Petronas ad: 'Rubber Boy is my family's story', says Leo Burnett creative director

The Leo Burnett Malaysia creative director claimed that the story was inspired by his own grandfather and father, and one that was not knew by the Petronas creative team and the advertisement's director.

"'Rubber Boy' began in 1930s Malaya when my grandfather served with the British Air Force as an aircraft foreman.

"When the Japanese invaded, he buried his uniforms and all his documents – anything that could tie him and his family to the British. After the war, he worked in an oil palm estate in Layang-Layang (island in Sabah) where mother was born in 1949. I've never lived in an estate but I know the stories," he said in a posting on Facebook today.

Yap's comments came on the heels of allegations by filmmaker Tan Chui Mui, who claimed that the story was initially her idea, one she had pitched to Leo Burnett for its CNY advertisement for 2015.

Tan, in a series of Facebook postings, had claimed that her team from Da Huang Pictures had proposed a story to the agency, with casting, locations, reference films, and also a full script, but the story was not selected that year.

Meanwhile, Yap also shared several personal stories which he claimed became the inspiration for some of the scenes in the advertisement.

An example was the scene of Ah Hock being dropped off in a motorbike at the school.

"My father never let me forget that I always asked to be dropped off away from the main gates so no one could see me on a motorbike. Everyone else had a car," he said.

Another example was the scene when Ah Hock screamed at his mum for being poor and told her to work harder.

"When Tan Chui Mui cried foul, claiming that her story had been plagiarised, I couldn't help but think who stole from who," said Yap.

He said he will share both his and Tan's script to be compared.

"They bear no resemblance to one another," he said.

Yesterday, Tan uploaded several statements on Facebook, claiming that the idea for the advertisement had been plagiarised, as it was based on the experience on her childhood friend.