Filmmaker Jack Neo is all over the news now. You probably noticed. It's like a local version of Tiger Woods' sex scandal, on a much reduced scale of course.
Like a cliched plot in a bad movie, these sorts of stories seem to follow a predictable pattern. Tiger went on to to make a profuse public apology (which failed to stop his commercial sponsors from continuing to dump him). No doubt, Jack will do the same in the near future (in fact, he has already promised the media that he will soon "tell it all").
Well, here's the first thing about apologies. Is the person sorry about what he did, or is he just sorry that he got caught? Mmmm, go meditate on the difference.
Here's the second thing. Why is that Other Woman not apologising? How come when a married man has an affair, the man needs to apologise, but the Other Woman gets to act like a victim, all moral-uppity, as if she didn't know he already had a wife?
And the third thing is - why even apologise to the public? If Jack was an accountant or a human resource officer or a florist, and he had all these affairs with miscellaneous women, the public wouldn't give a hoot. The only reason why the public is now interested is that Jack is a celebrity, he's a star, he's Singapore's best-known filmmaker. We all feel like we know him, just because we've watched him on TV since his Liang Po Po days, and we've enjoyed his movies such as Money No Enough and I Not Stupid.
But does that really mean that Jack owes the public an apology? Are filmmakers supposed to be the paragon of virtues? Who appointed them to be the public flag-bearers of moral standards? Are celebrities supposed to be role models for all the husbands and fathers? Errrr, not as far as I'm aware.
As a member of the public, I do not feel that Jack owes me an apology. I'm not saying that I think that Jack is wrong or right. I am saying that it's basically none of my business.
And I do not think that it's the public's business anyway. If any apologies are to be made, they should be made behind closed doors, and they should be privately exchanged between Jack, his family members and his Other Women.
The rest of you kaypohs, move along, move along. Stop blocking the traffic.