KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 — Four and a half years after her death, she is still missed by people who never met her. And today, Google celebrates her birthday with a Google doodle.

Film-maker and writer Yasmin Ahmad was already a superstar in the advertising industry with her many award-winning advertisements but she became a household name with her poignant Petronas TV commercials.

Those advertisements reminded Malaysians of our better selves and were the highlight of every festival. 

Those Petronas Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Deepavali and Merdeka ads spawned many copycat ads and are still missed today.

Malaysians would look forward to them much like how the Americans looked forward to those Super Bowl ads every year.

Yasmin,who was executive creative director of advertising agency Leo Burnett Kuala Lumpur, at the time of her death was also a renowned film-maker.

Her films — there were five: Sepet, Gubra, Mukhsin, Muallaf and Talentime — challenged cultural and racial preconceptions and were criticised by religious conservatives in the country.

Many Malaysians were wowed when they saw the Google doodle celebrating her today. The simple doodle which features her smiling face reminds us quite simply of the very talented woman who loved Malaysia very much. 

She would have been 56 today.