Selamat Tinggal and Godspeed, Yasmin

It's been 5 days but the news is still sinking in. I remember telling myself last week when Yasmin Ahmad was hospitalized that it would a huge blow especially for Malaysians to lose such a unique talent. And boom, before I knew it, I received a text message from a friend telling breaking the news to me.

On July 25, Yasmin Ahmad passed away at 11.25pm on Saturday night from massive bleeding in the brain.

Lots of beautiful goodbyes and tributes poured in for Yasmin, but my favorite has to be the one from Pete Teo, Malaysian singer-songwriter who also produced the multi-artists song, "Here In My Home." It's a letter to a friend, or as Pete calls her, a "crazy lovable cow." Sigh, it's interesting to know that Yasmin loved Okuribito (Departures), one of my favorite films this year, which also won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. A review of the movie is on my to-do list, but please catch it if you can.

For those who are unfamiliar with Yasmin Ahmad, Adoi Magazine's tribute to Yasmin Ahmad is a great place to start, as it includes links to Yasmin's works, interviews and tributes.

Another great find today is a video of Yasmin speaking at TEDxKL, an event in Kuala Lumpur in June 2009, held independently of TED, but with license and permission. The original video is from TheBackpackr.