7 x 7. 49th day of my grandmother's passing. Remembering a dream.

I returned to Tokyo last night, on the eve of Malaysia's Independence Day.

55 years ago, my nation's fathers fought for liberation and attained it, through unity and faith. 31st of August, 1957.

I love my country. But I think, judging from the current political climate, there isn't much for me to celebrate.

Aside from being Malaysia's 55th Independence Day, 31st of August, 2012 is also the 49th day of my grandmother's passing, or the 7 x 7. For Buddhist customs, 1x7 (the first week), 3x7 (the third week), 5x7 and finally, 7x7, are marked by a short praying ceremony.

I was around for both the first week and the fifth week.

On the 5th week (5x7), a ritual was held to put her plaque on the walls of a temple.

My homage to Chris Marker - FLEETING IMAGES (2008)

The great filmmaker Chris Marker passed away two weeks ago at the age of 91.

1-minute extract of my short, LAST FRAGMENTS OF WINTER

The folks at the Sapporo Short Film Fest have posted a 1-minute extract of my short film LAST FRAGMENTS OF WINTER on Youtube. The film is making its Japanese premiere at the festival next month, followed closely by screenings at the Nara International Film Festival a few days later. I'm pretty excited to have my film finally shown to the Japanese public.

The old TVB dramas were really quite awesome

"Wouldn't it be cool if you were to direct a TVB drama series?"

Mom and Dad were on the newspapers

In the past month, both my mom and my dad were featured on the papers.

Grandmother's Funeral

(My dear grandmother had just passed away. Since then, I received many kind messages from friends around the world expressing their condolences, they have my utmost gratitude. The next few posts in this blog will be about my grandma. Because I needed to remember.)

A photo trip through memory lane with my Grandmother.

Letters to my Grandmother

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A week has passed since Grandma died. I have shared with you my memories of her, and also the letters that we have written to her before her funeral, now I try to chronicle the funeral itself.

On the two nights before the funeral, she was placed to rest in the house that she had lived in for nearly 20 years, so that friends and family could come and pay their last respects.

Letters to my Grandmother

(My dear grandmother had just passed away. Since then, I received many kind messages from friends around the world expressing their condolences, they have my utmost gratitude. The next few posts in this blog will be about my grandma. Because I needed to remember. Here's a photo trip through memory lane with my Grandmother.)

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On the day before her funeral, my cousins and I decided to each write a letter to Grandmother and paste it on the wall next to her casket.