Money No Enough 2

Money No Enough 2
Directed by	Jack Neo
Produced by	Toong Soo Wei, Seah Saw Yam, Lim Teck
Starring	Jack Neo, Mark Lee, Henry Thia
Music by	Benny Wong
Editing by	Martyn See
Release date(s)	31 July 2008 (2008-07-31)
Running time	2 hrs 5 min
Country	Singapore
Language	Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, English

Money No Enough 2 (Chinese: 钱不够用二) is a Singaporean film written and directed by Jack Neo and produced by Neo Studios, Mediacorp Raintree Pictures and Scorpio EastPictures.

Ten years since the first Money No Enough, local celebrity director Jack Neo’s Money No Enough 2 returns to bring attention to the common man’s life in Singapore where the pursuit of money is a never ending passion.

Plot

The story revolves around three brothers from a middle-income background in contemporary Singapore. These are characters who are representative of the business owners, white and blue collar workers of Singaporeans.

The oldest brother Yang Bao Hui (by Henry Thia) represents the lower income group. As a child, Hui left school at an early age to earn money to help support his poverty stricken family. He has been working as a delivery man in the same company for the last 30 years. At the persuasion of his youngest brother, he strikes out as an entrepreneur to sell health supplements. As business improves, Bao Hui quits his dead-end job and puts all his time into the business. Unfortunately the business is forced to a standstill when the health supplement is deemed unsafe for public consumption, which inadvertently brings Bao Hui close to financial ruin.

The second brother Yang Bao Qiang (by Jack Neo) portrays a well-heeled successful businessman. As the owner of his own business, he and his wife flaunts their wealth in typical Singaporean fashion, with designer clothes, a flashy car and a big house to put it all in. However in a moment of greed, Bao Qiang allows himself to be cheated out of his fortune and gets into a very difficult financial situation.

The youngest brother Yang Bao Huang (by Mark Lee) represents the ordinary middle working class. He earns a good salary working as a regional supervisor for a health supplement trading company, and spends lavishly to maintain his ‘wannabe’ lifestyle. When the health supplement business goes bust, debts pile up and Bao Huang too, faces financial ruin. Even his wife gets involved, having their relationship soured and taking the blame for Bao Huang for a crime which she gets convicted for.

As the winds of fortune changes, the brothers begin to neglect their elderly mother. It was easy to be generous and filial during the good times but when household budgets tighten, what is the cost of true filial piety? Even the most basic arrangements, including whom their mother should stay with, become a contentious issue.

The families of each brother also try their luck at helping to earn an income to support. Unfortunately while out on the road with their getai lady boss rushing to another performance, a car accident occurred and Bao Qiang's wife and daughter were involved.

Bao Qiang's daughter turns out to be in critical condition unless she gets a blood transplant. The brothers' mother too, is in the same hospital. Coincidentally, the same type of blood was required to save both granddaughter and grandmother. The hospital so happened to have only one bag of the required blood, which a scuffle happens between everyone to decide who gets the treatment first.

Knowing the situation, the brother's mother overhears the commotion and sacrificed herself, to save her granddaughter, a younger generation whom she felt deserved to live more than herself as her time already drew near.

Much later, Bao Huang's wife is released, and the entire family is more well-off as they struck first place in a lottery draw. They give offerings to their mother, thinking that she helped them financially for all her life, whether deceased or living.

The film ends as the entire family enjoys their new start of life and the three brothers learnt of their lesson.

Mini-sequel

A mini-sequel was filmed and featured in the omnibus horror movie by Jack Neo, Where Got Ghost?.

It is the Seventh Lunar Month and three brothers - Bao Qiang, Bao Huang and Bao Hui - all pay respects to their deceased mother. They complain bitterly to their mother that they are doing poorly financially, and that their mother is not assisting them supernaturally. Soon afterwards, however, strange things begin to happen at their homes. The brothers all claim to see or hear their mother on numerous occasions. After hearing that parents dying in the night will bring bad luck to their children, Bao Qiang and Bao Huang overrule Bao Hui and urge him to bring their mother's remains to a temple.

Bao Hui attempts to bring their mother's urn and tablet to a temple, but is shocked to find it reappearing in his car later. He immediately calls his brothers to accompany him, but they think he is overreacting.

During a car journey from Malaysia, the ghostly apparition of their mother suddenly appears on the road before them, causing Bao Huang to swerve and nearly crash off a cliff. Fortunately, the brothers manage to crawl out unscathed. As they wonder over their mother's sudden appearance, they witness a massive landslide along the road ahead. By causing them to swerve, their mother actually saved their lives.

Cast

The main characters of the movie were played by the following actors:^[1]

• Jack Neo as Yang Baoqiang
• Mark Lee as Yang Baohuang
• Henry Thia as Yang Baohui
• Lai Ming as Mrs. Yang
• Lin Ruping as Xiuyun
• Zhu Ling Ling as Lingling
• Vivian Lai as Yanyan
• Natalli as Stella Yang
• John Cheng as Chen Guan Sai

Critical response

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reflected after seeing the film that if there are to be more cars, it will cost more money.^[2]

References

1. ^ http://www.neostudios.com.sg/movie/moneynoenough2/credits.asp
2. ^ asione.com, August 18 2008, "Govt not stupid, says PM Lee"

External links

• Official site