Students remember Yasmin

Amir Muhammad’s latest book is simply titled “Yasmin Ahmad’s Films” and was launched at Sunway University College recently. The venue was a natural choice as it was here that Yasmin spoke to students in May 2009 on “What makes Yasmin Yasmin?”. Sharifah Amani, the actress who played Orked in Yasmin’s films was present and declared Amir’s book officially launched.

Sharifah Amani declaring Amir’s book launched

Students recall vividly how Yasmin gave a memorable and captivating talk on the state of film-making in Malaysia, overcoming cultural barriers and her inspiration for her films. In just two months after her talk at Sunway, Yasmin passed away.

As a friend and fellow filmmaker of Yasmin’s, Amir gave a personal look (with quite a few tangents) at Yasmin’s 6 feature length films, Rabun, Sepet, Gubra, Mukhsin, Muallaf and Talentime as well as several of her popular commercials in his book. The book which is described as “chatty and informative” is a tribute to one of Malaysia’s most amazing daughters.

Amir speaking about Yasmin 

Amir Muhammad is a Malaysian writer, publisher and occasional movie-maker and has been writing for the Malaysian print media since the age of 14. His films and documentaries have been shown in many international film festivals including Sundance and Berlin. Two of them, “Lelaki Komunis Terakhir” and “Apa Khabar Orang Kampung”, are banned in Malaysia. He is the compiler of the best-selling series “Malaysian Politicians Say the Darndest Things”. In 2007, he set up Matahari Books to publish non-fiction and film-related books on Malaysia.

Elizabeth Lee (left) and Amir inviting others to have a JCo green tea doughnut which was Yasmin’s favourite snack for her and her crew during filming

All the royalties from the first edition will be donated to the Mercy-Yasmin Fund for Children.

Crime prevention and youth get together

Sunway University College, the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF), Selangor Chapter and the Royal Malaysian Police (Selangor Contingent) jointly organised a one-day "Psychological Crime Issues in the Modern World" workshop recently. This workshop for university students was organised with the objective of exposing students to issues on personal safety, commercial, cyber and organised crime so they may gain a better insight on crime prevention.

Students meeting a friendly cop at the Police Booth of the workshop 

The workshop attracted 240 students from tertiary institutions including private institutions such as Taylor's University College, Nottingham University and Monash University. Tan Sri Dato' (Dr) Ramon Navaratnam who is also Pro-Chancellor of Sunway University College attended the workshop on behalf of the MCPF.

Mr. Ryan Connoly of Team Cymru Asia gave a talk on "Preventing Cybercrime" followed by Sunway's academics, Assoc Prof Teoh Hsien-Jin on "Organised Crime and Terrorism" and Mr. Paul Linus on "Current Perspectives on the Law and Commercial Crime Prevention". The floor was livened by an open Forum: Creating Safer Cities, chaired by Sunway's recent Psychology graduate, Maziar Daghighi Masouleh. Students took full advantage of the workshop to ask pertinent questions and share their views. A Wall Mural drawing session and Police Booths were the peripheral activities of the workshop.

(left to right) Ryan Connoly, Maziar Daghighi Masouleh and Paul Linus participated in the Forum

The Chairman of the MCPF (Selangor Chapter) is Y.Bhg Tan Sri Dato' Seri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah who is also Chancellor of Sunway University College. He shared "By adopting a strategy of training young people to become active participants in this fight for safer cities, we are showing that we do care. We are declaring our faith in their capacity to help free us from the scourge of crime. As Malaysia's future leaders, it is important that you begin to understand how our community works and how to keep it safe and secure".