Tan Hong Ming

New Straights Time, 1st April 2008-KUALA LUMPUR: Film-maker Yasmin Ahmad's TV commercial for Petronas in conjunction with the Merdeka celebrations last year bagged the top prize at the Asia Pacific Advertising Festival (Adfest 2008) in Pattaya, Thailand last Saturday.

The commercial, entitled Tan Hong Ming, is a heartwarming insight into children's innocence in the country's multi-cultural society.

It features an off-the-cuff and unrehearsed interview with a buck-toothed, spiky-haired and talkative primary school pupil, Hong Ming, who admits to having a secret crush on his classmate Umi Qazrina.

When the baju kurung-clad Umi is called to the camera, she shyly admits that Hong Ming is her boyfriend. The surprised and overjoyed look on Hong King's face is worth a million ringgit, as he quickly pulls Umi away and walks off with her.

The footage ends with a statement: "Our children are colour blind."

Yasmin, who has just returned from Melbourne for a private screening of her film Mukhsin, said she received news about her win through a friend who was at the event.

"The trophy arrived today and I am so excited. I was told that Tan Hong Ming is the only entry from Malaysia that won an award," she said.

Shot at Hong Ming's school in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur, Yasmin said for the commercial - a three-part Merdeka TV campaign series for Petronas - she interviewed 30 children "whose best friend is someone from another ethnic group."