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Everything about Crazy Rich Asians was pristine. The acting, the make-up, the hair, the dancing, the locale, the ending. Everything was in the right place. I would agree with the mild criticisms of sinofication and the lack of economic and ethnic diversity in the film, but Hollywood gets away with such shortcomings day-in and day-out.

The capitalist economic yearnings are enticing, but they suffocate the environment. Poor air quality puts a bit of damper on weekend party plans and life for that matter.

Today reported that Singapore is still the most livable city for Asian expats, but warns of the air quality. The film failed to focus on air quality in Singapore. I noticed the omission, because I teach Environmental Law. In fact, “there has been a ‘gradual decline’ in Singapore’s overall quality of living in the past five years ‘due to the deteriorating air pollution situation….'”

Between September and November 2015, Singapore experienced its worst haze episode, with the Pollutant Standards Index hitting hazardous levels.

Today I started discussing the Clean Air Act in my Environmental Law course and shared a portion of Chai Jing’s documentary on air quality in China.

The documentary was released on February 28, 2015, and was banned by March 7, 2015, by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China due to perceived public perceptions of smog and the fear of collective action by people.