Ted Mahsun

...and we killed it !

From Jeff Vandermeer's Ecstatic Days, Jaymee Goh writes (too) briefly about Malaysian science fiction and fantasy : I’m not home enough to be able to judge Malaysian sf/f very much. I’ve got one book from PTS Publishing, and I didn’t like it. The writing was poor, like that of a new scifi writer who has yet to master the craft of storytelling before going on about How! Cool! This! Hero! Is! I like wish fulfillment fiction as much as the next person – it’s one of the reasons why I read sf/f – but like my friend cycads says, about another different genre of writing in Malaysia, “Can do better.” However she fails to give any examples, save for a link to the science fiction section on the PTS website.

In past twelve months, I have worked in an art gallery, taught English to a variety of non-English speaking but very willing to learn students, taught English to unwilling students (ugh), programmed a computer game, formed a company to sell said video game, had a baby girl, got into a fight with my brother (jealous of the baby), got into a fight with my mother (protective of her favourite son, i.e. not me), and finally, moved into a new house, as far away as I possibly could afford from my insane family. I can, with all honesty, say that writing is much better than everything I've mentioned above. Well... save for having a baby girl. That was pretty awesome. The new house is pretty nice too. So! What's been going on with you then?

PRETTY NEAT HUH!

Four years ago, around the time I started this blog , my wish was to write a novel about the country I live in, Malaysia. I wanted to write my version of the Great Malaysian Novel, something that delivered the essence of Malaysia within 100,000 words or so. A novel that would bring together varied characters that reflected the many aspects of Malaysiana, yet without descending into the stereotypical tropes the Malaysian Tourism Board seems to celebrate. That was then. I have since realised several awkward things about my ambition. I don't know enough about my own country to write about it. And the most awkward: I've fallen out of love with my country. I no longer want to write about the things I wanted to write about, because everything just makes me feel sick. How to continue? My only solution right now is to wait for the malaise to fade away. In the mean time, my fantasy novel(s?) get written. Maybe what I'm trying to say is, I'm just not old enough; not experienced...

I have a list of 3 countries I really want to visit, and number one on that list North Korea. North Korea is fascinating in that it is now one of only two truly communist countries in our time and also the only country that is properly Orwellian, down to its worship of a Big Brother-type figure. I've been reading in interest in how North Koreans live their lives, mostly from brief articles on the BBC News website, so when a book like Nothing to Envy , written by LA Times journalist Barbara Demick, gets published, my attention is piqued. But when it wins a prestigious literary prize , well! Consider that a must-buy then. Check out a review at the Guardian , while I go to Kinokuniya and ask if they have it.

Love, love, LOVE this picture. Via the very resourceful murakami Community Livejournal .

In today's Mata Harian: Christians offer Muslims the use of 'Jesus Christ' by Yu See Lee GUNUNG RAPAT: In another twist in the controversial saga, Malaysian Catholics have offered to Malaysian Muslims the use of the words 'Jesus Christ' in return for allowing them the use of the word 'Allah' in their Catholic weekly, The Herald. 'This is our way of expressing gratitude, a way of saying "no hard feelings, eh, chaps?"' said a member of the church body who declined to be named. This has resulted in yet another controversy, this time among Catholics who protest the decision. 'We have been using the name Jesus Christ for centuries, even millennia. We called him Jesus Christ our saviour back when the Bible was only being read by the unwashed Hebrews,' said Yvette Yvangel. 'It's just not fair to let the Muslims have their way with it now." Many others are also dismayed with the decision, especially those who were vocal against...

  Neil Gaiman's personal library is like... well... it's like a library . A really nice and cosy library.

Tunku Halim has an intriguing post which starts with the sentence: "On 26 April 1994, in an elaborate ceremony at the Istana Negara, Tuanku Simon Mackay was appointed as Malaysia’s 10th Yang DiPertuan Agong"  What follows is the best speculative writing I've read this year. Tunku Halim, I want more!

A review I wrote ages ago finally got published in The Star . Well, that review had a crazy journey from my keyboard to print, but I shall not dwell on the matter. This review was published in The Star on 28 August 2009 . Marathon chronicles Review by TED MAHSUN What I Talk About When I Talk About Running Author: Haruki Murakami Publisher: Harvill Secker, 180 pages PEOPLE don’t usually associate running marathons with writing novels. Not Haruki Murakami. For this award-winning Japanese author, the act of training and eventually taking part in a marathon is no different from the arduous task of writing a novel. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is Murakami’s attempt to coagulate and combine his thoughts on these two seemingly unrelated activities into one book. As a result, this book ends up being a memoir as much as it is about running and writing. The book is divided into chapters that are essentially journal entries, chronicling Murakami’s progress as he ...

Just a small update for you. I've just had the craziest week... and signs are pointing that the weeks to come are just going to get crazier. Probably not as crazy as winning RM50,000 though, which I (along with my fellow team members, Ash and Lina) did. A couple of months ago, me, Ash and Lina decided to take part in a little competition . All we had to do was send in a proposal to design a computer game. No problem. Except that I was doing (and am still doing) the CELTA course , an intensive English teacher training course. I ended up having to accomodate sleepless nights just to get the presentation for the game proposal, my lesson plan for a class the day before the game presentation AND an assignment done in time. So! The lesson here: burn the midnight oil if you want to end up holding a mock cheque like this: Hurray!

1. Excuse, please. Guys, it's "excuse me , please." Every time I hear this on the train I have to fight the urge to reply, "excuse who ?" and not move aside. 2. Pronouncing the word "liaise" as "lie-us". It's pronounced "lee-eh-zz", not "liars". I swear if I hear someone call me a liar(s) again I'm gonna punch him/her in the ear. 3. Could of, should of, would of, must of It's could've, should've, would've, must've . Why the hell is that so hard to get??? Signed, Ted Your Friendly Neighbourhood Grammar Nazi

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...

Waking up before 11am would be nice. Also might get me in less trouble at work. UPDATE: Epic fail. Woke up at 10 minutes to noon. UPDATEUPDATE: I can no longer tell the difference between June and July. DOUBLE EPIC FAIL

I have a little time on my hands again! Time to blog! Can't be bothered to continue where I left off the previous time because I don't remember I wanted to talk about now so I'll just mention something strange I saw in the online edition of a widely read national newspaper. The recent issue our esteemed politicians have gotten themselves in a fit concerns The Red Menace, more specifically, Chin Peng, leader of the ageing and no longer scary Communist Party of Malaya, and whether he can be forgiven and allowed to return home to our country to die. With that in mind, here's a screenshot of today's local news page of said national newspaper: Take note of the news items in the red boxes. While our benevolent leaders don't seem to want to forgive the communists closer to home, they seem to have no qualms with getting in bed with Chin Peng's sponsors. It all becomes even more weird when you take into account that the newspaper in question here is called " The...

Well, I'm back. I thought I'd better start blogging again before some part of my brain starts sprouting cobwebs or something. The reason I stopped blogging was things were starting to become a little out of control in my life and so I had to put blogging on the back burner while I... ...goddammit. I was just called into a meeting. I'll finish this rant whenever.

I didn't intend to blog again so soon, but news of JG Ballard's death kind of shocked me. I know I should've expected it, since he's been ill for some time now, but I guess I was hoping he would make it. Haven't read Crash , but I watched the Cronenberg movie and thought it was really bizarre. Loved his more conventional––if one can truly say that about him––science fiction novels though. Okay, back to being on hiatus.

Received an email from BookXcess : Hi Ted! We're having a super promotion in conjunction with the World Book Day celebrations. Even our latest shipment arrived in time for our latest sale! :-D Award-winning books with 20% discount, free books for nett purchases above RM20, RM20 vouchers for nett purchases above RM200... there's just so much going on at BookXcess! We would truly appreciate it if you can help spread the word in your blog to your esteemed readers and share the joy of reading more for less at BookXcess! Attached is the e-poster we have created for the occasion. Wishing you a wonderful weekend! Hope to see you soon at BookXcess! Warmest regards, Andrew & Jacqueline Yap Click on the poster to enlarge. Sorry this isn't a proper post or anything. Just don't have the time to concentrate on blogging at the moment.

I'm still breathing! But this blog seems to be on life support. Well, you know the story ... busy and all that. Hopefully I'll be back in full force around March or April.