Chinese New Year Tv Advertisment - Wealth does not equal happiness

Every year as the festivities are nearing, we'd like to look forward to seeing the Petronas Chinese New Year TV Commercial but sadly we no longer able to see the late Malaysian filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad director's creative work.

Yasmin Ahmad (7 January 1958 – 25 July 2009) was a film director, writer and scriptwriter from Malaysia who sought to bring together Malaysians of every gender, ethnicity and persuasion through her work.

Let's go back in time and  tributes to the late Yasmin, Malaysia's legendary story-teller and human being extraordinaire.

Her masterpiece stories never failed to tug at our heart-strings. They were simple and direct, but never overly dramatic, emotional, weepy. Her favourite theme was filial piety and parental love toward his children. These are the good moral conduct that slowly slacking off from us in the ever changing world we live in.

Young people need to pay attention, don't neglect your parents when they grows old as they are the ones who bring you into the world. You don't need Confucius to remind you about the important factor to the Chinese culture to be a filial child, one must respect his parents even after their death.

Remember the fifth commandment is: "Honor thy father and thy mother."

These festive screen greetings invariably come with a message touching on filial piety: love our parents, respect our elders, and celebrate each festival with them.
Of course, then the advertisement messages are aimed directly at young people as reminders to spend more time with our aged parents while they are still around. I'm sure that her message came in loud and clear to not only the Chinese people but to all the different races who has watched it.

One of my all time favourite is from her really heart touching Petronas ads shown on TV during Chinese New Year ..... Old Folks (Chinese New Year 2006).


The Commercial that starts off with four old ladies informal social gathering among longtime friends in the open courtyard.

One lady started to question her friend, "Ah Hoon, its been a long time since we last met your children"

They're busy. My daughter become a lawyer

.

Then she continued,"My son is a successful businessman.Very busy with his company selling "Ling Zhi" with America, Hong Kong. He even knows Andy Lau! 

Another lady says, "My son is a well-known cardiologist who makes more money by perform surgery on a patient just for few hours only"

The third lady do not want to be lose out, start to boast about her daughter, a chartered accountant earning Rm450,000 yearly.

All that's left  is the fourth lady who does not boast but only merely answered her son is just a simple ordinary healthy person who will come to fetch her home soon.


She's a little tired or hearing of her friends flattering themselves because of their children has accumulated wealth. Instead of  feelings of jealousy she rather feel sorry for them because  it doesn't matter how good and luxurious the life they could provide them but hardly spend quality time together.

So she does in a unique way playfully mocked her best friend's by saying..

Jest...He is so troublesome, wherever he goes he want me to tag along.

"I have to leave now, my son is here to get me home"

Mother, how's your health?  We are going  on a road trip to Cameron Highlands.

For some, the most precious gift we have is the presence of our loving, caring , supporting and understanding family .

Like the Christmas Carols Scrooge although he has all that money, he is still alone and unhappy. Scrooge's nephew, Fred despite being very poor, can be happy at Christmas.

Wealth does not equal happiness. ... That's right. Just as the Beatles sang,  Can't Buy Me Love. Most people understand that money can't buy you happiness or love.