Buildings are being draped in the Jalur Gemilang and flags are proudly flying outside houses and on cars — yes, Aug 31 is just around the corner again.
Besides patriotic displays and the annual National Day parade, Malaysians can once again look forward to television commercials that touch the heart. Hee's some of the best Merdeka commercials that are still talked about to this day.
Petronas
When we think of Merdeka commercials, we immediately think of the works of the late Yasmin Ahmad. There is no doubt that her Petronas advertisements have been among the best — if not the best — in celebrating National Day.
Yasmin started producing these commercials for Petronas in 1995. Her commercials — always character-driven, always heart-felt — are powerful because of their emotional and sometimes nostalgic appeal.
The first, One Little Indian Boy, is memorable not only because it was the first ever Merdeka-themed corporate advertisement but also because its narrative focused refreshingly on members of a minority race.
The commercial is about an Indian boy who remembers how his father once dressed him up for a special occasion and hoisted him up on his shoulders when they arrived at a gathering. Puzzled, the boy looked around and saw a man standing on a platform shouting: “Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!”
The man was our first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, and the place was Stadium Merdeka.
“Things have changed now and Father is already gone,” says the boy, now all grown-up. “Although we are living better, sometimes we forget how things got started. For me, that day was the most special day in my life.”
One of Yasmin’s favourites is Tan Hong Ming in Love (2007). For this project, whose theme was Our Children are Colour-blind. Let’s Keep Them That Way, she and her crew went to several schools in the Klang Valley to conduct candid interviews with children, including a certain Tan Hong Ming who shyly professes his affection for his Malay friend, Umi Kazrina.
Another commercial worth mentioning is Param’s Bicycle, which traces the lives of three young boys — an Indian, a Malay and a Chinese. It shows how they grew up together, braving both the good and bad times, all the while remaining steadfast friends.
All these commercials are different but share a similar outlook. They teach us to remember the essence of nationhood in our multicultural society by conveying messages of peace and harmony. Over the years, many have tried to produce similar commercials but the Petronas ones will always have a special place in our hearts.
But now that Yasmin is gone, what will happen to the Petronas ads? Their latest advertisements, directed by Hafiz Ibrahim, is about two teams building a vehicle for their school’s Design & Innovation Competition. As they work on their invention, Raju’s dad, who is pushing his cendol cart past them in the rain, almost gets hit by a car.
The boys rush to help, but Raju’s dad tells them to go back to what they are doing — he doesn’t want Raju to turn out like him. Raju’s teammates then come up with the idea of adapting their invention to the requirements of Raju’s dad. They design a super high-tech cendol vehicle and manage to win first place in the competition.
The commercial ends with their bitter rival, Farid, and his dad driving past the cendol stall. After much persuasion, Farid’s dad convinces his son to be a bigger person and try out the cendol.
Raju’s team welcomes Farid with open arms. All is well.
The line, “Our real strength lies in our heart”, ends the commercial.
Maybank
Petronas is not the only company to have come up with great National Day ads. For Malaysia’s 50th anniversary celebration, Maybank came up with a unique commercial that tickled Malaysians.
For this ad, the bank enlisted the help of Leo Burnett and Yasmin. It was done entirely in Iban with subtitles in English, Chinese and Malay. The scenes were shot in Bau and Kapit, using an East Malaysian cast.
The commercial starts off with a young lady in London speaking on the phone with her mother. This is followed by flashbacks to her childhood days, where we see the young girl’s teacher explaining that there are no tigers in Sarawak.
Her mother, however, says otherwise. She points out the tiger motifs that are all around them, such as on the mat, her dad’s tattoo and a locket given by her ancestors. The tiger is seen as a protector in Iban culture.
Returning to London, the narrative has the young lady telling her mum not to worry about her being abroad as there is a tiger there looking after her. He’s tall, handsome, strong and a Malaysian, she jokes, as the camera pulls away to reveal a Maybank branch with its tiger logo behind her.
The commercial is memorable not just because of its unexpected light-hearted ending, but because it revolves around the Iban community.
Maybank is continuing with its 1Malaysia message this Merdeka with another two TV commercials and four print ads. Keep an eye out for them.
TM
For Malaysia’s 52nd Merdeka celebration last year, TM produced an excellent commercial called As 1 We Care, based on the idea that anything is possible if we band together.
The commercial, filmed by Osman Ali together with ad agency Draftfcb Malaysia, begins with a group of multi-racial families celebrating the birthday of a young girl, Citra, when she suddenly faints.
The girl is rushed to hospital. When the doctor says a rare blood group is needed to save Citra’s life, friends and family send out an appeal to the nation. Everyone, regardless of race or religion, rallies together to donate blood for the young girl.
TM’s Merdeka commercials this year still revolve around the 1Malaysia concept, picking up the thread from last year’s Hari Raya and Chinese New Year commercials.
It shows a boy, Asri, selling kuih at a Ramadan bazaar. Thinking that he can earn more money if he goes it alone, Asri decides he will manage his stall all by himself. He turns down offers of help from his best friends Mei and Kumar.
When Asri realises he can’t manage the stall, he turns to Mei for assistance but she walks away in a huff because she is upset that he thought she only wanted to help him for a share of the profits. Kumar, seeing Asri struggling to cope, hurries over to help. Despite her hurt feelings, Mei, too, joins in to help.
The three friends —and by extension, the three races — are united in the end.
This year, as certain groups and, shockingly, educators, try to incite racial tension in the run-up to Merdeka, we could all do with positive reinforcements. Long may such ads live.
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