>In my last post, Petronas Lunar NY Commercials, I wrote:
Here is a series of commercials Petronas has put up over the years to bring home the Lunar New Year message to Malaysian Chinese.
Note that it is put in such a way, even non-Chinese are able to connect with the message. A true master piece work by a (Malay-owned) company, teaching the racist MM Lee a thing or two about love, family values and of course, race integration – due to the fact it takes a Malay owned company to put up such moving adverts to hand down the message about Chinese customs, compared to the usual happy-go-lucky themes by Chinese advertisers.
I am therefore not surprised that a Malaysian tabloid has put up a report on this year’s Petronas NY advert. Here is the article.
Petronas ad a real tear-jerker
The latest Petronas Chinese New Year commercial, inspired by everyday real-life scenarios, has left some viewers in tears.
Simply titled Their Hope, it explores the silent wishes of a group of elderly parents in a changing society where they are often taken for granted by their children.
The commercial’s scriptwriter Ken Wong, 27, from the Leo Burnett advertising agency admitted that he used to take his mother for granted at times.
Looking back, he said, he regretted his actions and wished that he could have treated his mother much better when she was alive.
“Parents don’t expect much from us; they just want us to spend more time with them,” said Wong.
The commercial is about a group of people in their golden years who would like their children to spend more time with them or to take care of them. The children, however, seem to be too busy taking care of their own lives.
Wong said his father watched the commercial and asked him what it meant.
“I think he pretended not to understand it,” said Wong, who confessed that he had also treated his father in the same way.
“When I told him it meant that we (the younger generation) have to be patient with the elderly, he just laughed,” he said.
The commercial has received many positive reviews and comments on YouTube, with most people commenting that it was touching and meaningful. Others have said it made them cry.
Abdullah Tan Yew Leong, who directed it, said almost everyone could relate to the commercial because at some point or another they were guilty of neglecting their own parents.
“I have been guilty of the same thing many times,” said Tan, who added that the 90-second commercial took about two months to produce.
Society of Active Generation of Elders president Chin Sek Ham said that most elderly people could relate to the commercial as many of them lived in loneliness.
“The message should remind youngsters that their parents want to see them more often and not only during the festive seasons.
“They are happy when they see their children,” said the 70-something retired teacher.
PAP always sees Malaysia as the “Malay bogeyman up North, out to get us”. However, Petronas (a Malaysian govt owned company) shows PAP the true spirit of racial harmony, spreading the word of family love during the NY spirit.
It is time LKY and the fellow PAPpy lapdogs stop imagining the non-existent Bogeyman up North.
In other words, to attain racial harmony in Singapore (and good relations with other nations around us), LKY should stop being a racist and a Malay-phobe.
