Does Size Really Matter?

MPH celebrates the 10th anniversary of the opening of the first book megastore in the country - the branch in Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur, and in Starmag Rouwen Lim finds out all about it.

Says MPH's chief operating officer Donald Key :

Back in 2000, the concept of a mega bookstore was something new. We were not sure how Malaysians would take to this idea but we took a risk and went ahead with it. Right from the beginning, we had contests and events such as storytelling sessions, fashion shows, talks, craft, cooking and hair styling demonstrations. ... This lifestyle concept was an instant hit with the customers. They had not seen anything like it before in bookstores here, and it transformed the entire industry.Today, of course, we are no longer the only player in the industry. But the industry has changed for the better and we are proud to have contributed towards that.

It's interesting how quickly we have got used to the concept of the huge bookshop. I must confess that I seldom visit this branch of MPH because the size of Mega Mall (Mega Hell!) freaks me out, but much prefer the 1 Utama branch.  My favourite huge bookshop, of course, is Kinokuniya, and it's high time I paid it a visit and did some serious damage to my credit card  ...

But I must confess that hugeness for me isn't a selling point - my perfect bookshop would be small and intimate and squidgy and have just the books that I wanted to read. So let me ask you what you think - is bigger necessarily better?

By the way, MPH are celebrating with some tasty offers.

Are you a Mrs Koh?

We all know what  Lolita or a Shylock or a Scrooge is. Each of these character names has become a by-word for certain kind of individual.  But what about a Mrs Koh? Worse still, might you yourself be a Mrs Koh?

Robert Raymer tells me that he was pleasantly surprised to find an article by educator Denis Harry in The New Straits Times telling readers why they should be wary of the Mrs Koh type :

... who is lurking somewhere waiting to pounce on her next promising victim

The character is from Robert's short story Neighbours. (You can download the PDF here.) Writes Harry :

Neighbours, a fine work by Robert Raymer in Lovers and Strangers Revisited, highlights Mrs Koh as the central character. She fabricates stories to create rifts between neighbours. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Maybe this is because there are many Mrs Kohs in this world, people who really are venomous, vicious and potentially damaging, ready to trample on whoever stands in their way.

Raymer is spot on in creating Mrs Koh's character as she is portrayed as someone we both love and loath at the same time. When you hear her loud voice mentioning someone's name in high decibel, you know she wants your attention and she knows she gets yours.

On the other hand, deep inside your heart you keep praying that she does not talk about you. Whether you want to admit it or not, we all have a certain degree of nosiness. Sensational stories surely catch our alert-as-a-rabbit's ears. Unfortunately, they come with a hefty price tag.

Mrs Koh is someone we would call a nosy parker. ... In real life, you can never argue with whatever a Mrs Koh says; she is always right.

In addition to that, she knows everything and wants you to be aware of that too. Here is the sad irony: someone like Mrs Koh may appear warm, friendly and welcoming to those on first encounter with her. Her ability to crack jokes and make fun of other people's flaws and sufferings make her a "people magnet", drawing in audience the moment you anticipate she is going to say her first word. 

Your Story - On Receipt

Here's a wonderfully quirky way of getting writers in print - stories on a book store till receipt!

BookXcess is inviting 100-word entries for its "receipt stories" - check out the website Jackie Ng and Andrew Yap (left) have set up to read some examples and submit your own.

The discount bookstore is going from strength to strength - last year alone they sold 200,000 books - so there's  whole lot of reading going on in this city!

Cartoonist Zunar Charged with Sedition

The police raided the office of political cartoonist Zunar (left) in Brickfields on Friday and seized 66 copies of his collection (very aptly titled given the high-level of governmental paranoia towards his work!) Cartoon-o-phobia. They also apparently took away a caricature of Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor.

The story? :

Zunar’s book is considered detrimental to public order and can influence the public to revolt against government policies. 

Zunar was charged with sedition and detained but has since been released on bail.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein is reported as saying that Zunar's arrest was made after his book of cartoons that touched on the country's legal system and religion, including the "Allah" issue (still unresolved!) was found to be detrimental to public order.
 
Malaysiakini chief editor and Zunar's publisher Steven Gan called it :

... an attack on freedom of expression

Aliran says :

If expressing views that are critical of the government and its policies are deemed to be an offence, then this unfortunately may be construed as a warning to not only other cartoonists but also critical political commentators, analysts and oppositionists. ... If a free and responsible press is the cornerstone of a democracy, then the political and legal constraints that have been placed against journalists and cartoonists, among others, must be removed to promote democracy, the free flow of information and honest journalism. In the case of Malaysia, the Sedition Act and the Printing Presses and Publications Act must be repealed.

Zunar, meanwhile,  vows to continue to draw and also plans to sue the police.

This blogger cheers him on.

Postscript :

Some of the cartoons that got Zunar locked up.

Postscript 2 :

NGO's come out in support of Zunar :

Readings@Seksan October

We have an international line-up for Readings@Seksan with writers and poets from Malaysia, India, Australia and Botswana!

Date: Saturday 2nd October, 2010
Time: 3.30pm
Place: Seksan's, 67, Jalan Tempinis Satu, Lucky Garden, Bangsar

(Map www.seksan.com)

The readers for this month include:

Shivani Siva
Amir Muhammad
Hishammudin Rais
Jacqueline Ann Surin
Omar Musa
Thato Ntshabele

Admission free and everyone very welcome. Please pass on the invitation to anyone else you think might be interested.

(For enquiries contact Sharon 017-2644956, sharonbakar@yahoo.com)

New Courses at Learning Works

There are new courses starting up at Learning Works in Bandar Utama in October :

1. My Creative Writing Course for beginners Getting Started – Finding the Flow is running again in three different time-slots to suit different needs.  The 2-hour once a week 10 week course starts on 5th, 7th and 16th October 2010. Suitable for adults.
2. So You Want To Write a Children's Book, will help aspiring writers of children’s books get started in their chosen field. Meant for adults, the new once a week week course will start on 2nd and 4th October 2010.
3. Make A Zine Holiday Workshop is a fun and exciting workshop which brings the world of zines to young children. Kids are encouraged to express themselves in stories, poems, essays and pictures, and compile these into a zine. Learn the nuts and bolts of putting together a "magazine". This is a 5 day two-hourly workshop. Dates: 22nd - 26th Nov 2010 and 29th Nov - 3rd Dec 2010. From 10.30am to 12.30pm
4. Write Like A Journalist - Think and write like a journalist. Arm yourself with a journalist's toolbox — learn how and where to get information and how to use this information to produce an accurate and compelling piece of writing. This course consists of ten 2-hour sessions, over 10 weeks. Starts in January 2011. Suitable for teens and young adults.

Find more information go to the Learning Works website, email mylearningworks@gmail.com or call KH 012 267 8298 begin_of_the_skype_highligh              012 267 8298      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Inside a Writer's Head

This message was posted by one of the participants on the Yahoo Group I run for my creative writing courses and it made me smile so much I thought I would pass it on :

Am reading a collection of short stories by Sheila O'Flanagan, and the first story starts like this:

Jennifer Jones sat at the table on her balcony.

No, thought Corinne, that's too boring. It doesn't say anything, doesn't let people know where she is. Or what sort of person she is. Or what might be about to happen to her.

Jennifer Jones watched the crystal-clear water from the chair on her balcony.

But what's she doing sitting down? Corinne asked herself. Why is she sitting around like a lame-ass when she's somewhere gorgeous and exotic? And when she's supposed to be gorgeous and exotic too? And especially when she's supposed to be a sassy action heroine? She shouldn't be sitting anywhere just looking at the sea like a feeble pensioner. (Though pensioners don't have to be feeble. Note to self: how about a pensioner heroine for a future novel? Mightn't that be interesting? Or is that too Agatha Christie? Miss Bloody Marple, of course. Nobody can do a pensioner like Miss Bloody Marple, can they?) Corinne frowned as she looked at her revised opening sentence again. I haven't even said that it's the sea she's looking at, have I? Crystal-clear water could be a lake. I'm still not giving any information about what's going to happen to her at all.

Jennifer Jones... Jennifer Jones... Corinne stared at the open laptop in front of her. Oh bloody hell, she thought. What the hell is going to happen to her? I've no damn idea. She pushed the laptop away from her in disgust and stared out over the blue and white wooden rails of the balcony of Room 404. She sighed deeply. Bloody Jennifer Jones. She loathed the woman. Detested her. Hated her. Abhorred her. Corinne pulled the laptop towards her again and clicked on the thesaurus. Abhor. Abominate. Deplore. Detest. Dislike. Execrate. She frowned. Was execrate a verb? She wasn't sure. She'd never heard of it before. But it would do. If it meant what it was supposed to mean, then she absolutely totally and utterly execrated Jennifer Bloody Jones.

Thought some of the writers here might be able to identify with this! *grin*