From Majapahit to Putrajaya: Book Launch

Farish Noor will be, finally, back in Malaysia end of this month. Catch him at the launch of his latest book From Majapahit to Putrajaya at Silverfish Books, 67-1 Jalan Telawi 3, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur on the 29th of July 2006, at 6.00pm. Farish Noor will be introduced by Sumit Mandal, after which Farish Noor will talk briefly about what he has been doing over the last two years travelling in India, Pakistan, Europe and various other parts of the world, and the state of Malaysian politics from his POV.

Farish A Noor is, without a doubt, Malaysia's top public intellectual.

Impassioned, controversial, courageous: Farish Noor's writings on religious extremism and 'moral panic', social conformity and the 'New Generation Post-modern Malay' makes him an indispensable voice in Malaysia.
Clive Kessler, Emeritus Professor, School of Sociology and Anthropology, UNSW Sydney

Admission is free, but do RSVP (Tel: 603-228 448 37 Usha/Phek Chin) as space is limited.

I personally have not read this book. (Can't avoid it though, it's everywhere.) Any readers out there want to share their thoughts about it?

Comments

I'm going to Clarion West!

So yeah! I'm going to Clarion West this year! If you didn't know, Clarion West is a really awesome science fiction and fantasy writing workshop that runs for six weeks in summer every year at Seattle and is usually taught by a faculty of award-winning authors and editors. Many students who attend this workshop also go on to have illustrious writing careers of their own too. I've been meaning to attend this workshop (or its sister workshop, Clarion UCSD, which is the original Clarion workshop but runs in San Diego around the same time) for years now but never had the courage to apply. Many reasons as to why: didn't think I'd have money for the most part, didn't think I was good enough, didn't think I could leave work long enough, didn't think I could leave family behind, etc. But something sparked inside of me late last year. I felt I should at least give it a go this time round. So I did. They requested a sample of my best work and an applicatio...

REVIEW: Confessions of an Old Boy by Kam Raslan

Kam Raslan's right. In the preface for his new book, Confessions of an Old Boy: The Dato' Hamid Adventures he writes that we've known Dato' Hamid all our lives. Seeing as my own dad is an old boy of MCKK, the people I get to meet when he drags me to an Old Boy function and the people he tells me of, reflect the characters found in Kam's book. It really does feel like I've known Dato' Hamid all my life. Dato' Hamid is a civil servant of the Tunku Abdul Rahman generation. He is the sort of person you rarely see nowadays, a fine example of the anachronistic Malay. This generation, groomed in the ways of the colonial British would be out of place not just in 21st century Malaysia, but in Britain too. And yet, Dato' Hamid, in all his snobbishness and patronising ways, is essentially a Malaysian. Without people like him, our country would probably never exist at all. At least not like we know it now. I'm glad that Kam Raslan decided to capture this ...

Lesson: Commemorative Covers are Lame.

Well, I got the first day cover that commemorates the 35th anniversary of the establishment diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia that I mentioned a couple of posts ago. Except that it's not a first day cover, it's a commemorative cover, which is a slightly different beast. I guess I should read the news article properly next time! The difference between the two is that first day covers are specially-designed envelopes stuck on with specially-designed stamps, and marked with a specially-designed postmark. A commemorative cover is a specially-designed envelope... and that's it. All in all, it's an unremarkable affair, especially if you're used to well-designed first day covers (not that Malaysian first day covers are well-designed... but I digress). Oh sure, a commemorative cover has a stamp printed right on to it but that's just like an overglorified aerogramme. Lame. On the whole, what a disappointment. I haven't been collecting first day cover...

Ted Mahsun

Search This Blog