A controversial, thought-provoking short film has been lighting up the interwebs. “Oppressed Majority” takes place in an alternate reality where the People’s Action Party are side-lined from the national conversation, denied the right to voice their opinions and endure daily rubbishing in the press. “It came from my experience as a Singaporean over the past 49 years,” wrote the filmmaker behind it. “And from the incredulity of foreigners when I told them about the comments and behavior of the people in power here.”

It’s the middle of February and love is in the air. So, too, is the Marine Corps’ MV-22B Osprey, “the world’s first production tilt-rotor aircraft, combining the best capabilities of a helicopter with the range, airspeed and payload of fixed-wing airplanes"!

It’s been an emotionally trying time for cinema-lovers this month. Titan of the Asian scene Run Run Shaw decided that, after a grand old 106 years*, it was finally time to roll the end credits and bow out. Then a crowd of more than 100 foreign workers staged a sit-in protest at the Rex, after the theater was forced to cancel the premiere of Tamil movie Veeram, for which some of them had queued up for more than six hours.

With the New Year already here and Chinese New Year almost upon us, everyone’s busy clearing out the boring and old to make way for the shiny and new. Getting rid of all the negative energy that’s built up in the last 12 months and replacing it with something altogether more positive and productive. Or, as the process is nowadays known: Goodbye Candy Crush, hello Candy Crush Dreamworld.

After the worst riots here in 40 years, the government moved quickly to enact an alcohol ban in Little India, citing the problems caused when large groups of men gather to drink cheap liquor on the street on Sundays, starting fights and generally making a nuisance of themselves. In some quarters the new rules were judged reactionary, if not a little racist. Thankfully, the Body Of Over Zealous executives (BOOZE) this week stepped in to clarify the rules about when, where and why you’re allowed to drink in public here.

With the winner of the 2013 Bad Sex in Fiction Award just announced (congrats to Manil Suri for this gem in The City of Devi, “...only Karun’s body, locked with mine, remains... In celebration of her breakthrough fourth star, statisticians the world over rejoice”) we can finally reveal our own submission*:
 

Time for the latest instalment of our occasional (and only occasionally funny) news quiz. How closely have you been paying attention to what’s been going on this month?

Which Internet-famous Singaporean with a superhero name has been jailed on theft and drug charges?
1. Batman bin Suparman
2. Downey bin Ironman
3. Daredevil

So the Minister for Social and Family Development, Chan Chun Sing, says pro-infidelity website Ashley Madison (tagline: Life is short, have an affair) is not welcome in Singapore. "Promoting infidelity undermines trust and commitment between a husband and wife, which are core to marriage," he says. A Facebook group petitioning against Ashley Madison's plans to launch here next year garnered more than 25,000 likes in less than a week.

Real-life escape games are suddenly all the rage, with the likes of Freeing SG, Lockdown and Real Escape popping up all over Singapore. We spoke to the Executive Escaper behind the phenomenon to
find out more.

I-S So what’s the deal?
Ex Esc Basically you pay us money and we lock you in a room.

I-S We pay you?
Ex Esc Yes. Then you have to find your way out.

EDITOR’S NOTE
This column was supposed to be a wry reflection on the crazy, amazing evolution of Singapore in the 18 years since I-S began. However, following recent changes to employment laws to protect the local labor force, the magazine will henceforth be written not by the people most willing or best qualified to do it but instead by the first Singaporean to walk through the door. This week, we welcome Edward Tan, a charming old taxi uncle who simply got lost looking for a bathroom.