News of the world: Yeoh getting the front-page treatment from many international newspapers.
PETALING JAYA: From the man on the street to kings and queens alike, Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh is the toast of the town everywhere following her historic triumph as the first Asian to win the best actress Oscar.
Besides Malaysia, of course, the Ipoh-born actress was featured on the front pages of newspapers throughout the world from Singapore to Spain.
In her ivory Dior Haute Couture gown with cascading feathers that she wore at the Oscars, 60-year-old Yeoh smiled from the page 1 of British newspapers such as The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph, as well as Bangkok Post, Singapore’s The Straits Times, Hong Kong’s The Standard and Spain’s La Vanguardia.
Local and international media reported Yeoh’s accomplishments in the world of cinema spanning four decades.
Countless column inches were devoted to the way she had overcome multiple barriers in a cut-throat industry, blazing a trail for others to follow.
The Straits Times described her as “Pride of Asia on Oscars night”, while The Standard’s headline read “Everything falls in place for Michelle Yeoh” as it reported how the critically acclaimed film Everything Everywhere All at Once hauled in seven Oscars in total, including Yeoh’s best actress award.
As for The New York Times (NYT), it ran a page 1 photo of Yeoh with her right hand on her heart, while the other hand held the trophy, and a caption that read: “Winning just about everything.”
In a report headlined “Michelle Yeoh Makes History as the First Asian Best Actress Winner at the Oscars”, the NYT noted that she had spoken of the obstacles she and other people of colour faced in Hollywood.
Yeoh’s win has ignited conversations about the changing face of Hollywood, with La Vanguardia highlighting the Asian victories at the Oscars while featuring a picture of Yeoh alongside co-star Jamie Lee Curtis, who won the Best Supporting Actress award.
In the same vein, NBC News ran a report that discussed how her win was more about Hollywood catching up with Yeoh and not the other way around.
As for her fellow Malaysians, some of them posed with a copy of The Star yesterday, which featured a page 1 photo of Yeoh smiling while holding up the Oscar statuette alongside her quote “I am bringing this home”, taken from her acceptance speech.
The congratulatory messages have been non-stop from A-listers, world leaders and just about anyone.
“Congratulations to Michelle Yeoh (and her family watching at home in Malaysia) on her historic Oscar win on #CommonwealthDay!” the British royal family tweeted.
(Commonwealth Day is celebrated yearly on March 13.)
Yeoh’s Instagram has also been swamped with messages from fans and fellow celebrities such as Awkwafina, Yuna, Naomi Campbell, Richard E. Grant, Jamie Dornan, Rita Wilson, Ken Jeong, Vaness Wu and Maye Musk.
“You make all of us proud,” wrote Awkwafina.
Yuna wrote: “Congratulations queen!! This is incredible. Thank you for inspiring us all.”
“So well deserved and loved every word of your speech,” commented Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai.
“Very stupendously supremely sick. Terima kasih Michelle Yeoh!!!” wrote Indonesian singer Nicole Zefanya.
DC Universe’s filmmaker James Gunn, Indonesian singer Anggun, Hong Kong filmmaker and actor Stephen Chow, actor and producer Daniel Wu were also among those who responded to her historical achievement.
Shortly after her triumph on Monday, she was also congratulated by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, as well as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Perhaps US entertainment website Polygon summed it up well: “We finally live in a universe where Michelle Yeoh is an Oscar-winning actor.”
