Azmi Hud is a son of a Felda settler, the third of five children. His father owns a small 10-acre oil palm plantation in Felda Raja Alias, Negeri Sembilan. Life was very tough growing up, so much so that his father vowed there would be no second generation of settlers after him.
Among others, the support system for settler’s children was not there. Consequently, Azmi did poorly in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).
“I have three SPM certs!” he exclaims. The first time he sat for SPM, Azmi only managed to get two credits, for Bahasa Malaysia and Maths. Five years later at 23, he took SPM again. Ironically, he got credits for all subjects except Bahasa Malaysia and Maths. Because he needed credits in those two subjects to get into polytechnic, he sat for the July papers the year after and finally got them.
Today, Azmi has a diploma in electrical engineering and is also pursuing his passion in theatre and videography. “I self-learn, through experiment and YouTube,” he says. He is a producer of small local outfit Anomalist Production (https://anomalistproduction.com/) which has produced quite a number of shows. Last year, Azmi started producing small films too. He also cares deeply about the environment.
Hence when LoveMYPalmOil90 contest came up, Azmi knew he had to participate. His entry “Hari-hari Seorang Pemalas” was second runner up. Ironically, Azmi didn’t turn up for the prize giving ceremony because he didn’t think he would win as there were many good videos and his entry had very low public votes (carried 40% weightage).
“I was sure I had no chance of winning but thought hey, I could just go for lunch… I felt really bad,” he says, remorseful.
In hindsight, he reckoned that the public probably did not get his ironic title but the judges loved it.
The title was a swipe at celebrity chef Chef Wan’s much quoted remark that Felda settlers are lazy, among other derogatory terms.
Summary: A child follows his grandfather to the oil plant plantation. En route, he asks many questions and gave nuggets of information on Malaysian palm oil industry. After harvesting just a few bunches of oil palm fruits, the duo heads home.
Azmi explains the low fruit harvest in the video – the rest simply weren’t ripe yet.
“There are not enough fruits to harvest every day. My dad harvests maybe twice a month. But he goes to the farm every day, for maintenance purpose,” Azmi says.
Azmi attributes his achievements in life to his father’s push for his children to do better. “Though he’s illiterate, my father pushes me to go see the world,” he says. Azmi is also grateful he was sent to study in a Chinese primary school as that exposed him to races other than his own. He lamented that most settlers and their families know little of other races, and hence tend to be apprehensive and even prejudiced against others.
“My dad has a Chinese best friend – he is like an uncle to us. He advised dad to send me to Chinese school. I have many good friends who are Chinese, and that has enriched me,” he says.
