Monday, July 27, 2009

Farewell to thee Yasmin Ahmad (1958-2009)

Yasmin Ahmad passed away on 25 July 2009 after suffering a stroke. Al-Fatihah …….

What a loss for Malaysians and for the Malaysian film industry particular.

Yasmin’s sudden departure at 51, when she had so much to live for and so much more to give, was a renewed jolt for me of how brittle life can be...

I first met Yasmin in 2003 at a launch of one of Mercy Malaysia’s new project by Datuk Dr. Jamilah Mahmood (now Tan Sri ). We sat at the same table and I remember her introducing herself when I joined the table.

I had known of Yasmin through my dear friend and former housemate Ali Mohammed. They were both working at Leo Burnett, and Ali used to tell me about their antics at work. And of course I had seen and enjoyed Yasmin’s creative works through her famous commercials for Petronas etc, especially for the Hari Raya and other festive occasions.

When her first feature film Rabun had its premiere at the Dewan Bahasa Auditorium I attended it. Yasmin was there too and made an opening remark.

When she won the Grand Prix for Best Feature Film and Special Mention of the Generation Award at The Berlin Film Festival 2007 for ‘Mukhsin’, and a string of awards for the precious ‘Tan Hong Ming in love’ commercial, I smsd her my congratulations and asked if she could send me the vcd of ‘Tan Hong Ming’ to be shown at my reception which she obligingly did.

‘Mukhsin’ was also chosen as the closing film for the Fribourg Film Festival. I attended the showing with a large group of Malaysians including students who had come all the way from Stuttgart and Munich. It was a full-house and many people were turned away as they were no more tickets left. I smsd Yasmin that there was a rapturous applause at the end of the film and she was pleased.

Last year “Muallaf” was invited to the Locarno Film Festival and I was invited to its premiere . Unfortunately on the same day I had an official engagement in Liechtenstein and it was just too much effort to dash off from Vaduz to Locarno (some 3 hours drive) to catch the showing. Yasmin had earlier on smsd me (jokingly) if I could find sponsors for the two young actors of the film to attend the Festival. She could not as she was shooting Talentime at that time

Later, in October when I went back to Kuala Lumpur for a short holiday I stayed at a friend’s apartment in the same building where Yasmin lived. I met her one day at the guard house and we had a chat. She was philosophical about ‘Muallaf’ not being able to be screened in Malaysia. I asked her if I could have a dvd copy of the film and she said she did not own the right to it anymore. She invited me to a private preview of ‘Talentime’ the following week but I was going home in a few days time already.

I am grateful to have this small rapport with this beautiful and talented person, Yasmin Ahmad. She loved our country and its diversity so much and wanted to give as much back. But to quote a line from one of her movies, ' how do you love something so much that does not love you back...'.

By all means she was a very friendly and modest person with no airs. I have yet to see ‘Muallaf’ and ‘Talentime’ but I think ‘Sepet’ will always remain my favourite film of hers, and all those funny and heart-warming/wrenching commercials of hers.

Yasmin Ahmad, rest-assured you will be much-missed and long-remembered.
May Allah S.W.T. bestow His abundant blessings upon you. Amin

Note: Mercy Malaysia will soon be launching 'The Mercy Malaysia-Yasmin Ahmad Children Fund', an initiative of the outgoing head of Mercy Malaysia Tan Sri Dr Jemilah Mahmood who was Yasmin's best friend in memory of Yasmin's love for children.

Monday, July 20, 2009

The solitary violin player

After a grey cold Saturday, the sun came out full force today though temperature was only in the low 20s. Still blinding bright at 7.30 pm! The rock concert revellers in the Gurten hill nearby must be having a field time today, the last day of the local annual rock music festival. They had a very wet, rainy start Friday night and yesterday it drizzled off and on. I woke up at 2 am this morning to go to the bathroom and the music was still blasting away. How unusually sporting of the neighbourhood to allow this!

In the late afternoon I visited the annual 2-day Asian Fair and left after 15 minutes - it was the same old thing I had seen in the last three years, dominated by Thai food stalls (extremely popular I have to admit). And next week a 2-day annual Thai Food Festival, and Chaiyong has invited me for a buffet lunch. The Thais have really stamped their mark here.

I went to the old town for an hour's walk in the pleasantly uncrowded ambiance, which was far from the usual. Almost at the end of the hour I heard beautiful haunting violin music in the air of Schubert's 'Ave Maria', a favourite of mine. The music led me to a solitary young violin player, standing in the empty passage of the Zytglogge tower, where the city's landmark clock was. I dropped a coin in his violin box and took some photos.

When he finished playing I walked on, and that's when he started playing another one of my favourite piece , Cesar Frank's 'Panis Angelicus'.
Barely half a minute later I was engulfed in a large group of some 50 elderly and rather animated Japanese tourists! Well, was I glad they were not around when the young man was playing 'Ave Maria'....

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Vincent van Gogh in Basel

Vincent van Gogh : Between Earth and Heaven: The Landscapes
April 26 – September 27, 2009


In a spectacular, comprehensive exhibition taking place from April to September 2009, the Kunstmuseum Basel is staging the first showing worldwide of the landscape paintings by the legendary artist Vincent van Gogh. Seventy paintings – both world-famous key works as well as paintings barely seen previously by the general public – will give a completely new insight into van Gogh’s body of work.
In addition, forty masterpieces by contemporaries, from Kunstmuseum Basel’s world-famous collection, will place van Gogh’s groundbreaking approach to nature in a broader context. A multimedia introduction to the life and work of van Gogh will open up the exhibition to the general public. This makes the exhibition the most important European art event in 2009.

I finally went to the above exhibition today. It was a perfect occasion to view the paintings being an unusually hot and sunny day which gave a different ambiance to a usually cold museum. And the crowd did not deter my enjoyment of the exhibition.

I have always been fascinated with and loved Van Gogh's works. A couple of times the tragic painter had even solicited tears from me - once while shaving in the morning, the tears just came out as I listened to Josh Groban's rendition of Don McLeann's 'Vincent/Starry, starry night' - a beautiful song about Van Gogh's sad and misunderstood life.

Another time, Summer 2005 , in the Musee D'Orsay in Paris, standing in a room full of Van Gogh's marvellous paintings, I had tears in my eyes looking at the marvellous works by the artist who in his lifetime could not sell but only one painting, and today his works are so priceless that even countries would not be able to afford one!
Next year the biggest exhibition of Van Gogh's work in 40 years is to be staged in the Royal Academy of Arts London from 23 January 2010 to 18 April.Over 90 paintings and drawings plus the artist's personal letters will go on show at the exhibition entitled ' The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters'. I hope I will still be here next year to be able to make it to London for the show!
Starry, starry night
Portraits hung in empty halls,
Frameless head on nameless walls,
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget.
Now I understand what you tried to say to me,
How you suffered for your sanity,
How you tried to set them free.
They would not listen, they did not know how.
Perhaps they'll listen now.
For they could not love you,
But still your love was true.
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry, starry night,
You took your life, as lovers often do.
But I could have told you, Vincent,
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you...

Monday, July 13, 2009

Sunflowers


It was a grey rather cold summer day yesterday. I took a long drive to nowhere and passed this field of sunflowers. Notice how they all faced one direction. Must be towards the sun. Reminded me of my days in Poland when during summer it was a common sight to see people walking around holding a whole head or a portion of a huge sunflower while munching the raw seeds from it.

Back in 1970 there was a poignant and touching film called SUNFLOWER with Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni about a desperate woman's search for her missing husband who never returned from the Russian front during World War II. La Loren was simply brilliant in it. I loved that film and always remember it when I see sunflowers.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Singapore Revisited

Over the recent weekend I made a one and a half day stopover in Singapore after two hectic but fulfilling weeks in Malaysia. I have not been Singapore in maybe a dozen years and it was nice to be there again.

Singapore overwhelms you - the shops, the restaurants and food outlets, the crowd (very young), the greenery and manicured landscapes, the orderliness and tidiness, the polite and friendly services, and how absolutely everything works!
My dear old friend Sze Tho came all the way from JB to join me and together we went to Bugis Street (which was nothing of what it used to be in the 60s and 70s) and Arab Street, our favourite haunt of those years gone by, where I bought a dozen beautiful Indonesian batiks (they were probably cheaper there than in Indonesia!).
Growing up in JB in the 60s, I found Singapore an escape from the monotony of a limited and stifling small town and in some ways it inspired me to reach out to the rest of the world. I would save up my pocket money and once a month would take that one hour bus ride to Singapore and really enjoy the then already big city. Well it's even bigger, glossier and grander today. But I do not think I would now stand more than a few days' stay. But I was really very glad I made the visit to Singapore.....