Ode to family, community and on never giving up.

For many, post MCO is a time of survival both financially and emotionally. Emphasising the importance of family, community and the spirit of never giving up, INTI International University & Colleges released an emotional visual take on the choices of young students and their families, especially reflecting the current period of Malaysia’s recovery.

Set against the backdrop of a typical small town Malaysian family, the video titled A Family Story follows the story of Jia Mei and her mother, whose home is never short of the antics and ruckus caused by the neighbourhood children she babysits.

Often caught in the centre of chaos and disruption, Jia Mei is overwhelmed by the lack of her own space, and the time her mother spends away from her to make ends meet.

Acting out her frustrations one day, Jia Mei, played by actress Sarah Tan Qin Lin from the hit movie The Kid from the Big Apple and who was voted Best Newcomer at the Macau International Movie Festival in 2015, discovers what family and community really means in times of trouble, and learns the lessons of never giving up, even when times seem at their lowest.

“This story, which references real Malaysian families and communities, hopes to remind fellow Malaysians to not give up easily, even when things are at their worst. As we progress through the country’s recovery phase, we acknowledge that things will continue to stay tough, hard decisions will need to be made, but there are always opportunities and means, if we are brave and open enough to look for them,” said Tim Johnson, INTI’s Senior VP for Marketing, Products & Partnerships.

The video was written and produced by Directors Think Tank and IPG Ensemble in collaboration with INTI, and was released on 17^th July 2020. It has since garnered 381,000 views on INTI’s official Facebook page and 33,000 views on the institution’s dedicated Youtube page.

“As an institution that has walked alongside our students, lecturers and fellow professionals during this crisis, the story’s tagline ‘The journey continues on, We’ll walk it together’ is really our message of hope for all our fellow Malaysians going through this tough period. And as a nation built on community and collaboration, now, more than ever, is the time for us to shake off the fear of these last months, reconnect with one another, and revisit our hopes and aspirations towards a better future,” he adds.