New book on the late Yasmin Ahmad

THE LATE Yasmin Ahmad has won many international accolades for her work. Her six films and the handful of Petronas TV commercials she did have never failed to warm our hearts or put tears and smiles on our faces.
Three years after her death in 2009, Yasmin’s younger sister Datin Orked Ahmad launched the book, Yasmin How You Know? which quickly became a bestseller.

Six years on, Orked (pix) is launching another book on her sister.
Yasmin I Lup Chew is a compilation of Yasmin’s handwritten observations, some of which date back to the 1980s, and comprising vignettes both in prose and poetry.
The book’s quirky title comes from the delightfully ridiculous way Yasmin would say ‘I love you’ to newfound friends and those closest to her.
The ridiculousness of the phrase, ‘I lup chew’, has the power to break down racial, religious and class barriers.
Scribbled on simple notepads and foolscap paper, Yasmin had kept these notes along with her photos and newspaper clippings in shoe boxes – like many Malaysians of her generation.
These observations were written way before she became famous, or even had a chance to work on her first TV commercial.
Later, she would quietly show her closest artist friends, who were struggling with their career, the contents of her shoebox. It was her way of letting others see how she herself had started, encouraging them to never give up hope.
She would say: “If your intentions are pure, if you apply your craft with a view to observe humanity and, ultimately God Himself, very often, something powerful will surface.”
Yasmin I Lup Chew also includes anecdotes from friends about their experiences with the creative filmmaker.
Orked admitted at the launch that Yasmin would not have approved of her decision to run a museum about her in Ipoh or publish any book on her life, adding that her sister was the kind who disliked monuments like these to remember her by.
“If she sees me what I am doing now, she would strangle me,” Orked said with a laugh.
She explained that the reason she is doing all these is because “Yasmin had coloured our lives so much with her works ... [that] I want people not to forget her”.
Orked added that Yasmin had always believed in not losing hope, always be kind, always forgive and be good to your parents.
Next year will mark the 10th anniversary of her death, and likely, the family will do what they usually do, said Orked.
“We will put up charity screenings of her films and donate the money we collected from the screenings to her favourite charities.”
Yasmin I Lup Chew retails at RM49.90 at Kinokuniya KLCC and at www.yasminahmad.com.
A limited edition shoebox, that contains replicas of pictures of her in younger days with her family and friends, as well as some of her notes, is also available at RM299 while stocks last.