But thanks to the invention called Youtube, I got to know her advertisements she did as a creative director for Leo Burnett. And through her blog, I got a slight glimpse of what makes her tick and drives her.
I can say for certain that what drew me to her are her commercials that are both moving and funny. The common thread that runs through them is love, family, kinship and friendship that runs across racial boundaries.
The most famous one in Singapore is the one she did called "Funeral" for our Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports where we see an Indian woman in a sari eulogising her recently departed husband who is Chinese. Apart from the skin colour and choice of apparels, she mourns his passing as any loving wife would. Yasmin has this knack of throwing characters of different races together in a family or a group of friends that made it seem so natural.
For the ones she did in Malaysia, the same evocative theme crops up again and again, like the Chinese boy and his Indian caregiver in last year's Chinese New Year ad or the cute one where a young Tan Hong Ming professes his puppy love for his school mate Umi Qazrina. Some were controversial like the one she did called "Kongsi Raya" in 1997 when Chinese New Year and Hari Raya occurred around the same time. Perhaps it was controversial because it offended certain people's idea of racial purity and segregation.
Some might accuse her of being emotionally manipulative. But it seems to me that the only way her commercials "manipulate" was that they appealed to the goodness and humanity in each of us.
Personally, what appealed to me most about her work is her belief in a Malaysian Malaysia where race ("Race? That means race car ah?") and religion is insignificant. In a country where politics and patronage is based on ethnicity and faith, she dared to go against the grain. And looking at some comments on the internet, she did ruffle a lot of feathers.
I am convinced her appeal in Singapore is also for that very same reason. Where races still tend to congregate and interact with their own kind, she showed a different vision (some say an "idealised" past) of what it means to be one nation regardless of race, language or religion. Something I hold as dearly as her.
When news broke about her stroke on Thursday, a lot of people were naturally worried but expected her to recover. After all, she has so much more up her sleeves. She can't just leave like that. There were still people she was supposed to meet, like-minded friends to work with. So when the initial news of her death spread on Saturday, many refused to believe it, thinking it was just some unfounded internet rumour. When it was finally confirmed, the tons of facebook postings and tweets showed that many in Singapore from different walks of life were as grieved as Malaysians. I think it's to her credit that never in my recent memory has a death of either a Singaporean or Malaysian shocked and saddened so many people of different races in both countries.
This lady had so many more stories to tell, so many more commercials to make, and so many more racial barriers to demolish. As a matter of fact, she was in pre-production for one feature film in Singapore and was scheduled to do another one at the end of the year. Her passing is really too swift and sudden.
But you know what? I believe all of us can be thankful for all that she has done while still alive. Her absence will be keenly felt in Malaysia each year during festive seasons when people realise that the TV commercials for Petronas is not done by Yasmin.
I can only hope that other artists, directors, playwrights, creative directors, etc in both countries will be inspired by her and her work to explore and celebrate the commonality that binds us all like a blood red thread regardless of our differences.
Yasmin Ahmad (July 1, 1958 - July 25, 2009)
(Note: Links in the post above except for the first three lead to her commercials. Go watch them all.)
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