"The Detour"

Short Film As Part of "Mirage" Series

THE SYNOPSIS: When Wang takes a job as a driver in Singapore to support his family, he never expects to become complicit in a workplace injury cover-up. As he searches for illegal treatment for an injured Bengali worker, he confronts the true price of staying silent and wonders if his job would cost him more than he could afford.

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

This film was sparked by a disturbing news article about an injured worker being driven around Singapore by his employers, searching for underground medical treatment. Not because he chose to, but because his bosses wanted to avoid accountability and costs. It revealed an ugly truth hiding beneath Singapore's pristine surface - how some companies value profit over human lives, seeing these workers as disposable assets rather than people with families and dreams.

I chose to tell this story through Wang, another immigrant forced to be complicit in this cover-up. Through his eyes, we see someone who understands the worker's plight but must also think about his own survival. I didn't make this film to point fingers or demand immediate solutions. Rather, I wanted to create a work that make us pause and think about these parallel lives that exist alongside ours. Through Wang’s internal struggle, I wanted viewers to feel the weight of these impossible choices that happen daily in our supposedly safe and just society.

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