“May 9, 2018 is just the beginning.
We have taken a baby step, hopefully
in the right direction. There’s still more
work to be done”
DianLeewearsdress
byDiceKayekM
forMalaysiawasnever
intendedtobeafilm.It
startedoffasapersonal
projectofbusinesswoman
DianLeeandMahathirMohamad’s
daughter,MarinaMahathir.“We
thoughtitwouldbeimportantto
documentTunM[anaffectionate
nameforMahathir,usingthe
Malaysianhonorific‘Tun’]whilehe
makeshisgrandcomebacktopolitics.
Plushewas 92 then;itwouldhave
beenmomentousifhewon,andhe
did,”recallsLee.
Tostart,Leeassembledaleanteam
of“talentedvideographerswhofilmed
mysister’swedding”.Marinarecruited
hereldestdaughter,documentary
filmmakerInezaRoussille,todirectthe
project.ThewomenfollowedTunMas
heembarkedonagruellingcampaign
16 daysbeforethegeneralelections.
LikemostMalaysians(including
thewriterofthisfeature),Leefelt
conflictedaboutTunM.Afterall,
hewasstillaflawedleader.Tothis
day,therearethosewhoquestion
hismotivesinagainstandingtobe
primeminister.
“Yet, love him or hate him, Tun M
is an amazing force,” Lee says. “One
night on the trail, it was raining heavily
before he was due to deliver a speech
and we realised he had a fever. We
were worried for his health; he’s not a
young horse any more. But when he
went on stage that night, you couldn’t
tell he was sick at all. He was witty and
funny—the crowd went crazy for him.”
As depicted in M for Malaysia, Lee
was in the “war room” with Tun M and
the leaders of Pakatan Harapan when
it was announced that the alliance had
won by a landslide.
“The 2018 general election had
been an intense experience for me,
so it didn’t hit me until I woke up on
May 11 that Malaysians had done the
impossible by democratically electing a
new government despite the allegedly
rigged electoral process. When thisrealisation sank in, I broke down and
sobbed in my bed. My husband Jared
[Lim] thought I’d lost my mind.”
Lee hopes this documentary will
remind Malaysians that their voices and
votes do matter. “May 9, 2018, is justDian Lee
Director, producer and executive producerthe 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.singapore tatler. october 2019 193