ONE gets the feeling that writer-director Yasmin Ahmad is used to getting her way.

'I'm a stubborn old cow,' declares the 50-year-old Malaysian film-maker. She is talking about the family life commercial she directed and co-wrote for Singapore's Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS). It was screened earlier this year.

She refused to drop a scene that featured a girl picking out bras in a shop. Too risque for a ministry advertisement, she was told. She went ahead anyway.

Read John Lui's full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.