A Year Without Yasmin

By Farezza Rashid

It has been a year since Yasmin Ahmad’s (1958-2009) demise, but her presence is still very much felt in many Malaysians. It’s hard to believe that she is actually gone but her work, charisma and vision are still talked about.

Waiting in line at a McDonald’s counter recently, I heard a mother and her teenage daughter behind me talking about going out to get the Muallaf DVD, because “that’s the only Yasmin film we haven’t watched yet.” The way they said “Yasmin” sounded as if they knew Yasmin personally as their friend. I also liked the sense that they watch films together as a family, a concept which Yasmin Ahmad herself liked to apply in her works of art. I hope they got an original copy, not a pirated one.

I guess it is true what they say, “You never realize what you have until it’s gone.” And we never really realized that we had one of the best filmmakers in the country that I dare put side by side with personalities such as Allahyarham Tan Sri P. Ramlee, who simply tried to show us about the realities of Malaysia; issues of race, religion and relationship. And these two were the only filmmakers who had without fail, brought different races together to the movie theatres and made 1Malaysia, before the concept was even introduced, a reality.

In her own country, her works were highly criticized by many. The controversial scene in Sepet with Harith Iskandar and Ida Nerina dancing in their sarongs had raised more than just eyebrows. Such a scene, among others, had Yasmin labeled as a ‘corrupter of culture’ in a forum on the film organized by the Ministry of Information, which was also aired on national television (arts.monash.edu.au/mai/osaa/farahazaleamohamedalamin.pdf) when all she did was portray Malaysian life with an almost gritty reality. A married couple dancing lovingly, in whatever attire they please, shows nothing but a happy marriage.

Abroad, she achieved glory. For Sepet alone, Yasmin grabbed the Best Film award at the 27^th Creteil International Women’s Film Festival in France and the Best Asian Film award at the 18^th Tokyo International Film Festival in Japan while Mukhsin won the Silver award at the Netpack Festival in Indonesia, the Best Film Grand Prix award at the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany and the Best Asian Film at The Cinemanila International Film Festival in the Philippines  (http://www.mmail.com.my/content/9123-tribute-yasmin-ahmad-loving-memory). She did win two local awards for Sepet and one for Gubra, but clearly outnumbered by international recognitions.

“Four years ago, when Sepet came under fire from Berita Harian, RTM, and even the then Minister of Culture, it was given the Best Asian Film award at the 18th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF).

Then just last year, the 21st TIFF gave Muallaf a Special Mention in the Asian-Middle Eastern section, while here at home, it was facing a possible ban,” Yasmin wrote on her blog, The Storyteller, when Tokyo asked for permission to put Talentime in the 2009 TIFF.

Yasmin Ahmad instilled traditional and religious practices to the people who had met and worked with her.

Malaysian writer Amir Muhammad recalled in his book “Yasmin Ahmad’s Films”, a time when Yasmin handed him a DVD and he had reached out to take it with his left hand. “Tangan kanan! (Right hand!)”, Yasmin said, reminding him to receive it with his right hand. Giving and taking things from another person with your left hand are deemed rude in the Malay culture.

She also worked her filming hours around prayer times. Such features would not have been expected from a liberal person who had been labeled a “corrupter of culture.”

Joe Lee, writer for the Malay Mail and a friend of Yasmin’s, in his article “A Tribute to Yasmin Ahmad: In Loving Memory” wrote about the tremendous love that she had. While dogs are considered “unclean” to Muslims and many want nothing to do with the furry creatures, Yasmin gave him an abused puppy she saw in SPCA for Christmas. Because of her, Jack the puppy now has a family and a home.

Both Amir Muhammad and Joe Lee’s reminiscences were told after Yasmin Ahmad’s death. Could it be that if she were still around, we would not discover these things about her?

After she left us, those who mourned did so in their own way; many flocked to the mosque and cemetery to pay their last respects, some set up tribute sites and blogs on the internet where you can find nine of them on Facebook alone, and street artist Jeng went to Klang River near the Pasar Seni LRT to do a mural of Yasmin just hours after she was laid to rest. Even tribute events were held from Singapore (Yasmin Ahmad: A Tribute) to New York (Filmmaker in Focus: Yasmin Ahmad).

Not all of them knew Yasmin personally or even met her, but many feel like she had been their friend. Through her films and commercials, they felt the love that she had; the love for her country, for cultures and traditions, for humanity and well, for just about everything.

“Actually, everyone you see here is a close friend of Yasmin’s. She made us all feel that way. If you spent just five minutes with her, you would realize just how warm she makes you feel that you immediately take on to her as a close friend,” said Fatimah Abu Bakar, acting coach and mother of Sepet and Gubra star Sharifah Armani. She was with many others in the hospital where Yasmin exhaled her last breath, where she was asked if she could be quoted as a close friend of Yasmin’s. (http://www.mmail.com.my/content/9123-tribute-yasmin-ahmad-loving-memory)

A year after her demise, I must admit that I have yet to see three of her films, Rabun, Muallaf and Mukhsin, but I am in no rush. Yasmin may not be around physically, but she had left behind her love through her beautiful works so that we could all share it for as long as we can.