.

we were left undone...

i knew i'd be hearing bad news sooner.. or later.

after a sumptuous nasi lemak antarabangsa supper with my uncle & his family at my place, we had a brief chat about yasmin's latest deteriorated condition and having to depend on a life support, he thought that chances are for her to survive is very slim. and as i can recalled, it was at 12am he had said those.

and minutes later, they left our house, i went upstairs and tucked cranky lil zaes in on his bed and quickly unsleep the computer, again, eagerly to google yasmin's latest update.

as i logged in my facebook account, the first status i noticed was from this one indie films groupie called 15malaysia wrote, "a bright star has left us. yasmin passed tonight."

my heart thumped furiously and tab opened other news websites for confirmation. utusan online reported the same thing followed by the malaysian insider and bernama. among the earliest to report her death.

a bright star has indeed left us. yasmin ahmad, my idol in the advertising industry has left us all after a 3-day quest to survive an unforeseen tragedy.

some may wonder,

what's the big deal? why should i be upset or why should i even be bothered by her demise?

she's just another human being whose call is up. she's not even related to you or whatsoever... she's just your idol. and she doesn't even know you...

i too had my share of encounter with yasmin ahmad, you know. and it's not something that was by the roadside or brushing shoulders kinda, but what i had with her was a wonderful experience that came upon God's will and it was one helluva chance!

ever since i studied graphic design, i always know i wanted to be in the advertising line. i always loved the creative petronas tvcs and i always wanted to be like the person who wrote them. and that's how i know about my idols, yasmin ahmad, ali mohamed and the agency they're working for, leo burnett kl.

and so, when i was in my 3rd year, our advertising lecturer had asked us to do a team project, and our team came up with this idea of organising an advertising talk for the benefit of all. to cut a long story short, we managed to squeezed our 2-hour-long event in her tight schedule, we collected money to prepare the whole thing, including the refreshment (my mom cooked a special dish for that occasion) and when the day finally came, we were all so excited!

it was raining that day, and she was a little late. with a headscarf and her signature floral cotton baju kurung, she walked into our auditorium, looking ordinary yet outstanding. after my welcome address, i nervously invited her to the rostrum. her presence had gauged almost 2/3 of the small fssr auditorium, from the seniors and juniors to some envy-looking lecturers..

she spoke everything she knew about advertising to us - the hungry ADs, copywriters and graphic designers-to-be. there were q & a's and she'd happily answered each and everyone of them (eventho the seniors hardly opened their gold-mounted mouth because the juniors - ehem. that's us.. - were more aggressive than they were)

after a good 2-hour talk, it was almost 6pm-ish (when it was supposed to end earlier than that) and we thought she'd leave immediately without having the chance to savour my mom's special dish but we were wrong. instead, she rushed to the nearest ladies and whispered "i need coke.. somebody get me coca cola please.." when a team mate asked if there's anything else we could helped her with.

when she came out of the loo, she came straight to the dining table we had decorated earlier at the left corner of the lobby and sat.

"sorry. i went smoking and i need a coke fix badly. i mean the drink."
she looked around us and smiled widely. we laughed nervously.

at that moment, our friend came running with cans of chilled coca cola and passed them to her.
she drank the coca cola like nobody's business.

we introduced ourselves (the team who initiated the talk) to her and we chatted while eating my mom's special dish (of which soon after she complimented). oh, btw, it was the spaghetti soup. it may sounds ordinary, but trust me, it's my mom's special dish.

after presenting her with our small gift as a gesture of appreciation (can't afford to pay with the dough and she didn't care about it. at all.), she called it a day and left with her metallic silver bmw 3-series. everyone was happy, including the lecturers for the job well done! and it was a moving experience for me, that i wanted more of her.

and so, in my 4th year in the faculty, i was hopeful to do my internship with leo burnett kl so that i could get the chance to work with these great people especially these 2 soul partners (as claimed by yasmin), yasmin ahmad herself & ali mohamed. when we were told to give our preferences, i wrote only one agency, yup! you've guessed it! so did my best friend, the baby collector, who was also keen to do the internship at leo burnett. but at that time, we didn't have to worry about anything because the agency usually would offer 2 spots for interns from our campus and we were excited to start our internship together...

but again, this time around, i was wrong! at the very last minute, they called up the lecturer-in-charged and told her that they can only offer 1 student from our campus as the other spot had already been granted to another student from the melaka campus. (rumour has it that the other student was ali's nephew.. err..)

and the lecturer-in-charged called us in and had asked us to compromise. i was hesitant at first. then devastated! i mean, i really need this chance man!! and of course, since the other person in line is my best friend, i had no choice but.. yup! to let go and gave it to her as she lived nearer to the agency's location compared to me, who lived in some ulu side of subang jaya..

i just don't know what's got into me, but hey! i believed, if we love some thing, we have to learn to let go. if it wasn't meant for us, it will never be. it was maybe a blessing in disguise, the time has yet to bestow upon me. i settled for a nearer location, a small (but i learnt a lot from them) advertising agency. and all i heard from my best friend who got the shot, was just everything wonderful. nothing but the best ever experience of working with the best people in the advertising industry! i'm jealous! =)

after graduating, i didn't give up hope and started job-hunting. while waiting for interviews, i worked part-time in the bookstore (where i used to worked at, after spm & during semester hols) and i can never forget this one priceless moment when i was assigned to be the cashier on that day.

a fine looking wise man handed over a coffee table interior design book and his charge card to me and when i saw the name printed on the card, i knew i had to looked up and i almost shouted when i said, "hey! i know you.. you're ali mohamed!"

he looked at me with a smile and replied, "that's what it says on the charge card!"

i shook my head. i felt foolish.

"i mean, i know you.. you're the ceo of leo burnett. and owh.. my super duper shcmuper senior in fssr, uitm." this time he laughed while i worked on his purchase.

"so, have you graduated?" i nodded again at his question.

"i'm still looking for a proper job, i've sent out resumes and waiting for interviews. i can't sit still, so i work here part time.." i had this stray-cats-left-in-the-rain look on my face, when i answered that. oh-so-pathetic. yes.

"oh.." he stopped when i passed him his book and the bill for him to signed on.

when he returned the pen and the bill back to me, he gave me his name card and had asked me to called up the studio manager to arranged for an interview. i thought i was dreaming but i wasn't. i thanked him profusely and he went.

and, to cut a long story short, i never land any job in leo burnett. i did call the studio manager. i met her (the studio manager) and showed her my folio. but, i'm not good enough i guess! ow well..

i never regret anything in my life. i'm glad i let go the chance and most importantly, it didn't stop me from getting the inspiration from these 2 beautiful souls.

throughout the years, (in 2002 to be exact) yasmin ahmad added another milestone in her life by presenting her first film, rabun, to malaysians. it was well-accepted and of course, what's a great director without a bunch of knuckle-heads who awefully critic her job ey? and i need not to mention her other movies she directed as she is already well-known, locally and internationally.

unexpectedly, Allah the almighty has finally drew the curtain of the life of one yasmin ahmad we all know. she has left us on this very day, 25th of july 2009 at 11.25pm.

i am saddened. i am in grieve. i therefore mourning for the lost of the great thinker, the great soul of yasmin ahmad. may Allah rest your soul at the best place in heaven.

insyaAllah.

Labels: ali mohamed, leo burnett kuala lumpur, yasmin ahmad

posted by roxychick @ 3:53 AM