What happens when a gang of Form Five Ipoh boys embark on a 100km hike to fulfill a King Scouts requirement but come back on the road to becoming men?  Goodbye Boys is a simple journey with complicated realizations. Set in 1990, Malaysia, it is about a gang of pimply guys with raging hormones, undecided ambitions and formative identities. They set out on a grueling 5-day journey through the Kinta Valley – once the richest tin deposit in the world, now an abandoned plain - that changes friendships and selves.

Goodbye Boys

It is a modern-day adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello. The film’s title (Malay: "Fine Needle") is derived from a Malay idiom meaning web of deceit or conspiracy, which is a major theme in the plot of the film.  The plot remains faithful to the source material, with the cast all taking their Shakespearian counterparts either in name, character or both.

Fine Needle

The film is about the close friendship between the second Malaysian prime minister, Tun Abdul Razak and his deputy, Tun Dr Ismail. They were secretive about their health problems as they had the task of restore the peace in their country following the events of 13 May, 1969. Tun Razak was suffering from leukemia and he had to keep it a secret from his family. They both seek the services of Dr. Macpherson. The reading room of Tun Dr Ismail became a secret clinic for their treatment.