Her thing about love
Yasmin Ahmad’s ideas, scribbles, poems, film drafts and travel notes compiled in a new book.
I LUP CHEW. Sounds odd, doesn’t it? However, for those who crossed paths or had the privilege of working with the late filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad, they knew exactly what it meant.
It was Yasmin’s endearing way of saying “I love you” and those three words of hers have been known to break down many barriers.
If you didn’t know her personally, you’re bound to know her work. Remember Yasmin’s heartwarming festive season and Merdeka commercials
(that wonderful Tan Hong Ming ad!) we always looked forward to? Her highly-acclaimed films such as Sepet, Gubra and Mukhsin need no introduction when we want to talk about the search for Malaysian identity.
Arguably, the theme of love permeates them all. And such was the impact of her “lup ”to those around her that they just had to share it.
Yasmin I Lup Chew, a new book with a very personal look at how Yasmin views the world, is now out.
“With this book, we hope to share Yasmin’s values with the younger generation – love, friendships, forgiveness and kindness – no matter what race or religion you are categorised under,” says Tan Kien Eng, Leo Burnett Malaysia’s (LBM) CEO and Group CEO of Publicis One Malaysia, during the recent launch of the Yasmin I Lup Chew collection at Books Kinokuniya Malaysia, Suria KLCC.
This is LBM’s second publishing venture featuring the late filmmaker.
In 2012, LBM published Yasmin How You Know? ,acompilation of anecdotes from those close to Yasmin.
For Yasmin I Lup Chew, the reader is in for a treat with a look inside Yasmin’s notebooks and journals, her candid handwritten observations, halfformed film ideas and even poems. The informal Yasmin at her quirky and insightful best has been documented.
The book also contains added anecdotal material from Yasmin’s friends and colleagues.
Like many great filmmakers, Yasmin’s films and commercials were all based on her insightful observations of regular people that she encountered in the course of her life, from the waiters at a local mamak to the bosses of big corporations.
Like a faithful scribe, Yasmin, who died of a brain hemorrhage in 2009 at the age of 51, would scribble these observations on simple note pads.“She writes about anything that inspires her, anything beautiful or silly or sad. She would write it down and share it with us. And she stored these notes in shoeboxes, butter cookie tins and old envelopes,” recalls Jovian Lee, the creative group head at LBM.
The contents of these shoe boxes and cookie tins make up nearly half of the 192-page book.
Also present at the launch was Yasmin’s younger sister Datin Orked Ahmad.
She says just like the first book and the Yasmin At Kong Heng museum along Ipoh’s Jalan Sultan Yussuf which was set up in 2014, the reason for publishing this new collection is to keep Yasmin’s legacy alive.
“My sister has touched so many people’s lives and I sincerely hope she will continue to inspire many more through this book,” says Orked, who is also the chairman of Persatuan Yasmin Ahmad.
The book is divided into three parts.
It starts with Preludes On Paper, a trawl through sketchy film ideas, travel journal excerpts and personal notes. This part of the book features the early draft ideas of Rabun, Yasmin’s first ever feature film in 2002.
Next is Poetic Rejects, a glimpse of Yasmin’s musings about everything in poetry form.
“They are excruciatingly, painfully beautiful because they are painfully honest,” says Lee about Yasmin’s heartfelt verses.
He shares that there are five books worth of Yasmin’s poetry which might be published some time in the future.
Lastly, the third part of the book is called What Cannot Be Destroyed, which is basically Yasmin’s friends and colleagues remembering their best moments with her. This is where the reader gets to see Yasmin the person and not the filmmaker.
“She taught me integrity and love, to fill each day with fun, to see goodness in everything, and find reasons, no matter how small, to celebrate life,” writes Zhang Su Li, Yasmin’s ex-colleague.
Yasmin I Lup Chew is available at Books Kinokuniya Malaysia, Suria KLCC. It also comes in a limited edition shoebox, which contains the book and faithfully reproduced replicas of her notes, her earliest poems, old photos and newspaper clippings. This limited edition shoebox is only available online at www.yasminahmad.com.