Terlalu istimewa…

I guess everybody would have heard by now that Yasmin Ahmad had passed away. This is an excerpt from a report in one of the national dailies:
KUALA LUMPUR: Award-winning film director Yasmin Ahmad (pic) has died from massive bleeding in the brain at the Damansara Specialist Hospital.

She died at 11.25pm yesterday. She had undergone surgery following her collapse at the TV3 headquarters Seri Pentas on Thursday.

And I guess everybody, like me, used to wait each year as a festival drew near to watch her commercials which were touching, meaningful and never failed to send a message home. She did some family-themed commercials for Singapore tv – the best known being “The Funeral”. I think I had a post on it before or perhaps I shared it on Facebook, but I have a sentimental attachment to the other one – the father and daughter and the bond of love between them. It never fails to bring a tear to my eye each time I watch it…and “The Funeral” too…and for that matter, most of her commercials. Such was her talent…and one of the comments on “The Funeral” said something like, “She’s a Malaysian? Awesome!” Yes indeed, such was her talent – simply awesome.

She made a lot of movies but so far, I have only seen “Sepet” and “Gubra”. Most of the time, they did not make it to the local cinema circuit – either they were banned by the narrow-minded individuals in the censorship board or they did not want to screen the movies here as “Malay” movies would not have that much crowd appeal. The two that I have seen are shown on and off on Astro now…but they are so badly censored that sometimes, one can hardly make head or tail out if it, for instance, in the scene in “Sepet” when Orkid said, “All Malays are…[TOOT]…!” Well, you can see that in the following clip at around 9:30…

My daughter had a post on the movie in her previous blog. She loved it too and she loved the theme song which I think is by the one-time very popular Hongkong singer, Sam Hui. I actually showed the movie to my students in school – Form 6 and Form 5 and they all loved it. Well, if you have not seen yet, you can go and get the vcd/dvd…or watch the 11 parts on youtube.

I could have had the chance to meet her in person once when she was one of the guest speakers at a Literature in English seminar in KL, but for some reason or other at the time, unfortunately, I was unable to attend.

All things considered, I think it is only right to say that the country has lost someone of immense talent and artistic creativity, someone with a mind so open and yet so sensitive unlike many in our midst, someone really special. This song by Adibah Noor (who played the family maid in “Sepet”) is indeed a fitting tribute to her…

May she rest in peace…

The love inside…

These are called serimuka or translation, radiant face. I suppose it is called thus because when it is ready after steaming, the surface is smooth and shiny. However, in my family, we call it tinggi salad. I do not know why but I have heard people calling it kuih salad. Perhaps this is due to the fact that it is served as cuci mulut (literally meaning “wash the mouth”) or dessert, not very accurately referred to, I’m afraid, as “salad”.

As they say, do not judge a book by its cover or draw conclusions based on appearance alone. If the serimuka looks pale and not very appealing, it is because they have added more santan (coconut milk) and thus, it is richer and a lot nicer. Those that are bright green may look nice but tastewise, they often leave a lot to be desired.

Besides, with a lot of santan or egg, the custard layer may be softer and this will make it more difficult to cut. Hence, when serving, the serimuka slices may not look that presentable but more often than not, they are definitely superior in taste.

I guess it is the same with people. It is always what is within the person that is of utmost importance. One may not be the best looking individual in the world but what is most important is what kind of person he or she is for deep within, you may find a heart of gold and all the love inside…

Gosh! How I loved this song once upon a time! I had not heard it for so long that I did not even remember there was such a song until I stumbled upon it yesterday on youtube! Oh…what lyrics, what memories!!! Sigh!