After
a couple of false starts during a trial run (including me being a day ahead of
schedule), I was finally able to Skype with Dr Habibah
Ashari and her students for her “Exploring Malaysia's Diversity through Film and Fiction” course taught at Ohio University.
Me
being new to Skyping, I was fascinated by the whole process and how useful it
can be for classrooms. The delayed reaction from speaking and hearing, however, threw me off a bit; it's the same
problem when talking long distance, but when Skyping you can see their mouths
move or you’re wondering why is it taking them so long to react or respond? Are they hearing me, understanding me? Then there’s the exaggerated pause between answering
one question and hearing the next, as students took turns asking me questions
about two of my short stories from Lovers and Strangers Revisited, “Only in Malaysia” and “Home for Hari Raya”.
They
asked questions about how I arrived at the names of the characters (sometimes
you try them on to see how they fit); how much of the story is true or based on fact (see story behind the story for “Only in Malaysia” and also “Home for Hari Raya”); why I revise the stories after publication (I’m still trying to sell
them to other markets); and are the characters stereotypes (no, just typical of
their respective races, recognizable as your neighbors as pointed out in reviews); and why is it necessary to identify the characters by
race (a political hot button issue since race is often synonymous with religion,
all Malays are Muslim at birth, which I also had to clarify for the French translation
of Lovers and Strangers Revisited ).
For
my end, with the call being so early in the morning, (6:30 am my time—for them
it was 6:30 the previous evening) and having just woken up, I was no doubt less
coherent and maybe more defensive than I would be, say, after breakfast or
mid-morning. Plus I was trying to take
in all the details, and with the above-mentioned delayed reaction, at times, it
took me awhile to figure out which one was speaking, even though there weren’t
that many students on hand. There was
also this minor jerky effect from any movements, so I had to really concentrate to avoid getting distracted by the
movements, the newness of Skying, plus seeing my own live-action upper body on the screen in
front of me (lower left corner) that was also moving. When I’m
teaching, I’m usually not so self-conscious. But then there are those days you wish you could be invisible or elsewhere...
Overall
it was a great experience. Just wished a few things I had said off the cuff I could
take back or clarify. I’m sure this
happens when I’m teaching too like if I make a joke that no one picks up on, or
make a quasi political comment that could easily be taken out of context. But life is all about learning, and thanks to
Ohio University, I just learned a new skill—how to Skype. I can only get better at it. In fact, I then called two brothers in two different states that same day and
asked them, “Do You Skype? It’s easy!” I
even got both of them Skyping for their first time that very day!
A
few days later, I got
an email from Frederick Lewis, Associate Professor at School of Media Arts & Studies at Ohio
University who confirmed that his proposal for filming “Home for Hari Raya" is nearing final approval, that the screenplay adaptation is in progress, and that the connections with UiTM is being strengthened. His team of film (and drama?) students from Ohio University will be using UiTM Shah Alam as a logistical base for the filming project in December. This is what I wanted to hear, that everything is on track.
That’ll
be another new experience that I’m looking forward to in 2012!
Here are links to some
of my author-to-author interviews of first novelists:
Golda
Mowe author of Iban Dream and Iban Journey.
Preeta
Samarasan author of Evening is the Whole Day.
Chuah
Guat Eng, author of Echoes of Silence and Days
of Change.
Plus:
Five part Maugham
and Me series
Beheaded on
Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—Part
I
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