17 minutes that'll wreck your heart and your birth control opinions.
17 minutes that'll wreck your heart and your birth control opinions.
In 1970s Singapore when families were pressured and incentivised to have no more than two children, a newly pregnant Teochew mother contemplates keeping her third child despite facing overwhelming financial constraints, social stigma and state disincentives.
Acting
Liew Li Ting's silent devastation speaks louder than dialogue ever could.
Production
Meticulous 1970s Singapore detail that makes the past feel suffocatingly present.
Direction
Cheo trusts viewers to sit in discomfort — no hand-holding, no easy answers.
Director
Leon Cheo
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Singapore's 'Stop at Two' policy (1969-1987) offered tax penalties, hospital discrimination, and priority school admissions for small families — this isn't historical fiction, it's family trauma for thousands.
The Teochew dialect choice isn't nostalgic flavor — it signals working-class identity that the Mandarin-speaking state was actively suppressing during this era.
SG
