'Life is too short', I never agreed with that so called statement, not until a dear friend of mine passed away a couple years ago, it has been four years yet I remember the day like it was yesterday. When I heard the news of Yasmin Ahmad sudden passing, I said to myself 'LIFE IS SHORT' as an extremely talented visionary had left us. I have always admired any individual who stands their ground on their morale and believes and Yasmin Ahmad is one of the few in
Malaysia who embodies that. As a Malaysian Indian, her commercials and movies left a huge impact in my life as I finally felt someone had said my side of the story. I’m not a boy from the estate, speaks broken Malay, involve myself with thugs, goes to temple to flirt or any other stereotypes. I’m an ordinary Malaysian with a touch of every culture as I grew up in a Malay and Chinese neighborhood. Growing up with the environment that I did, I learnt from a very young age the principle of ‘give and take’. This in reality implies I teach you my culture and customs and you teach me yours and we respect each other.
Yasmin Ahmad embodied it so effortlessly in her commercials and movies. Growing up, I certainly at a point gave up on the idea of multiculturalism. Through her vision I realize where there is a will there is always a way and hope. Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Najib Razak might have been the one to come out with the term ‘One Malaysia’ but Yasmin Ahmad is the true ‘One Malaysian’. She had been the driving force in multiculturalism and understanding diversity in multiculturalism. I would be a liar if I had said I have watched all of her movies. I have watched Sepet and Mukhsin; you may wonder which part of Indian culture was in any of those movies. But every individual sees a part of themselves in every movie and in both of the movies I saw a part of myself being represented. I have said this from the very beginning, race does not define who I am. So it doesn’t matter whether the star of the story is Malay, Chinese or bumiputera from Sabah and Sarawak. Her Petronas TV commercial totally reminded me of my childhood where I and my friends use to play around and one day we were chased by dogs and I ended falling of my bicycle and getting hurt as my friends dad had to bring me to the clinic. Thinking back about it, it’s so funny and painful of course yet I would do it a million times over. Those memories are something I would never tear of from the diary of my life.
‘Everybody has a first love story to tell’ that was the main theme for the movie Mukhsin. Instead of teenagers or young adult, Yasmin Ahmad focused on two children Mukhsin age 13 and Orked age 10 who are best friends. ‘Love’ is not black and white; it’s not transparent for us to figure it out. Love is subjective and differs between each individual. Its an uncomfortable issue isn’t it, from best friends to something more, it involves a lot of thought and consideration as you don’t want to destroy something equally important which is friendship. Her unique take on the movie Mukhsin still remains as one of my favorite movie in Asia. The narration between two children’s who are best friends falling in love could have been really unrealistic and stupid but through the quirky and charming way Yasmin Ahmad narrated, the audience would feel that they are in the silver screen themselves. Feeling the innocence, raw emotion, toleration and understanding between Mukhsin and Orked is something we all could relate to. We all have our own first love story to tell and its something that we don’t forget for the rest of our life.
The late Yasmin Ahmad embodied the true essence of ‘one Malaysia’ and her creative input through her commercial have touched us all. What she has done to our nation is truly something amazing. Her understanding on multiculturalism and the depth of diversity among the people of Malaysia is truly remarkable. She has captured the imagination of free thinkers in Malaysia and produces a work of art which is truly admirable. I hope her work would inspire other young artist and anyone to strive for what they believe in and stick to their principals. Her sudden death has definitely left a void in the industry but I’m sure that a new generation is raring to go and continue her legacy.
