Skip to main content

KLIBF Day 1.

So we managed to set up the booth without anybody's head getting chopped off. No cats got impaled either although I don't know if the annoying kids singing the nursery-songs-turned-nasyid on the other side survived or not.

I'm at Booth #3030 at Tun Razak 3, all day and every day. The booth's name is under Koperasi Buku Malaysia/MLSI but I'm hawking books for Suarasuara Publications. I've got books from Suarasuara, catalogues from RA Fine Arts Gallery, the Mea Culpa book I told you about (only RM20!) and a bunch of second-hand books you may find worthwhile.

Even if you're not interested in any of those wares, and you're at the book fair, do drop by anyway and have a chat. Because I am sad and lonely*. I haven't checked for wifi yet, but I doubt it. (I don't even have a plug point to plug my ibook in.)

I didn't have a proper look around yet, having been round only the floor I am so far. I'm taking it easy this year since this is the first time I'm going to be spending ten-fricking-days here. However, I'm lucky that Al-Ameen (3147 - 3149, TR3) is on the same floor as me. I dropped by twice. The first time I barely missed both Faisal Tehrani and Nisah Haron, or so the salesgirl told me. Later, I had another chance to drop by after I had lunch, and finally got to meet Faisal.

This is my first time meeting him, and when I introduced myself to him while I was shoving the books into his face for him to sign (there were three and each had a different message--something I really appreciate!), I was surprised he actually knew me!

We had a nice but too brief chat (his fans kept coming... and coming...) and he posed to me a challenge which I shall certainly consider. Won't tell details yet, don't want to jinx it ;) Anyway, I'm glad I finally got to meet him. He gives off a different impression than the one you might get if you read his often very opinionated blogposts which just goes to say you can't judge a person by his or her blog. Am looking forward to reading my newly-bought Faisal Tehrani books.

So! All in all, a good day for a first day. Tired but happy, so the cliché goes.

*not really.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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...

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 ...

An Ipoh Ghost Story.

When I was growing up in Ipoh in the 90s, the only good bookshops around were Mubaruk's, which specialised in textbooks (and still does), and Novelhut, the second-hand bookstore that used to be in Yik Foong (and maybe still is there, but I haven't checked in years since I prefer going to their Ipoh Parade outlet when I'm in town). There was also a pretty good bookstore in the Parkson Grand in Ipoh Parade which could have been a Berita outlet, but I don't remember. This was in the days before they expanded Ipoh Parade into what it is today. (And temporarily causing the Convent school next door to consider moving.) I recall this because I was thinking of when exactly I started reading "serious" fiction, trying to pinpoint the years when I moved from young adult/fantasy/sci-fi books into non-genre fiction. I still can't remember, but it brought back memories of a book I bought from a short-lived bookshop in Old Town. Mum had brought me there, because she must...