Extremely Proud & Incredibly Moved – A Tribute To Greatness

This year’s 95h Academy Awards made me extremely proud and incredibly moved. The acknowledgement of Asian talent – Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Daniel Kwan – being awarded the ultimate recognition on a global stage traditionally dominated by Westerners is simply astounding!

I teared when Ke Huy Quan accepted his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor with an emotional and heartfelt speech. Remember him? The Asian child star in ‘Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom’ and ‘The Goonies’. Oh my, how time flies. That precocious fresh-faced child actor is now a 51-year-old grown up adult.

I  punched my fist in the air with pride and joy when Michelle Yeoh won Best Actress for her role in Everything Everywhere All At Once. What a true and fitting representative of the Asian female – demure yet tough. 

She has been doing most of her own stunts throughout her career. Starting from movies with Jackie Chan to international Hollywood productions like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and  the James Bond flick Tomorrow Never Dies. In the latter, she played a kick-ass Chinese agent who helped Pierce Brosnan take on the baddies, performing the highly dangerous stunts herself.

And I felt goosebumps when Daniel Kwan took to the mike, with a casual yet empowering message. What a collection of talent gathered on this stage, beamed around the globe. 

Memory Lane

I practically grew up watching Michelle’s movies and feel like I know her personally. She hails from Malaysia which is just a 1-km causeway bridge away from Singapore, qualifying for proximity association and familiarity 🙂

She’s been a star in Asia since her early works made in Hong Kong, during its prime movie production era from 80’s-90’s, before spring-boarding to Hollywood. I especially love her portrayal in Police Story (1985) and Supercop (1993), both with Jackie Chan. A long and arduous journey more than 40 years in the making to reach the pinnacle of her craft. But she made it, and in grand style!

It brought back fond memories of going to a 1-screen cinema with my parents and sister.  Watching movies was a big deal and a highlight for many folks back then. We would munch on kacang puteh – cones of roasted or fried chickpeas and peanuts – coated with icing sugar for those with sweet tooth. Much like the savoury and sweet versions of popcorns nowadays. Some things never change, they just take on new variations 🙂

Against All Odds

Consider this: Michelle is no less a quadruple minority being female, Asian, a foreigner and entering her 6th decade in life. Blows one’s mind off when you think of it.

Ke Huy Quan was dealt a harsh hand in his early life, making his success in reaching the epitome of his passion all the more touching and sweet. 

I remember well the ‘boat people‘ from Vietnam who were allowed to stay for a short time in Singapore while sorting out their visas to their destination country. There were donation drives for clothes, food and other necessities for the Vietnamese refugees.

Behind the talent, grace and success belie tremendous hard work, grit, determination, disappointment and probably despair at some point or other. If corporate life is hard, the movie-world is much tougher, and especially so if one belongs to a minority group. 

This explains why I’m extremely proud and incredibly moved by their wins. They are each, and collectively, so inspiring! It shows that when we commit to our goals and chase our dreams with dogged determination, even crazy big dreams can come true.

No problems are insurmountable, no failures are absolute until we give up, no one is accountable to us except ourselves. If we start by holding ourselves to higher standards, we lift ourselves and those around us. We can, in turn, be an inspiration to others.

Joy Luck Club

The Academy Awards this year played out like a feel-good movie. It’s important not to loose the lesson once all the noise and excitement die down. Let’s internalise the lesson and keep it as a beacon for our own goals and dreams.

If an Oscars can be won at 60, then nothing is too late to aspire to. And you better start believing that 100 is the new 80! It begins with self belief and self confidence, and living by the mantra ‘why not?’ and ‘why not now?’, to savour the full flavours of life. 

Have not started saving for retirement? Let today be the start of setting aside money for it.

Thinking of switching career to pursue something more in line with your passion? Start building connection to your new world and work towards making it a reality.

Been wanting to get in shape since piling on weight from work stress or pregnancy? Use the power of every day to make incremental improvement. Remember, daily frequency beats occasional intensity. With focus, commitment and a bit of luck, goals and dreams do come true.

In this age of possibilities – pun absolutely intended – let’s be empowered to go after what we want, follow our hearts, chase our dreams and not waste our greatest gift.

The internet offers boundless opportunities, technology enables us, mindsets are changing, the world is becoming more accessible than ever. Not to take advantage of these is to sell ourselves, and our dreams, short. 

“There is greatness in every single person, it doesn’t matter who they are. You have a genius that is waiting to erupt, you just need to …unlock that.”     ~ Daniel Kwan, Best Director for “Everything Everywhere All At Once

 

To the greatness in each of us, 

Savvy Maverick

(Main image: Jake Blucker, Unsplash)

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are drawn from my own experiences and do not constitute financial advice in any way whatsoever. Nothing published here constitutes an investment recommendation, nor should any data or content be relied upon for any investment activities. It is strongly recommended that independent and thorough research be undertaken before making any financial decisions, including consulting a qualified professional. Data and information cited from credited source are correct at date of publication and will not be updated thereafter.