The Oscars this year were wholesome and historic for good reasons, unlike last year, where a particular Best Actor slapped someone across the face onstage.
One memorable moment was when Michelle Yeoh took home the Best Actress award for her role as Evelyn Wang in the sci-fi comedy film Everything Everywhere All At Once, the first Asian woman to do so.
Before you say this is a win for Malaysia or all of Southeast Asia, some people may wholeheartedly disagree with you.
And they most certainly do not want other countries to be claiming her either.
Not a Win for Malaysia, but Michelle Yeoh Herself
Malaysians took to social media to celebrate her win, with many quoting the iconic motivational phrase, “Malaysia Boleh.”
Even Yeoh’s mother screamed the phrase as she reacted to her daughter’s remarkable win.
Billboards with Yeoh’s face were erected across Malaysia, proclaiming her as the “pride of Malaysia.”
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also congratulated Yeoh on his social media platforms.
“Michelle’s illustrious and exemplary career in this field will certainly continue to be a source of great inspiration and motivation to our homegrown actors and actresses and provide even greater impetus to the growth of our local industry,” he said in his Facebook post following her victory.
However, some netizens noted the irony in this as they felt that Malaysia wasn’t particularly the best place to foster actors who have the potential to make it big in the industry.
Yeoh herself mentioned in her Oscars speech that her career started in Hong Kong.
A Twitter user commented in a thread celebrating her win that “she didn’t win it for Malaysia. She won it for herself. Michelle Yeoh made a name for herself in Hollywood, not in the Malaysian cinema industry.”
Another user mentioned that Malaysia shouldn’t hop on her successes and “claim her achievement” as she is a “global citizen working hard to prove herself in her work.”
Other netizens quote tweeted Anwar Ibrahim’s congratulatory post on Twitter, some in anger as they claimed that Malaysia does not have an arts scene nurturing enough to breed talented actors like Yeoh.
If a Malaysian wants to succeed in the entertainment industry, they should go overseas.
Hong Kong Is Claiming Credit as Well
According to Malaysian news outlet The Star, Hong Kong’s culture chief had described Yeoh as a “Hong Kong actor” after she won the best actress award for a musical or comedy at the Golden Globes earlier this year.
On Monday, 13 March, Hong Kong actor Chapman To took to Facebook to remind the Hong Kong government that Yeoh is actually from Malaysia.
“A reminder to the Hong Kong government. Michelle Yeoh is Malaysian. Don’t take advantage and claim she is a Hong Konger.”
No one would be surprised if the President of the United Federation of Planets decided to come out to declare that she’s a citizen of the Federation and a decorated Starfleet captain.
The Early Beginnings of Yeoh’s Career
Yeoh was previously a ballet dancer, moving to England at 15 to pursue further training at the London Royal Academy of Dance, but a back injury hampered her career as a ballerina.
She later won the Miss Malaysia competition in 1983 and made her big-screen debut in The Owl vs Bumbo (1984). Her subsequent roles involved a lot of martial arts training, and she performed dangerous stunts herself.
Yeoh made a name for herself in Hollywood in one of her first international films, Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), where she played a Bond girl alongside Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond.
She was nominated for a BAFTA following her role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), one of the movies she is widely known for.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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