The sources say that middle managers at the council have endured years of being marginalised and frustrated under chief execs Nathan Elvery, Jo “Negreedy” Negrini and since, as the council leadership – under Labour and the Tories – pursued cost-cutting moves at every opportunity, without necessarily properly considering the consequences of many of the cuts. Inside Croydon’s reports of six-month delays in registering a child’s birth, grieving relatives left waiting for the death certificate for a lost loved one and law-abiding residents being served with court orders for unpaid Council Tax because no one at Fisher’s Folly ever answers the phone are, the sources suggest, in part the result of several years of a deliberate shift to “digital-only” dealings with the public. senior management has refused repeated requests to provide the workers with the equipment needed to do their jobs, leaving some staff unable to do as much as 85 per cent of their council duties while being fully salaried.Īccording to the well-placed source, covid lockdowns have exacerbated existing issues over working practices at Fisher’s Folly, leading to a breakdown in services provided to Croydon residents. There are staff at Croydon’s cash-strapped council who have been working from home during the pandemic for almost two years without having access to their employers’ phone or internet systems.Īnd according to sources among the workforce. The Venice Film Festival will be held from Aug 31 to Sept 10 with US actress Julianne Moore as jury president this year.Wrong number? Or just an extremely badly managed council? We are hoping this could help attract more attention from labs, markets and investors,” Lim said. 'Selected into Venice has given a shot in the arm to this project. Producer Edward Lim said that his team are planning to develop Please Hold The Line into a feature film. Tan, 31, funded the project using the money he received from Hollywood studio Miramax which bought his 2017 short film The Masseuse to be turned into a feature film. The film, featuring dialogue mainly in Cantonese, also stars Puie Heng, Ruby Faye and Billy Ng. In the 18-and-half-minute shortie, actress Kenda Sow plays a phone scammer who is in a moral dilemma as she tricks her family in order to get money for her abortion. 'Beneath the exterior of a heartless, manipulative voice, actually lies another human being, like you and I,' Tan explained the inspiration behind Please Hold The Line.ĭirector Tan Ce Ding also wrote the screenplay for 'Please Hold The Line'. I can't help but feel curious – what is it like on the other end of the call? 'As a Malaysian, I’ve been on the receiving end of scam calls.

He added that Malaysia records over 90 million scam calls a year, making it one of the highest in the world. Tan, who also wrote the screenplay, said the film is inspired by the rising phone scam cases in the country. For us to manage to make it into the final (round), it is simply unbelievable,' he said. And the festival only selects 12 (titles).

'Most (filmmakers) from around the world would send their short films to film festivals such as Venice Film Festival, so the competition is tough. It took a while to settle down, to digest the information because there was no way I thought my film would make it into one of the biggest film festivals in the world,' an elated Tan told StarLifestyle today (July 26). Tan said he was in complete shock when he found out that his short film made it as one of the final 12 titles which will compete for the award. Malaysian director Tan Ce Ding's short film Please Hold The Line has been selected to compete in the Best Short Film category at the upcoming Venice Film Festival. This is because Malaysia will be represented in the prestigious event this year. It will be a great National Day gift for Malaysia when the 79th Venice Film Festival kicks off on Aug 31.

Please hold the line