130 malaysia tatler. august 2019
M
for Malaysia was never intended
to be a fi lm. It started off as
a personal project by multi-
hyphenated businesswoman
Datin Dian Lee and Tun Mahathir’s daughter,
Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir. “We thought
it would be important to document Tun M
(as Tun Mahathir is fondly known) while he
makes his grand comeback to politics. Plus, he
was 92 then, it would have been momentous
if he won, and he did,” recalls Datin Dian.
To start, Datin Dian assembled a lean team,
consisting of “talented videographers who
fi lmed my sister’s wedding.” Datin Paduka
Marina recruited her eldest daughter and
documentary fi lmmaker, Ineza Roussille, to
direct the project. The two women followed
Tun M as he embarked on a gruelling
campaign trail, 16 days before the elections.
Like most Malaysians (including this
writer), Datin Dian had confl icted feelings
for Tun M. After all, he was still a fl awed
leader. Until today, there are still those who
question his motives to contest again to be
the nation’s Prime Minister, on May 9th, 2018.
“Yet, love him or hate him, Tun M is an
amazing force. One night on the trail, it was
raining heavily before he was due to deliver aspeech, and we realised he had a fever.
We were worried for his health; he’s not a
young horse anymore. But when he went
onstage that night, you couldn’t tell he was
sick at all. He was witty and funny—the
crowd went crazy for him,” she says.
As depicted in M for Malaysia, Datin
Dian was inside the ‘war room’ with Tun M
and the Pakatan Harapan leaders when it
was announced that the alliance won by a
landslide victory against Barisan Nasional.
“The 2018 general election has been an
intense experience for me, so it didn’t hit me
until I woke up on May 11th that Malaysians
have done the impossible by democratically
electing a new government, despite the
allegedly rigged electoral process. When this
realisation sank in, I broke down and sobbed
in my bed. My husband Jared (Lim) thought I
lost my mind,” she recalls sheepishly.
Datin Dian hopes this documentary
will remind Malaysians that their voices
and votes do matter. “May 9th 2018 is just
the beginning. We have taken a baby step,
hopefully in the right direction. There’s still
more work to be done. We have to move
away from gutter politics if we are to be able
to heal and thrive as a nation,” she concludes.Datin Dian Lee
DIRECTOR, PRODUCER AND
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER