Mum and Malaysia celebrate Yeoh’s Oscar win
KUALA LUMPUR: “Malaysia boleh!” cried Michelle Yeoh’s mother in a video chat with her daughter minutes a er her historic Oscars win was announced – citing a popular slogan that loosely translates into “Malaysia can do it!”
“I’m very happy... I’m proud of my daughter. She is very hardworking,” Janet Yeoh told reporters a er her daughter became the first Asian woman to win the Academy Award for best actress.
“I’ll call her to come back (to Malaysia) and celebrate very soon. Next month is my birthday.”
She and other relatives and friends of Yeoh’s were gathered at a live screening of the awards ceremony at a Kuala Lumpur cinema, where there were loud cheers, embraces and tears of joy the second the announcement was made.
“It was such a jaw-dropping moment,” Yeoh’s niece Vicki said.
“I was speechless, I cried. Everything was, it happened so quickly. We are so happy that she won, that our auntie won...
“We kept telling her: ‘You will win... You’re going to stand on stage with the golden man,” she said, referring to the Oscar statue e.
‘Pride of Asia’
The 60-year-old Malaysian actress won the award for her role in the sci-fi film “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, beating Cate Blanche who had long been favourite to win a third
Oscar for “Tar”.
“Everything Everywhere” follows a Chinese immigrant laundromat owner locked in ba le with an inter-dimensional supervillain – who happens to be her own daughter.
Tan Ooi Hong, a Yeoh fan, said: “She is the pride not just for Malaysia, but she is the pride of Asia as well.”
Yeoh was awarded the title of “Tan Sri” by the Malaysian king in 2013, one of the country’s highest honorifics bestowed upon civilians.
Meanwhile in Hong Kong, where Yeoh worked for a decade before becoming a Hollywood star, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung congratulated Yeoh, calling her a “shining star with impressive achievements”.
“This is a testimony to the strong potential of Hong Kong’s talents and film industry,” he said.