JULY 31 — Does it not strike anyone as strange that a filmmaker best known for making some of the most popular and memorable television commercials that touched on themes like love, respect and tolerance is considered controversial?
Meanwhile, those who preach racial supremacy, or wield the keris at a political assembly, or try to turn the death of a young man while under the custody of the MACC into a racial issue... they continue to hold high posts in the government or the media.
Such is the contradiction Malaysia has become. We have politicians who preach Malaysian unity across the various ethnic groups that make up this country when it makes them look good. Then, before you can say flip-flop, they are either making or condoning hateful speech when it is the politically expedient thing to do.
Filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad first made a name for herself in the advertising world, in particular for her television commercials for Petronas. It is testament to her talent and abilities that Yasmin managed to turn an often crass medium such as advertising into a poignant cultural event of sorts. Her thoughtful work probably made Petronas ads more popular than the company itself. The commercials became something many Malaysians looked forward to every festive season or Merdeka.
When she started making feature films, Yasmin continued to explore the themes she touched on in her advertising work. From “Rabun” to “Talentime”, her films portrayed a Malaysia that all our prime ministers have preached about at one point or another — one that is made up of different races and cultures, but share a similar humanity and love for the nation. A Malaysia where we are not afraid or uncomfortable of our differences, but rather is made all the more richer because of it.
To be frank, I often viewed Yasmin's work with a little bit of cynicism. There was a sense of hopefulness and optimism (not to mention sentimentalism) that didn't always reflect the reality I saw around me. This, I thought, was not the Malaysia that actually exists.
Where are the disapproving parents in “Sepet”? Where was the judgmental imam in “Gubra”? And where was the Islamophobia in “Muallaf” (full disclosure: I am part of the cast in the film, which has yet to be released here for censorship reasons)? And so on.
But as she often said, her stories are often inspired by people she knew. In other words, the characters or scenarios in her films aren't impossibilities, even if they are not the norm. After all, Tan Hong Ming and Umi weren't fictional characters, but two real schoolchildren. Perhaps in the telling of these stories, she was presenting to all of us how things could be instead of dwelling in the uncomfortable reality of how things are.
To me, Yasmin's body of work — and her life itself — is the antithesis of the small-mindedness we are so often surrounded with. Indeed, those who attacked her (and they did, often viciously and personally) could only focus on the small things.
They concerned themselves over how Orked can walk into a non-halal restaurant in “Sepet”. How an imam petted a dog in “Gubra”. How Sharifah Amani shaved her head for a scene in “Muallaf”. And most pathetic of all, how a touching scene in “Sepet” featuring a family sitting on a staircase combing each other's hair was deemed to encourage Malay women to go back to their bad habit of picking each other's lice.
You can't make these things up.
Most Malaysian viewers, however, saw love, tolerance and respect. We saw intellectual curiosity, not dogmatic thought. We saw humanity in all its light, with shortcomings and failures, but also full of redemptive qualities. Most importantly, many of us, from different backgrounds, liked what we saw.
So again, I ask, why is Yasmin the controversial one? Why do we allow reactionary, fringe and extremist views to dominate mainstream discourse, while sidelining the reasonable, tolerant and intelligent among us?
Yasmin's films and advertising work focused on the big themes. Of love, forgiveness and looking beyond our differences. Those were the things her films dwelled on, not the specific, of here and now. Unlike me, she didn't seem too interested in the day-to-day news cycle of politics. She and Sharifah Amani even gave me the nickname "government suck," supposedly because all my opinion columns come to the same conclusion.
Interestingly, however, the last time I heard from her was an SMS I received from her expressing concern about the manner in which Teoh Beng Hock died. It was the first time in a long while that I heard her express specific concern over the state of politics here. It is with deep regret that I put off replying, and now it is too late.
The storyteller might no longer be with us in this world, but I'm grateful she left us with something everlasting — her stories. Hopefully they will continue to inspire all of us to imagine a different Malaysia, one that not only values love, respect and tolerance, but also isn't afraid of curiosity and knowledge, be it of a different culture, language or religion. It isn't impossible. Yasmin's life, her work and her fans are proof enough that it exists.
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