Shortly after winning the Oscar for best actress, Michelle Yeoh made a video call to her mother in Malaysia, who was watching the ceremony with a swarm of fans.
“Malaysia boleh!” Janet Yeoh said, blowing her daughter kisses.
The song “Boleh,” which means nothing is impossible, captured the mood not only in Los Angeles but also around the world.
“For all the young guys and girls who resemble me,” stated Yeoh.
“This is a beacon of hope and possibility,” she concluded, holding up the award as the first Asian woman and only the second woman of color in the award’s 95-year history to be honored as best actress.
Yeoh, who played a Chinese immigrant in the sci-fi comedy Everything Everywhere All At Once, was a frontrunner and a favorite to win, but her victory still had the power to surprise and excite an audience to whom Hollywood recognition has long been elusive. And the happiness was evident.
As soon as her daughter was announced as the winner at the Kuala Lumpur viewing party, Janet Yeoh was immediately engulfed in news camera lights.
Dressed in evening gowns and tuxedos, cheering supporters lifted their palms in the air. And billboards on the motorways of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, proclaimed her to be the country’s pride.
Social media feeds were bursting with celebratory tweets, postings, and comments on the Oscars’ historic night.
Twitter in Asia had approximately 350,000 celebratory posts, while Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, said that a hashtag praising her victory had been viewed approximately 360 million times.
On Weibo, she was praised for representing Asian women “beautifully on the most famous stage for film in the United States”; on Instagram, her victory was greeted as a triumph for all Asians; and on Twitter, there was an abundance of appreciation.
Henry Golding, the Malaysian-British hunk who portrayed Yeoh’s son in the blockbuster comedy Crazy Rich Asians, said on Instagram, “OMG… Just, amazing.”
Simu Liu, her co-star in the Marvel television series Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, tweeted, “I love her.” “Continue to pave a golden path and demonstrate to us all what is possible. I AM SO… GLAD “.
Malaysian stand-up comedian Ronny Chieng echoed Yeoh’s mother on his Instagram story: “Malaysia is strong!” And popular Hong Kong singer-actress Josie Ho Chiu uploaded a picture of Yeoh’s Oscar moment along with the caption “Dreams do come true.”
Phil Yu of Angry Asian Man, a Korean-American pop culture blogger, stated that “the Academy Awards won a Michelle Yeoh” and not the other way around.
Anwar Ibrahim, the prime minister of Malaysia, tweeted his congratulations, stating that the nation was “very proud” of her accomplishment. Kevin Yeung, Hong Kong’s culture secretary, issued a statement calling Yeoh’s victory “well-deserved.”
In the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, Yeoh made her Hollywood debut as a Chinese femme fatale opposite Pierce Brosnan’s 007. Having made her debut in Hong Kong, she was already well-known in Asia at the time.
Yet, it would be another 26 years before she was nominated for an Oscar.
“This is proof that dreams do come true,” a sobbing Yeoh remarked during her acceptance speech on Sunday evening. Then, recognizing her mother, she stated, “I have to dedicate this to my mother and all the mothers in the world because they are the true superheroes, and without them, none of us would be here tonight.”
Mrs. Yeoh told the Malaysian newspaper The Star that her daughter won due to her diligence.
It was fitting that Yeoh got her award from Halle Berry, the first woman of color to win the award for best actress in 2002. Yeoh is only the second woman of color to get this honor after twenty-one years.
Yeoh won one of seven awards received by Everything Everywhere All at Once, which dominated the event. In addition, the film won awards for best picture, director, best-supporting actor (Ke Huy Quan), and best supporting actress (Jamie Lee Curtis).
Similar to Ms. Yeoh, Mr. Quan’s path to an Oscar took decades. In the 1984 film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, he portrayed Short Round, Harrison Ford’s sidekick, which was one of his most famous roles.
Mr. Quan, who portrayed Ms. Yeoh’s spouse in the film Everything Everywhere All at Once, stated,
“My adventure began on a boat.” “I spent a year in a refugee camp and ended up on the largest stage in Hollywood.
They claim that such events only occur in the movies. I cannot believe that this is occurring to me. This exemplifies the American Dream.”
Yet Michelle Yeoh stole the night – her win in what some have called as one of the “whitest” Oscar categories stood out for a few reasons.
Firstly, she is not Asian-American, but rather a foreigner with origins far from the United States. She acknowledged this when she thanked her Hong Kong colleagues for “allowing me to stand on your shoulders and giving me a leg up so that I could be here today.”
And second, her age: it’s not often that a 60-year-old lady plays a superhero in Hollywood and creates history. Yeoh concluded her acceptance speech by criticizing the ageism and sexism prevalent in Hollywood.
“Women, don’t allow anybody to tell you you are past your prime, never give up.”
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