Yes. A Yasmin Ahmad short film. She is dearly missed, after her premature departure from Earth.

I clicked on one of the articles on "Today", which popped up when I opened MSN. I thought that it'll be some article about Malaysia, so I clicked on it. It turned out to be more interesting than I thought.

The article was about Pete Teo, who did a film project, 15 Malaysia, which consists of 15 short films about the social-political culture in Malaysia. He was interviewed, and had good critics from the Times magazine. Proud of him. :)

I went to the 15Malaysia website, and found the short films to watch (click on the link to watch...They are good!). I was surprised that there was one by Yasmin Ahmad, cus she has departed already. But I thought about it again, and this project is definitely something that Yasmin Ahmad would take part in.

This video in general, does portray Malaysia. Or at least, the Chinese society in Penang that I know of. But not the chocolate part though. Nope, not that.

I think this short film contains many messages. To the Singaporeans, it shows you the difference between Malaysia and Singapore. Yes, many people still stay in shophouses, not condos or HDBs. We still run family businesses, and it is not uncommon to see the children helping their parents run the shops.

You'd also note their Mandarin (yup, I kinda speak like that...but not with such a heavy accent), and also the messiness of the shop. Yes, all part of Malaysia.

One apparent message is the stark difference on how Malaysia treats its citizens...many Chinese, especially the lower class ones, are stuck in Malaysia. We are, treated unfairly, we don't get the usual privileges that Bumiputeras enjoy. More about that later.

Then there's also the family...the typical Chinese family...the mum shouting, the son rebelling, the broken-ness of the relationship...all these, too common happening in a Chinese family, between the parents and their teenager.

And lastly, how the boy treated the Malay girl...the sweet Malay girl. This is a manifestation of the anger and dissatisfaction of one race towards the other. I, being in a Chinese school, had minimal contact with other races. Therefore, the dissatisfaction is not publicly shown. But yes, it is there.

Now the issue on whether we are treated unfairly. Yes, it is obvious. Obvious that it is unfair. But how do I feel about it?

I feel...proud.Proud, that despite the additional help given to Bumiputeras, we still manage to survive. I also feel blessed. Blessed, that my family still has the financial ability to allow me to study in Singapore. I know that I'm blessed, as some of my friends' families do not have that financial ability to allow them to study overseas.

How about the dissatisfaction that I feel? I think that as we grow older, we'll see less and less of the differences, and more and more of the qualities within the person. All these negative images of other (races), can be eliminated.

How do I feel, from an English educated family, to go to a Chinese school for all my life? A little uneasy I guess, a little uneasy. It definitely is not my primary culture, not one that I can assimilate into instinctively. But as I grow up, and if you ask me now how do I feel? Well, it doesn't matter anymore. It doesn't matter that I'm more "ang mo" than my friends, it doesn't matter that I speak "Singaporean + Malaysian Chinese" during high school. As I step out of high school, all these matter less, and the importance of friendship take precedence over the identity (or the citizenship) that I hold.

And I think that the chocolate incident won't happen, at least in Penang, or at least among the society I lived in. Cus we value helping each other, we treasure how people feel. We see from the point of view of others, and from the point of view of a Malay secondary school girl, we wouldn't want her to feel unworthy of eating a chocolate just because of a short of 5 cents.

Yes, there's still hope.