That's The Way I Like It

The directorial debut of actor and artistic director Glen Goei, who played opposite Anthony Hopkins in the London production of M. Butterfly, is a comedy about a loser with big dreams. In 1970s Singapore, twenty-year-old grocery clerk Hocks tries to survive with high hopes but low expectations. He is still living at home with his parents, who dote on his younger brother, and his little sister, who is addicted to romance novels. He does not have a girlfriend. His male friends like to bowl and watch kung-fu movies. When Hocks looks at the mirror, he sees himself as Bruce Lee riding a fast motorcycle with a beautiful woman on the back seat hanging on to him. One night, the local movie house replaces the usual kung-fu fare with a movie called Forever Fever, which is a Singaporean version of Saturday Night Fever. Hock hates disco but tags along with his friends. To his surprise, he is taken in by the movie and goes to see it over and over again. He even holds secret conversations with the hero of the film, who gives Hock a few tips about making a move on the dance floor and in real life. Hock enters a disco-dancing contest, hoping to win the cash prize so that he can buy a motorcycle. However, the dancing partner he chooses, his childhood friend Mei, is interested in another kind of prize. That's the Way I Like It was screened at the 1999 Montreal World Film Festival.