Chet’s Chatter

So there I was, turning to page 230 of Dina Zaman’s I Am Muslim, to read the chapter “The Student and The Teacher” that The Bookaholic had recommended as “The episode I most love for its lyrical beauty and narrative flow.”

As I was about to begin reading, I glanced at the page numbers and was surprised to find the next page after 230 to be 235. Here, have a look for yourself:

With pages 230 and 235 facing each other, surely there would be other mismatched pages, too. Here’s what I found:

Page 224 faces page 227.
Behind page 227 is 228 which faces 225.
Behind 225 is 226 which faces 231.
Behind 231 is 232 which faces 229.
Behind 229 is 230 which faces 235.
Behind 235 is 236 which faces 233, and behind 233 is 234.

Confused? Go shake your head to get those numbers out.

Surely my copy of I Am Muslim is not the only one with mismatched pages towards the end of the book. Quick, go check your copy! If yours is also mismatched, that’s one special copy that you own. In time to come, it will be a collector’s copy. Trust me, it will.

Even without the mismatched pages, I Am Muslim is a very special book. I’ve been dipping into it and liking what I’ve read so far. For a fair review, go read what The Bookaholic has to say about I Am Muslim. For me, all I want to say is the book reminds me of Philip Yancey’s What’s So Amazing About Grace?

What I want to be when I grow up …

Posted on 24 March 2007 @ 21:59 in Being Silly

I mean, when I retire …

On MSN with Anne in Toronto …

C: I want something I don’t have to deal with people face to face
C: From my panda writings on my blog, an online friend I met today thought I was working in wild life or something
C: I told him when I retire, I want to do something in that area
C: I want to go to China and be a panda poop scooper
A: WHAT???
A: OK, says D ….let her go and be a panda poop scooper

D is A’s hubby

———————–

Important Post:
Malaysian Bloggers’ Meet at Dina’s book launch!

“Souvenir” from Dina’s book launch

Posted on 23 March 2007 @ 12:26 in Being Silly

Not really, except I received the “souvenir” on the same evening as Dina’s book launch. No, not a traffic summons for illegal parking, but decorations all over my car from the feathered residents of Central Market’s car park!

I did take home some souvenirs from the book launch - three boxes of home-made cupcakes made by Dina’s sisters, and a notebook and pen from one of the sponsors. The latter is an example of how “kiasu” I can be - I saw Sharon and Saras carrying a bag each, asked about it and was told it was given when we sign in. Wait a minute, I thought, I didn’t get one. So I went back to the sign-in desk and actually asked for one! The explanation was that it was meant for a certain section of the guests, but then, Nora took one look at my face, took pity on me, and gave me one.

Malaysian Bloggers’ Meet at Dina’s book launch!

Posted on 22 March 2007 @ 01:09 in Friends

I was in some really excellent company yesterday evening.

First of all, it was the launch of Dina Zaman’s book, I Am Muslim. It was a very strict “by invitation only” affair (limited space and at least three guest lists - Dina’s, her publisher’s and her sponsor’s), and I was very fortunate to be invited (we’d met through Sharon Bakar, doyen of the Malaysian blogosphere).

Through Dina’s blog, we had been given an almost blow-by-blow account of everything leading up to the evening’s launch. As someone commented on her blog, it was like “the making of” , altho I’m not sure of the book or of the launch.

She’d also emailed us, her fortunate invitees, the evening’s programme, so we also knew what to expect. Plus the function was spread over two rooms, with the “official” part (the speeches, performances, readings, etc.) in one, and the food in the other (guess where I was in most of the evening).

Functions like Dina’s book launch are very much a time for bumping into familiar faces (some I’ve known longer and others new acquaintances), as well as making new ones. And it was like a roll call of who’s who of Malaysian bloggers.

Straight off the bat when I arrived - walking up the stairs - I saw a familiar form standing taller than everyone else in the room. Who? The bookaholic herself, Ms Bakar. Saras was with her - not a blogger but nevertheless a writer I met through Sharon, too. Then I saw See Ming - gloriously and beautifully pregnant with her first child - and Sim, the man responsible for her condition.

The familiar faces - Eric Forbes, Janet, Kenny Mah, Leon Wing, Ruby Ahmad, and shortly into the launch, at the back of the room, I caught sight of fellow Circa-user, Eliza. I took her to say hello to one of her regular commenters, Kenny Mah.

As for the new faces, a lady stopped me and asked if I was Chet. I said yes, and she identified herself as Animah. Animah! Fellow commenter on Sharon’s blog! I took her around to meet other bloggers and commenters. And then someone pointed out another Malaysian blogger royalty - Kak Teh! This was really turning into a Malaysian bloggers’ evening. I went up to say hello, and when I identified myself, a most pleasant smile and look of recognition came on her face.

You see, many of us have never met before Dina’s book launch yesterday evening, but we’ve known each other for a while, mainly through commenting on our favourite Malaysian blogger’s site - Sharon’s. Wait, she’s not Malaysian, lah. Well, not legally, but she’s probably more Malaysian than many Malaysians.

What was I saying? Oh yah, we’ve never met but when we were introduced or identified ourselves, the recognition was instant and we were soon chatting away like old friends.

Some of us lined up against the wall for a famous “Bloggers are liars” portrait. A few cameras were called into service, and when the different versions are posted, I will “steal” them (with credit, of course) and post them here. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to have Dina line up with us - she was busy in the other room having a little joint birthday celebration with her sister. Maybe a lesson to be learned here is never have a function in more than one room.

A slightly different group went on for a drink at a nearby mamak shop and left only because the shop was closing. At only 10:30 p.m.?? Haiyoh …

But by far the biggest surprise of the evening was meeting up with someone I used to hang out with more than 10 years ago. Dina had mentioned her name during her speech, and I found myself thinking it was probably the same person I used to hang out with, because how many people are nicknamed kacang? And it was her! I caught sight of her later and the look of recognition, even without the introduction, was instant.

Great evening. Thanks, Dina, for making it possible for old friends to meet and new friends to be made.

And yes, I managed to get a copy of I am Muslim before it sold out. I haven’t got it autographed yet. Author too busy, lah. Another time, please, Dina?

Sunday morning in the city

Posted on 18 March 2007 @ 13:57 in Memories, Personal

42 kilometres

That’s what I drove this morning from Taman Tun Dr Ismail into the city and back to my little place in Damansara Perdana.

It’s ages since I’ve been into the heart of Kuala Lumpur (Chinatown area) so this morning, finding myself bright eyed and alert at 9:30 a.m., I decided to lock por (Cantonese phrase for “going into town” ) and just drive around.

Oh, on the way, I went by my new office just to check out the parking situation so I know where to find parking when I eventually move there. So, from TTDI, I drove through the private KLGCC road to get to Jalan Damansara, past Medan Damansara and into a little known part of the Damansara area where I literally drove around the hub of shophouses and the new office building to look at where I could park during office hours.

Having found what I wanted to know, I went on my way, past Jalan Beringin and down Jalan Semantan to get into the city. At the bottom of the flyover joining Jalan Duta, a traffic policeman stopped the cars to let some runners pass. Runners could only mean one thing - marathon. True enough, later on, I saw messages on the overhead electronic sign boards (the ones positioned in the middle of roads for drivers to see) about road closures in various parts of the city between 4:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. due to the KL International Marathon.

Road closures?

Yup, and I encountered at least two during my drive into the city this morning.

At the far end of Jalan Duta, going up the flyover to get on Jalan Parliamen - that was closed. I ended up driving some road that I don’t know the name of except along the way, there was a turn-off that led into Jalan Bangsar (but heading out of the city, not where I want to go), and from there onto Brickfields and into the city. Yay!

In the city, I found myself with Central Market on my left, and for a moment, I debated whether to turn into the car park, leave my car there and walk around the Chinatown area. I decided not to, and carried on driving.

I was in the heart of the city, where the Sri Jaya buses used to terminate their run at Foch Avenue and take on a new load of passengers for the return journey out of the city. Even at that early hour, the city was already packed with cars on the road, and people on foot.

I kept to the left and followed the road onto Jalan Tun Perak (formerly known as Mountbatten Road). At a red light, I looked around and saw OCBC Bank on my right. This is where Robinsons used to be, I found myself thinking and took up my handphone to take a picture.

Robinsons was the one and only department store in the city when I was growing up. It was where I used to hang out on Saturday mornings. In it was a music store (I think it was called Music City) where my friends would go to look for me if I wandered off from them while in Robinson’s. But I digress …

With the handphone in camera mode, I looked around me and took some shots of the scene right in front of my windscreen, including this one here:

Overhead, an LRT line; behind it, a cluster of buildings, the tallest of which is the DBKL (or Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur, i.e., Kuala Lumpur City Hall); to the left, next to the traffic light, the beginning of the Court buildings.

I’d meant to turn left to find my way into the city again, but when the light turned green and the vehicles started moving, I found the road blocked for, you guessed it, the marathon runners.

So there was nothing to do but drive back to where I’d come from.

42 kilometres in less than two hours. A waste of petrol or time? Not at all. It helped me to get to know the various roads and to “own” my beloved city once again.

Sneak Preview

Posted on 17 March 2007 @ 00:08 in Books, People

Kam Raslan’s new book, Confessions of an Old Boy: The Dato’ Hamid Adventures, will be available in the bookshops next month, but I got to touch it and flip through it earlier this evening. I also got his permission to post a picture here (that’s him in green in the background):

This is not his first book. Nine years ago, he co-authored Generation: A Collection of Contemporary Malaysian Ideas, with Amir Muhammad and Sheryll Stothard. The book is still in print, and Reza and I each bought a copy, and got Kam to sign them for us.

Check out a young Amir (left) and young Kam (middle) on the inside front flyleaf of the book!

Confessions of an Old Boy: The Dato’ Hamid Adventures is one of two local books to be launched in the next month or so. The other book is Dina Zaman’s I Am Muslim, which will be officially launched on 21 March. A third local book, A Backpack and a Bit of Luck by Zhang Su Li, was launched early this month.

What with KLILF 2007 (KL International Literary Festival) taking place at the end of the month, and the various local monthly events happening around the city (MPH’s LitBloggers’ Breakfast Club every 4th Saturday of the month and Readings at Seksan every last Saturday of the month), it’s an exciting time for us book lovers in the KL / Klang Valley.

There’s another book-related event happening soon, but I can’t say anything about it yet. All will be revealed in due time.

The women in my life

Posted on 8 March 2007 @ 13:21 in Women

Happy International Women’s Day!

Thanks to the reminder from Dina, here’s my tribute to the three most important women in my life.

My mother who left her hometown of Sandakan, Sabah after the second World War (after burying both her adopted parents during the war), sailed to Singapore in search of an uncle, travelled up north when she could not find him, and eventually settled in Kuala Lumpur where, helped by women friends she’d met along the way, she found a place to stay and a job, too, and later met my father, married him, had three children, but continued working till the 1970s when she stopped working outside but came back inside to help my father in the Chinese medicine shop started by my grandfather in the 1930s. Despite an active life, she succumbed to Alzheimer’s a few years ago and now lives in a nursing home where she is well cared for by a team of care givers.

My sister who, when my mother told her I wanted to go to university after being retrenched in the mid-1980s, asked why didn’t I think of it earlier, and went on to support me through my three years at the University of East Anglia in England. If not for her, I would still be a katak di bawah tempurung.

And then there was our nanny who had to come out to work after her husband squandered the family fortune and ran away, leaving her to look after three small children (he returned later), was introduced to my mother who was looking for someone to care for her first-born while she went to work, and went on to look after the two who came later. Nanny was more “mother” to us than our real mother was, but in the process, neglected her own children when they needed her most. She lived with us until the mid-1970s before moving in with her eldest daughter and family (her reasoning was that she better spend time with her own family while she was still able-bodied to help them in any way, instead of waiting till she got too frail to be anything but a burden to them). We kept in touch with Nanny; she would visit and stay a few days now and then. She was with us when I flew off to England for my studies and had told me she might never see me again (she was in her 70s by then), but was one of the first persons I saw when I stepped into the shop on my two visits home. She passed away in 1996.

And then there are all the wonderful women I’ve met along the way. Some have exited my life, others have stayed, and a few have left more than an impression. No names, except maybe for one …

Beth Chin in Turners Falls, MA!

Love ya, Beth.