible for the production of Chinese films and TV programs. History Shangh ...

had agreed to co-produce this film with Raintree Pictures, but backed out because they found the film too liberal.Wendy Teo, "Jack's not stupid", ''

The New Paper ''The New Paper'' is a Singaporean newspaper. It was originally published in tabloid format as a "noon paper", then from 2016 as a freesheet in the morning from 7 a.m. onwards. In December 2021 the paper went to digital only. History Firs ...

'', Singapore, 19 January 2006. The production crew included Daniel Yun as

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

, Chan Pui Yin and Seah Saw Yan as producers, Ardy Lam as

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

and Mo Ju Li as sound editor.Credits
I Not Stupid Too official website
. Retrieved 5 December 2008. Besides writing and directing, Neo also starred as Steven Yeo and composed the theme song, which was sung by Hong Junyang. Filming took place at Saint Hilda's Primary School, Presbyterian High School and other locations during the school holidays in June 2005. Neo hired real gangsters to act in several gangster scenes as he was dissatisfied with the

extra Extra, Xtra, or The Extra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * The Extra (1962 film), ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * The Extra (2005 film), ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * Extra (newspaper), ...

s. According to him, communicating with the gangsters was difficult, but when he decided to apply the lessons from the film and praised them for a good take, they reacted well. Several members of the cast also said that this film inspired them to communicate better with their family members. On 26 January 2006, distributor

United International Pictures United International Pictures (UIP) is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures that distributes their films outside the United States and Canada. UIP also had international distribution rights to certain Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M ...

released the film on 36 screens in Singapore.

Reception

With earnings of over S$1.41 million in the first six days, this film set a record for the biggest opening for a Singaporean film. The film rose to the top of the local

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...

, beating

Jet Li Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese-born Singaporean Martial arts, martial artist and actor. With a Jet Li filmography, film career spanning more than forty years, Li is re ...

's '' Fearless''. In total, this film grossed over S$4 million, becoming Singapore's second-highest-grossing film after '' Money No Enough''."I Not Stupid Too crosses $4m mark in box office takings", ''Channel NewsAsia'', Singapore, 6 March 2006. The film was then released in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, where it made RM1.1 million, and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, taking in HK$3.1 million. Following the success of the

and this film, Neo announced plans to make more sequels, as well as a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...

set in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. This film was well received when it was showcased at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. It was also one of six

Singaporean Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religious origins, with the city-state itself being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, m ...

films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...

screened at the

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Season film festival in

. At the 2006

Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (, Transliteration, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is a film festival first held in Moscow in 1935 and became regular since 1959. From its inception to ...

for Children and Youth, this film captured the Children's Jury Award."Singapore flicks: motorcycle kung fu to teenage angst", ''

Shanghai Daily ''Shanghai Daily'' () is an English-language newspaper founded in 1999 and owned by the Shanghai United Media Group, a state media company under the control of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. It was the first dail ...

'', 26 October 2007. The film was also nominated for Best Asian Film at the

, but lost to '' Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles''. Critics praised this film for its touching portrayal of the problems faced by Singaporean teenagers. According to a review in the ''

'', the film "presents a candid portrait of Singaporean society at odds with its stereotypically squeaky clean image". Nie Peng of '' Shenzhen Daily'' felt the film "captured the emotional depth and effectively conveyed the underlying theme of generation gaps", while ''movieXclusive.com'' reviewer Jolene Tan called it "a good local movie that will have iewerslaughing in stitches and crying at certain points". However, this film was also panned for being overly preachy: a reviewer for ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' said that the film "feels like a public service program written by Singapore's social welfare department". Geoffrey Eu, a reviewer for ''The Business Times'', commented that it "takes the line that the viewer needs to be clubbed into submission rather than persuaded via a more subtle line of reasoning".

Sequel and remake

A serialised version of the film titled the same '' I Not Stupid Too'' was aired on

Mediacorp Channel 8 Channel 8 ( zh, 8頻道) is a Singaporean Mandarin-language free-to-air terrestrial television channel in Singapore, owned by state media conglomerate Mediacorp. The channel broadcasts general entertainment and news programming in the Manda ...

and was released on 23 September 2006 and ended its run on 16 December 2006. It consisted of 13 episodes with new characters introduced in the TV series. The TV series continues from the events in this film, with a time lapse in between. A

Malay language Malay ( , ; , Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays (ethnic group), Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The lang ...

remake titled ''Aku Tak Bodoh'' (the translation of the title of the first film) was made as a Malaysian co-production with Grand Brilliance. The film stars Jalaluddin Hassan and Adibah Noor among others, and was released on 2 December 2010 in Malaysian cinemas. A sequel, ''I Not Stupid 3'', began production in June 2023 and was released on 6 June 2024 during the

school holidays An academic year, or school year, is a period that schools, colleges and universities use to measure the duration of studies for a given educational level. Academic years are often divided into academic terms. Students attend classes and do rel ...

in Singapore.

References

External links

Official website
* {{Good article 2006 films 2006 comedy-drama films Films directed by Jack Neo Films set in schools 2000s Mandarin-language films Hokkien-language films Singaporean comedy-drama films 2000s English-language films English-language comedy-drama films