The life of Yasmin Ahmad

The life of
Yasmin Ahmad

Name : Anastasia Sim Zi Tong

Class : 5A

Email : [email protected]

School : SJK (C) Pei Hwa 2

Address :
SJKC Pei Hwa 2, PTD 194798, Kg
Plentong Baru Permas Jaya Masai
81750 Johor

CONTENT

Introduction & Biodata
Education & Career
Interview with Orked Ahmad
Contributions
Awards & portfolio
Creative Process & Leadership
Museum & Conclusion
References

INTRODUCTION & BIODATA EDUCATION & CAREER

Yasmin Ahmad was an award-winning filmmaker who was born in the city of Muar,Johor at Kampung Bukit Treh.
She was born on January 7th, 1958, she was and still is known for her films & commercials.

Yasmin Ahmad graduated from the Newcastle University in England in politics & psychology. In 1982, she became a
banker and remained only for two weeks! Then, she worked for IBM, she started her career as a copywriter at Ogilvy &
Mather. In 1993 she moved to Leo Barnett in KL known as Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as a joint creative director.
During her career, she made 6 feature movies and was more well known for her advertisements for Petronas. Her films
and work all had similar themes. All of her work had ideas of friendship, kindness and forgiveness but almost always
highlighted the importance of getting along with each other no matter what, even if your skin was a different colour.
Yasmin wanted to have a Malaysia where everyone got along.

Sadly in 2009, Yasmin Ahmad passed away at the age of 51, during a work meeting. She suffered from a brain
hemorrhage. She was rushed to the hospital, but 2 days after she died.

INTERVIEW WITH ORKED AHMAD

Orked Ahamad is Yasmin's little sister, we had an interview with Orked and asked questions her some questions
regarding Yasmin's life.

Q: Why a shoebox and where did she get the idea away their business class seats to the lower rank
from? employees and let the lower rank employees use the
A: A shoebox was used because they didn't have enough economy class. They also had a meeting every night and
money to get a tin can so they reused their shoeboxes. always ate dinner together.
The shoe box was also a secret box that Yasmin used to
keep her personal things inside. She got the idea from her She was always giving. When they worked on their
mother, who had been sent by the government at that movies, they always had a fine if they did something
time to study in England as a teacher. Her mother had wrong. For instance, if you were late or you forgot a line,
seen people in England do that too. Her mother also had you would have to pay RM 1 or RM 2. The money was
a shoebox that she used to collect things including love always stored in a box, at the end of the movie, she would
letters from Yasmin's father. Yasmin's mother also take the box of money and donated it to charity,
encouraged each of her children to have a shoebox orphanage or the old folk's home & any unused items
from the movie.

Q: What did Yasmin put in the shoebox? Q: What was challenging for Yasmin in her life?
A: Yasmin had short stories that she wrote, photos, A: Yasmin was bullied a bunch of times, people also said
stamps from letters & scripts. She also had coins she mean things to her, yet she never wanted revenge &
collected when she went travelling, trinkets and much never held any grudges. She always forgave them before
more. she went to bed.

Q: How many shoeboxes did she have? Q: How would she want to be remembered?
A: Yasmin only had one shoebox but she did have other A: Yasmin wanted to be remembered for her films &
files to keep her stuff. She also has an art block to keep movies, and other than that she wanted to be known for
her artwork. nothing.

Q: What made Yasmin different from other people?
A: She was generous like no other, she would help you
no matter what. She always put others before herself. For
example, when her mother's maid fell sick, Yasmin paid
for the first-class treatment and the maid was able to stay
in a single bed hospital room by herself. Her mother's
maid didn't need to share with other people.

In another case, she even paid for the down payment of a
house for another staff member.

Yasmin was also humble, so everyone was treated the
same. There was no special treatment, and everyone lived
in the same place when they were making movies. On
annual trips, she would ask the management staff to give

CONTRIBUTIONS

Yasmin Ahmad changed the world. She not only put Malaysia on the world map, but she helped Malaysia become
famous through her ads and films. Yasmin never made a commercial for the first ten years of her career, but when she
did, it became a success, it showed the world that stories are powerful and that companies like Petronas can do more
than just sell gas. They can bring people together and create understanding among people and love. One of the most
famous quotes she wrote for Petronas was " Our children are colour blind, shouldn't we keep them that way?"

Yasmin Ahmad also changed the world on January 7, 2014. She would have been 56 years old on this day and was the
first Malaysian to receive a doodle on the google search bar. She inspired many with her work.

AWARDS & PORTFOLIOS

Yasmin Ahmad didn't make movies to get awards and trophies, oh no she didn't she did them because she loved to
make movies but didn't expect to earn awards and trophies. She won a lot of awards, especially on the " Tan Hong
Ming" video. People went wild when they watched it, including me, Tan Hong Ming is a commercial that was made for
Petronas, it is a love story about a 13-year-old boy Tan Hong Ming and a 10-year-old girl who love each other. It is the
fifth most award film in the whole atmosphere. It has won 26 awards according to the Gunn Report locally and
internationally.

She also won 16 awards for her films and received 4 nominations. She won awards from international film festivals
around the world such as in Indonesia, France, Germany, Italy, the Philippines and Japan. For a full list, you can see this
website https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1379108/awards

COMMERCIALS

MOVIES

MOVIES

CREATIVE PROCESS LEADERSHIP

Yasmin didn't conceive of most of the storylines for the advertisements, she got them from other people. She got them
by having meetings with people from the company she worked at to share their stories. In these meetings, the employees
would share their stories and Yasmin would listen in intensely. Then, she would choose 10 people's stories and bring
them to Petronas to display their stories to the management. The management would then choose one person's story to
develop the person's storyline. She also put ideas in her box. When she had no ideas she would reach for her box and get
ideas from it. She loves that box very much.

MUSEUM & CONCLUSION

After she passed away there was a museum all about her, and it was in Ipoh in Johor. But why Ipoh? It was in Ipoh
because she loved Ipoh it always made her feel at home.

Yasmin Ahmad was a person like no other her motto in life was to always look for the positive things in life, which
she also referred Sanga Baik. There is no one that is going to be the same as her, and we were lucky to have her in
this world.

REFERENCES

IMDb. n.d. Yasmin Ahmad Awards. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1379108/awards

Culture Trip. 2016. The 6 Most Powerful Yasmin Ahmad Films To Watch.
https://theculturetrip.com/asia/malaysia/articles/love-knows-no-boundaries-exploring-the-rhetoric-of-race-in-
yasmin-ahmad-s-works/

Petronas Nasional Berhad. 1996. Friends Again. Advertisement on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKnNgKBzRlY&t=5s

Petronas Nasional Berhad. 1996. One Little Indian Boy. Advertisement on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-6tFho35B0&t=15s

Petronas Nasional Berhad. 2007. Tan Hong Ming. Advertisement on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RCKGStgAC4&t=3s

Petronas Nasional Berhad. 2006. My Son. Advertisement on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfnWtMmLtus

Petronas Nasional Berhad. 2006. Plastic Bowl. Advertisement on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwQLFGKMt7E&t=21s

Petronas Nasional Berhad. 2007. Nobody’s Child. Advertisement on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9yaYzgSwXc

Persatuan Yasmin Ahmad. n.d. The Niat behind the Yasmin project with Yayasan Bukit Bintang. Google Slides.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jGY3TTj67YMuZ0zBgDCLl9ptlW9K-hdDmLgSy_viYHE/edit?
usp=sharing

Yasmin I Lup Chew Book Launch. n.d. Google Slides.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1peRMJe2dpdwWtot9-fFlNwnMXWAae21FucB1SQ_AMqA/edit?
usp=sharing

The Edge Markets.2009.Tan Hong Ming wins People’s Choice Award.Advertisement on:
https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/tan-hong-ming-wins-people%E2%80%99s-choice-
award#.YHp2Qrd7qzI.whatsapp

The Star.2007.‘Mukhsin’ picks up two awards at Berlin film fest.Advertisement on:
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2007/02/20/mukhsin-picks-up-two-awards-at-berlin-film-fest

Yasmin Ahmad.n.a.Yasmin I Lup Chew.Advertisement on:
https://store.yasminahmad.com/

Column Five.n.a.Eye-Catching E-Book Design Examples to Inspire Your Creativity.Advertisement on: