Goodbye, Yasmin

Yasmin Ahmad(1958-2009)

She is a true Malaysian, no matter filming a short advertisement or an award winning film, the element of Malaysian spirit is clear , and very strong......

She is not only a Malay, but a high spirited Malaysian that all Malaysian are proud of.

I started to notice her advertisement film during the festival day sometime ago, it is always very Malaysian, with the simple message of love, and racial harmony. It was the time we suddenly realize, advertisement can be different, it can promote love and harmony. The short advertisement touched hearts, and it was the talk of the people during the festival. It added life and joy to the festival atmosphere. They said, we loved the advertisement.....

Remember the childhood days, where we did no have the then black and white TV. We will always go to the neighbor, a shop next to the coffee shop, to watch P Ramli's film. The neighbor were all there, whenever P Ramli's film was showing. It was in the early time after Merdeka, before May 13th; Chinese in the Chinese dominated town watching a Malay film, they just love P Ramli, children or old folks, some don't even know Malay language......that is pioneer Malaysian spirit. In school, the students talk about P. Ramli. P Ramli is still in the heart of many Malaysian Chinese today, it is their memory of the past......there is no more artist with the status of P Ramli after his death. Singers like Anita Sarawak, Sheila Majid, Suriman, nearly..... nearly make it. But we know something is still missing....

Until we saw the advertisement film of Yasmin; the spirit come back.....

The film "Sepet" shocked the traditional local viewers, Yasmin is dare to explore, and the simple kampong love story touched the hearts. Who care about the cutting of the National Film Censorship Board, who always overreact. The film did well in the box office in Malaysia and Singapore. It is her first cinema release, it was a breakthrough for Yasmin, and everyone love it. We expected more films to come from her....

Mukhsin(2006), about the children love story; Mualiaf(2008) and Talentime(2009)....

It was a sad day that Yasmin passed away on 25-7-2009 at the age of 51 years, still too early when there are more films to come.....

Goodbye, Yasmin Ahmad.... it is difficult to find another Malaysian like you; but we prayed that the spirit of Malaysian will blossom, and many new film makers will followed your footsteps.....

Related articles:
1. Yasmin Ahmad, by www.wikipedia.org
2. Personal blog of Yasmin Ahmad: http://yasminthestoryteller.blogspot.com/ & http://yasminthefilmmaker.blogspot.com/
3. Farewell to Yasmin Ahmad, the Sun by Bissme S., dated 29-7-2009
4. Even as we grieve..., by FATIMAH ABU BAKAR, NST, dated 28-7-2009
5. Yasmin's footprints, by Allan Koay, The Star online,dated 29-7-2008
6. Goodbye Yasmin, The Star online , dated 27-7-2009
7. For Chinese readers, 別了，雅斯敏……演藝圈和市民難過送程, Sinchew Daily dated 26-7-2009, http://www.sinchew.com.my/node/124071?tid=1
8. Al Fatihah- Yasmin Ahmad, by Bob Teoh, My Sinchew, dated 27-7-2009, http://www.mysinchew.com/node/27647