Opinion: Hang Tuah lives
"Hang Tuah was an aboriginal man like me. He was Semang."
"What?" Jumaat and Subuh say in unison.
"His name was SiTuah, not Hang Tuah; that was the name Malays gave him in Malacca. SiTuah is a common name among the Semang people. It is common to put a prefix Si in front of one's name in our community, like SiTumi." (The Beruas Prophecy by Iskandar Al-Bakri)
Hang Tuah is a great story; so strong that even the Chinese and the Orang Asli want a piece of it. It is a good Malaysian story; unfortunately, it cannot be taught in schools because it is not history; it is a myth, or so says Emeritus Professor Khoo Khay Kim. He is right, of course. Not only is there no historical evidence, the story has many contradictions. (Was it Hang Kasturi he fought or Hang Jebat?) But the Hang Tuah story has far deeper roots than the good professor gives credit, emotional roots, which are not surprising, given that his interest is in history. One dismisses myths at one’s own peril, although it has become increasingly fashionable to do so in some circles (especially in this country).ReadMore
News: Malaysia fails media trust barometer
The Edelman survey of 1000 participants in each country has, certainly, has come up with some strange results. That the majority in Malaysia (a newcomer to the survey) do not trust the media is not news, but I was surprised that 47% still do! What is surprising that in Singapore, 65% trust the media (an increase from 59% last year) and in Indonesia, 80% do (a decrease from 86% last year). What is even more surprising is that in China 79% trust their media, 1% less than 2011. (I guess the cynic would say that they still dare not speak the truth for fear of being reported; censorship works at all levels.) Still, Malaysia is in the red zone with Argentina, Australia, much of Europe, Japan, Korea, Russia and the USA. (We are in good company, it appears.)ReadMore
News: Beruas: one step closer to the Commonwealth Prize
The Beruas Prophecy "has made it through the first stage of the judging process for the Commonwealth Book Prize for best first book ..." said the email from the Commonwealth Foundation in London. The short list will be announced in May, the email said further.
The rules have changed this year. In previous years, there would be a Best Book and a Best First Book. This year there is only the Best First Book. Last year, books were shortlisted by regions and awarded the prize for the region with the winners going in for the final shortlist. We have no idea how it is going to happen this year, considering London appears to be handling all the judging this year.ReadMore
Events: Children's writing events by SCBWI
Calendar of events by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Malaysia for 2012 at Silverfish Books, 28-1 Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru.
The Talks are organised by SCBWI Malaysia with Yusof Gajah Lingard Literary Agency. All meetings are from 2.30-5.30pm unless otherwise stated. Dates, topics and speakers are subject to change and will be updated as soon as we can on our website as well as on our Facebook page. The main speaker will be Linda Tan, president of SCBWI Malaysia but we will update accordingly when there are other speakers. If you have a topic you wish to discuss, please contact lindalingard@gmail.com. Token entry fee of RM10 for tea and handouts.ReadMore
Books: A flawed genius
I have heard of individuals described in Tamil as either "camphor" brained or "banana-stem" brained. Camphor burns quickly, so people with camphor brains are quick on the uptake and learn quickly. Banana stem will only splutter, at best. (The Director General of an organisation I once worked in was a major banana stem. Returning from a management course, where they had told him he ought to try to get to know his staff better, he stood his bemused officers in a row outside his office and brusquely shook all their hands before disappearing. Scott Adam’s pointy haired boss is real!)
In Isaacson’s biography, Steve Jobs was certainly camphor brained. He was a ruthless despot, a bully, a though negotiator, a good marketer, an egomaniac, completely bipolar, cunning, spectacularly greedy, arrogant, obnoxious and rude; that is, he had enough ingredients for him to be a successful CEO. But he had more ...ReadMore
NEW INTAKE
The intake for the Silverfish Writing Programme that will start on Saturday, 4 February 2012 has been fully subscribed (for over a month). The next intake will be in July 2012
READ MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAMME
We attract manuscripts from all over the world. We will however, for the moment, confine ourselves (generally) to stories by Malaysians, for Malaysians and about Malaysians. Please send an email to info@silverfishbooks.com Please be prepared to wait a little though; we receive quite a few mss daily. Once we agree to publish, we do our work the old fashioned way. Every mss is read several times and we expect to work closely with the authors. It is time consuming but, to us, it is the only way. Authors afraid of hard work should take their mss elsewhere.
Silverfish Books’ Writers' ForumÂ
Are you an aspiring writer, or an experienced one needing some feedback on your most recent work? Or, are you a reader who likes a good story? This, once a month, free forum maybe for you. Expect criticism to be frank and constructive. (If you only want others to tell you how 'wonderful' your work is, these sessions may not be for you.)
The next forum will be on the Saturday, 5 February, 2012 at 2.30 pm at Silverfish Books. The number of readers we accept will depend on time constraints. Your criticism will, however, be most welcome.
(Available for Kindle, Nook & iBook stores and at BookCyclone
(All territories)
(Shortcut to downloads)
silverfish books, 28-1 jalan telawi, bangsar baru, 59100 kuala lumpur, malaysia. tel: (603) 2284 4837, fax: (603) 2284 4839 email: info@silverfishbooks.com