Beauty in Diversity

It was the book launch of the year, attended by all the glittery people (including my great hero, Datuk Jimmy Choo, whom I still haven't got to meet!) and in my usual blur as sotong way I managed to miss it.

Don't know what trick my fuzzy brain was trying to pull, but I turned up at the right venue a whole day too late, having misread the invitation. Cle-ver.

Fortunately a phone call to Haliza Hashim-Doyle and a grovelling apology put things somewhat right, and it turned out that she and co-author Steven V-L Lee were over at the Convention Centre with a small exhibition of the photos that had been chosen for the book

Malaysians.

And we had time to sit and chat about the book and how it came to be.

It truly is a stunner, a small-format coffee-table book comprising portrait photographs by Steven, with accompanying text written by Haliza.

What strikes you is the sheer diversity of faces and ethnicities. When folks talk of race in Malaysia, there's so often this neat pigeonholing - Malay, Chinese Indian dan lain-lain (others).

Yet this broad categorisation doesn't even begin to describe the blend of racial origins you find here: Portuguese, Burmese, Penan, Kelabit, Bajau, mixed Ceylonese and Achenese, mixed Indian and Thai Chinese, Indian-Filipino, mixed Chinese-Indian-Austrian-Slovenian ... improvisation on a theme ... and the list goes on and on.

The girl on the cover Rachel Anne Ward (of English and Iban parentage) is an absolute stunner, and wouldn't be surprised if she were whisked off by someone to become a professional model.

Most of those photographed are ordinary citizens and there's everything from market traders, fishermen and farmers to city-slicker corporate types, and cool fashionistas with interesting hairstyles. Some of my favourite portraits are of the older folk, with their life-stories etched into the lines on their faces.

There are a few famous faces in here too: Chef Wan, Indian classical dancer January Low, her mentor Ramli Ibrahim, Malaysia's "prince of fashion" Bernard Chandran and ... hey there's Rocky (how did a blogger a.k.a. "media strategist" get in there?).

Anyway, do take a look at the sample gallery online to get a taste of the book, and Steven's diary gives a fascinating insight into the work that went into the project. You don't get portraits as stunning as these without putting a lot of love into your work.

Postscript:

Chin Mui Yoon's review of the book in Starmag.

Rich Tapestry

Remember - I talked about Azah Aziz's beautiful coffee table book about Malay costume, Rupa dan Gaya, a couple of months ago! I lamented at the time that it didn't seem to be being promoted.

Well, - yesterday there was a two-page spread about it by Neil Khor Jin Keong in Star Two perfectly timed to coincide with Hari Raya and the season of dressing up. (I felt as if I were at a fashion show yesterday - especially with my gorgeous nieces parading the latest in kebayas and kurongs at eldest sister's open house!)

Writes Khor:

... by combining lavish illustrations with selected pantun as well as extracts from legendary stories and court chronicles, Kak Azah has succeeded in creating not only an invaluable book on Malay costumes but also one that provides a deep insight into the Malay worldview.

This book is a very important one on Malay heritage and well worth seeking out: I hope it hits the bookshops soon.

(Right - the author. Above, costume of Cik Siti Wan Kembang, the warrior queen of Kelantan.)

Teh Tarik Books?

My old man went to Wak Chai, his favourite kedai makan in Taman Tun, to ta pow some noodles for his supper, and came home with another kind of takeaway!

The cafe was selling copies of Azah Aziz's beautiful coffee table book, Rupa & Gaya, along with the kopi.

The title translates as Form and Fashion and the book looks at traditional Malay fashions both past and present. It's lushly illustrated, with plenty to have the modern fashionista running to copy some of the tailoring. But I love all the old black and white photos most of all (below right).
The book is even more pleasing to the eye with the gold edging to the pages.

You can't talk about the history of fashion in a vacuum, and the book gives an overview of traditional Malay arts and culture (textiles, woodcarving, jewellery making, music, dance) along the way.

The text is in Malay but even for this linguistically challenged mat salleh, quite accessible and very informative. And there's very nice poetry scattered in, which delights me no end. Here's a lovely pantun that accompanies the picture of a musician:

Tiup seruling lagunya lama,
Bagailah bunyi buluh perindu;
Jikalau rindu aku adinda,
Kirimlah salam di angin lalu.

The book is published by Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, but I wonder if they have really been promoting it, as I haven't come across it in bookshops and I can't find a single reference to it online, which is very sad.

This is too beautiful a treasure to be marketed with the mee!

Anyone for Coffee Table Books?

Do you buy "coffee table books" (those big glossy, photo-filled tomes that cost a bomb) or have strong feelings about them?

Don't tell me, tell Eternal Wanderer who needs folks to interview for an article he's writing on the subject. More here.