But for those in her industry, we know her name very well. The first time I heard of Yasmin Ahmad was 12 years ago when I was trying to decide which course to take for my University degree. I have had some success with journalism, having had a few articles published in The Star, but friends advised against the choice.

“Why would you want to chase a story under the hot sun?”
“Why would you want to only be able to afford a junk car?” Words that had stung and stuck.

Feeling lost, I took a short course in Copywriting and got to know of a mysterious lady who have had success in the industry, Yasmin Ahmad. Lecturers would estimate how much she was making a month. They would enthrall us with tales of how Yasmin softened the hearts of hard-hearted clients. It seemed that everyone in the industry was somewhat starry-eyed. With her name as a source of inspiration, I decided to study Advertising instead of Mass Comms. After that, I wouldn’t hear of Yasmin Ahmad until I got to The Agency where I worked. The talk:-

“Did you know, at Yasmin Ahmad’s agency, breakfast is provided to encourage staff to come to work on time?”

“Did you know, someone high up questioned Yasmin Ahmad on why she cast an Indian boy and not a Malay boy in the Independance Day advertisement?
(this is the ad)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=x82ih_46dDc

“And did you know how she answered that question? She looked at the person in the eye, and said,
“Oh, is he Indian? I didn’t notice! All I saw was that he is a MALAYSIAN boy.” Words that motivate and swell hearts. Yasmin Ahmad advertisements got me interested in social causes. Racism is one of the many Malaysian social issues that Yasmin cared a lot about, as evident in her many commercials. In a recent advertisement to promote understanding within marriages, she chose to cast an Indian lady with a Chinese husband. Yasmin herself is married to a Chinese man.

Over time, I would hear more Yasmin stories. Some sounded more like myths than facts.

“Did you know, Yasmin Ahmad is a shim?”
“A shim?”
“As in, neither a she nor a he but a shim.”

Another Malaysian social issue that Yasmin cared a lot about is loneliness of the elderly. I believe this came from her own love and concern for her Mum and Dad. For a Chinese New Year advertisement, she pictured an elderly lady passionately cooking for the annual Family Reunion Dinner. After having spread all the food on the table, no one came to eat with her. About that ad, I heard,

“Did you know, Yasmin Ahmad found the old lady in an old folks home? The son of the lady was so angry at her depiction of his mother’s aloneness that he threatened to sue. He insisted that she pull out the ad, which, of course didn’t intimidate her one bit.”

That reminds me of another story. Recently, I met an elderly lady in an old folks home near my house. Ironically, her reason for being placed in the home is success. Her three sons are doing so well, the eldest is working in the US, the middle child is in the UK and the youngest is in New Zealand. Her sons told her she would only be in the old folks home for a month but others told me she had been staying there for at least three months without any visits from anyone. She excitedly told me that her children will be coming to take her home any day now.

Yasmin Ahmad told a similar story here.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3NDaZ2p6ug

Not all Yasmin Ahmad advertisements make you weep. Here’s one that will put a smile on ya. It’s about a Chinese boy, Tan Hong Ming, and his special friendship with a Malay girl, Umi Qazrina.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAKPwjBd4uM

As a copywriter and film director, Yasmin Ahmad was hardly ever seen but her voice is heard. In the short 51 years of her life, she had created ads that evoke all sorts of uneasy feelings in us. She persuaded us to change our narrow-minded views through commercials paid for by private organisations, a rather uncommon method.

Her death on July 25th 2009 is a huge loss not just for us but the whole world.

Can you guess what this is? It is in the picture below. :)

A few days before the Chinese New Year, Mum decked the house with festive decorations.

As this celebrates the year of the cow (ox, if you prefer), a golden cow is included.

A golden cow with too many mandarins in its belly. Tsk tsk.

You know what’s so special about CNY in my hometown? Even the Indian owner of an Indian restaurant here have decked out his place with CNY decorations.

On the eve of CNY, it is customary for family members who have migrated far and wide or near or not at all to return to Grandma’s place for the traditional Reunion Dinner.

You wouldn’t dare think of not returning home for the Reunion Dinner because if you do, the national petroleum company will make you feel guilty. Every year, Petronas will release a CNY advertisement.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqDdhloTLM4

This year, my family’s Reunion Dinner was held at our place in Melaka so Grandma made the one-hour journey over.

Along with a cousin…

or two…

or more.

Here, my cousin Soo Lee is regaling us with her adventure of diving in Bali, including a dangerous moment where a shark snatched her camera! :) May be not my words exactly. If you ask another cousin, he/she might say it was more like the camera strap got loose so it plunged into the deep dark oceanic water.

For the Reunion Dinner, we had bubbling Chinese Steamboat.

Everyone stayed for the night so my bedroom was crammed with relatives on the bed and on the floor on mattresses.

I slept on my parents’ King-sized bed that night, along with two other cousins. It was very hot and cosy. Mother and Father gave up their bed for us, they slept on couches.

CNY is always exhilarating, thanks to Grandma for having 7 children who fruited 22 grandchildren and then some great-grandchildren.

The next day, more cousins arrived and so did HighwayBlogger, Nadnut and CNeil!

YIKES! A REAL RAT!

And it was an adorable little mousey too. I stepped to and fro, not very sure what to do. I didn’t want it to die. Remy is a friend, not food.

Kylie kept nudging Remy with her little nose. I couldn’t bear to look and I couldn’t bear to remove it either.

I ran to the bicycle and rode fast and furious for one circle around the house. Then I rushed back to have a look.

Here lies Remy. Nudged to Death. I’m sorry brother. To Kylie & Dino’s credit, they never ate him up.

Instead, let me take you through what we enjoyed on the Second Day of CNY.

First we had a whole chicken stewed in various herbs.

Then we had a fish drowning in parsley and spring onions

Then we had this lobster sized prawn

All washed down with a chilled chardonnay from Brown Brothers.

No meal is complete without dessert, so we brought out the House Special:-

A Flaming Cocker Spaniel!

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After dinner, the women got into negotiation mode. The stallkeepers rose to the challenge by arming themselves with mile-wide smiles.

Oh the tingling anticipation!

I didn’t snap photos of every shop, but here’s a rough idea of what’s on offer.

For the nostalgic at heart, there were lots of stalls selling old curios, finely sewn cheong sams, nyonya kebayas, ting-ting candy, calligraphy banners, artwork, et cetera. Unfortunately I missed out on snapping photos of those! Sorry!

Originally, we wanted to go for Nyonya Laksa in a different restaurant but we saw a queue. Instead, we ordered one from among the stalls here. It was still a pretty evil bowl of yellow noodles in curry and coconut milk. Ooooh! Aaah! Mmmmm!

My favorite food in the world is Nasi Lemak. This one’s especially generous with the sambal and the fried egg and the Bilis & Nuts. Just how it should be. :smile:

Then we had Mee Goreng on a bed of flowers.

The Ais Kacang was so-so.

So far, all of the food we’d ordered had costed between RM2.50 – RM3.50. Now for the killer from this Japanese stall

Fresh sushi for RM19.00

We were so full, even the burp had trouble squeezing its way out the stomach!

Just two days before Chinese New Year, my family and I dropped by the city center where it all happens – we went for a walk down the historic Jonker Walk.

Though it was flooded with a sea of people, we didn’t have to hold on to each other as we wade through the crowd. We just needed to glance at each other every few minutes to make sure every one is still bounding about.

The old peranakan buildings were dressed for the party too, in pink spotlights. Chinese lanterns were strung across the street.

A lot more lanterns than previous years. I enjoyed the cool CNY breeze that billowed upon the crowd. :smile:

I am going to cry by myself in the corner. It is Chinese New Year, the grandest occasion of the year, and she’s made me wear this revealing outfit.

A silk kimono, with nothing underneath.

Am I just a trophy to you?

*my eyes fill up with tears*

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I went for a walk around the town centre and knocked on the door of a salon. Forty minutes later, I came out looking like this:-

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