KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 — Celebrity chef and one of Malaysia’s most recognisable faces, Chef Wan, has combined his talents with young and ambitious animation company Azimation Werks to create a timely and nostalgic reminder of Malaysian unity as its best.

This animation shows five young friends who stumbled across Malaysian icon Chef Wan on a visit to Muzium Negara.

The youngsters, who represents the different cultures in our country, were eager to speak to Chef Wan, who took the time to explain Malaysia’s journey to independence and the formation of Malaysia, and reinforces the importance of having respect and gratitude for the life we are able to live in this country.

Chef Wan said he was happy to be part of the project, saying, “When I was first approached I knew this would be a perfect vehicle to restore some faith in our country, through these five young friends who are symbolic of all that we remember of our multi-cultural and multi-faith childhoods which we all remember fondly.”

Azimation CEO Azian Abdul Aziz said, “It’s no secret that these are difficult times for Malaysians to cope with, which is why we thought it was a timely occasion to use Malaysia Day (the commemoration of the establishment of the Malaysian Federation on 16 September 1963) to remind people that, despite our troubles, this is our country and the real strength of our nation comes from our people, who have all have played a part in its rich history.”

“With the current political upheaval and recent protest we decided we needed to do something to bring back the unity of this country and remind people of where we came from.

“We teamed up with Chef Wan, a national treasure, who was such fun to work with. He and our in house production team worked tirelessly to create a video that will not only teach the younger generation but remind the older generation to be proud of their nation.”

Azian added that there may be plans for more videos featuring these five friends in the pipeline.

In this animation clip, Chef Wan explains Malaysia’s journey to independence and the formation of Malaysia to a group of five young friends.