tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70109536411459566082024-03-13T03:14:15.475-07:00Borneo Expat WriterA blog about an American expat in Borneo writing about his books, his writing experiences, and his advice about writing and success.Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.comBlogger352125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-18464605381884248802024-02-01T03:02:00.000-08:002024-02-01T03:02:05.701-08:00“On Fridays” UiTM Google Meet That I Almost Missed!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqgDZLoBa98HquOd1_6wqXQoRgKc3aB8uSEZ_ug_3MfVQbufzACoff8-GK_Q-aV0N2iYJ4x2gJTT5Ec2akmS7d4RYSy6dSBWGxPW9A5zpZh8q7CNNTfb8TyZ9r4uUC9COwzLUfRS-4S_u0BONiBS6zNLXLfryLk17Q0WTxvW9DTfkPUmG1eH2crrL/s1067/Uitm-OF-23-intro.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1067" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqgDZLoBa98HquOd1_6wqXQoRgKc3aB8uSEZ_ug_3MfVQbufzACoff8-GK_Q-aV0N2iYJ4x2gJTT5Ec2akmS7d4RYSy6dSBWGxPW9A5zpZh8q7CNNTfb8TyZ9r4uUC9COwzLUfRS-4S_u0BONiBS6zNLXLfryLk17Q0WTxvW9DTfkPUmG1eH2crrL/s320/Uitm-OF-23-intro.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">May of last year, I was up at 5:15 a.m. to
get my son off to school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not feeling
well (lack of sleep, perhaps), I went back to bed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A phone notice woke me up, informing me that
my story “On Fridays” from <i>Lovers and Strangers Revisited</i>, which I <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2024/01/rewriting-lovers-and-strangers-revisited.html">recently rewrote and blogged about</a>, was being discussed in a Collaborative Teaching at Universiti
Teknologi MARA or UiTM—Penang (Bertam campus), led by Associate Professor Dr. Mohamad
Rashidi Pakri of USM (discussing the literary aspect of the story) and Nazima
Versay Kudus of UiTM.</span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Previously, during Covid lockdown, I had
been invited by Nazima to join Google Meet to answer <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2020/05/neighbours-google-meet-with-uitmpenang.html">questions about my short
story "Neighbours"</a> also from <i>Lovers and Strangers Revisited</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>for her Faculty of Health Science students.
This time around, since it involved about
sixty students from several classes from Health Science, who are learning about
narrative writing, it was more practical to record and share the session among
the students than to get them all together at one time, even online.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Surprisingly, I had not been forewarned, or was I a last-minute inclusion—hey, let’s wake up Robert to see if he’s available!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Either way, I was too late for the discussion,
but I did manage to join the Q & A session.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bIRM-t5fKBLixRdVnWDshvkj85vgM8b58Zj7GwIiIv3hKb3jdb_sfCK2QWrkkFAx13mzBOoAE0IEde16YkLlGmE9sLmHHFQw_nVFpSNAcR3qkPp5sExIwRiogUGO4gw18v1o1e6dPxr_8UVu0o_YBMRRQArMVIGtJPphanw7fXFfpOQg0cafOC42/s4002/Uitm-OF-23-Literary%20Review%20cover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4002" data-original-width="2734" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bIRM-t5fKBLixRdVnWDshvkj85vgM8b58Zj7GwIiIv3hKb3jdb_sfCK2QWrkkFAx13mzBOoAE0IEde16YkLlGmE9sLmHHFQw_nVFpSNAcR3qkPp5sExIwRiogUGO4gw18v1o1e6dPxr_8UVu0o_YBMRRQArMVIGtJPphanw7fXFfpOQg0cafOC42/s320/Uitm-OF-23-Literary%20Review%20cover.jpg" width="219" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p>“On Fridays,” the first story from <i>Lovers
and Strangers Revisited </i>has been published over a dozen times in seven countries. In 2003, it appeared in <i>The Literary
Review</i> (USA) and <i>Frank</i> (France) in a joint publication. I had sent the story to the editor of <i>Frank</i>,
unaware that he had been asked to be the guest editor of <i>The Literary Review</i>,
so he chose “On Fridays” for their joint issue on Expat Writing. The story, about an expat living in Penang,
Malaysia who sits beside a crying woman in a taxi, later appeared <a href="https://www.asiancha.com/content/view/697/112/ ">as a reprint
for <i>Cha: An Asian Literary Journal</i> in 2010</a>. Since then, the story had been revised several
times in my effort to finally get it right… </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I would like to have listened in the
session, to hear what the students thought of the story since they would be freer
to discuss it without the presence of the author—for fear of embarrassing
themselves or offending him—so why did we have to read that stupid story in the
first place? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It nearly put me to sleep!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully, no one said that or felt that way!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBh0hPnd1lwpzjMzen1-JP2SoaDmev0zRz7l8MzPRxJVflYVUaVP9oL_jxhjWpCSsgcFH1QG6Ux7AiNiA129xu-8bxrn-c_Kh-7aQVI8E08A8nAKK7nxZHXiMhob7mkNxgOWNPQrC4il6-I_O4y7LpAPBAoAT5jHzDEQsSwlf6QC0B4m-A3ZWdas7c/s1280/Uitm-OF-23.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="723" data-original-width="1280" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBh0hPnd1lwpzjMzen1-JP2SoaDmev0zRz7l8MzPRxJVflYVUaVP9oL_jxhjWpCSsgcFH1QG6Ux7AiNiA129xu-8bxrn-c_Kh-7aQVI8E08A8nAKK7nxZHXiMhob7mkNxgOWNPQrC4il6-I_O4y7LpAPBAoAT5jHzDEQsSwlf6QC0B4m-A3ZWdas7c/w400-h226/Uitm-OF-23.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">By the time I came on board, or online, (freshly
showered and wide awake) some students may have already left (is he coming or
not?) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The questions they did ask me were
straight forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why did he, the unnamed
first-person character, feel compelled to hold her hand instead of just
speaking, “Hi, how are you?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was it important
that she wore traditional clothes?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did
the story really take place?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was it a
true story?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More than once, in the past,
I had been asked, “Have you found her?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Are
you still looking for her?” Many of these questions I had discussed in the
<a href="https://thestorybehindthestoryoflsr.blogspot.com/2009/06/on-fridays-story-behind-story-of-lovers.html">Story Behind the Story</a> (which I wrote for all seventeen stories
for the MPH publication), about how the story came to be written, how the story
evolved after its initial publication, what significant changes I made to the
story (and why) that led to subsequent publications overseas…</span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Having wrote the story in 1988 (first published
in the March ’89 issue of <i>Female</i> in Singapore), I feel honored that the
story “On Fridays” is still being taught in 2023, 35 years later, and it still
resonates with university students who can identify with the characters, even a
lonely expat inside a share taxi on a rainy day sitting beside a crying Malay woman
reading a letter on blue paper…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>—Borneo Expat Writer<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 27pt;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">My interviews with other Malaysian writers:</span></p><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-ivy-ngeow-robert-raymer-chats.html">Ivy Ngeow</a><span lang="EN-MY" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-bidi-font-family: Times-Italic;"> author of </span><i>Cry of the Flying Rhino,</i><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-golda-mowe-robert-raymer.html">Golda Mowe</a> author of <i>Iban Dream</i> and <i>Iban Journey</i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "" serif "" , "serif";"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2018/01/interview-preeta-samarasan-robert.html">Preeta Samarasan</a>, author of <i>Evening is the Whole Day, </i>finalist for the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2009.</span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-family: "" serif "" , "serif";"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/10/interview-chuah-guat-eng-robert-raymer.html">Chuah Guat Eng</a>, author of <i>Echoes of Silence</i> and <i>Days of Change.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "" serif "" , "serif";"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "" serif "" , "serif";"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/interview-malachi-edwin-vethamani.html">Malachi Edwin Vethamani</a>, author of <i>Complicated Lives</i> and <i>Life Happens</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "" serif "" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-61050009486753716992024-01-11T19:57:00.000-08:002024-02-01T03:10:51.177-08:00Rewriting Lovers and Strangers Revisited<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvmURzsF62FbsZAOneOafkCdAjJznje9R4Q0M0Dk_R4XM8AwWV_rYC1V05To56ba-gAui7cnUyDW3H6-_Enpz4uNc4wQR0P6vn1sdmXhmn6CvTM33N2pC62_QZkMVAn-J074nmv87OcQ30oP1mKlXQyVJNR-ikvCZ9-Ye6eSKrzUkfu7SJFSrggftd/s4032/lovers%20and%20strangers-first%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvmURzsF62FbsZAOneOafkCdAjJznje9R4Q0M0Dk_R4XM8AwWV_rYC1V05To56ba-gAui7cnUyDW3H6-_Enpz4uNc4wQR0P6vn1sdmXhmn6CvTM33N2pC62_QZkMVAn-J074nmv87OcQ30oP1mKlXQyVJNR-ikvCZ9-Ye6eSKrzUkfu7SJFSrggftd/w150-h200/lovers%20and%20strangers-first%20cover.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpH3Satsoz7NROE1fo1U693iedsaDWhjBDG5I7Uvo6Td5rEpWEdZDvomLyQv9S2Vh1dzberK3FUcEAKWuy5AdmUuEspUxfY7kmSsMWQfE22sxC61SMT97As5KgTYVU5g48P4ft2dehMQrFD_qkYA97eCSPHr61btRJyPez6_gFNILepGyEnEiAbaB/s299/L&SR200.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpH3Satsoz7NROE1fo1U693iedsaDWhjBDG5I7Uvo6Td5rEpWEdZDvomLyQv9S2Vh1dzberK3FUcEAKWuy5AdmUuEspUxfY7kmSsMWQfE22sxC61SMT97As5KgTYVU5g48P4ft2dehMQrFD_qkYA97eCSPHr61btRJyPez6_gFNILepGyEnEiAbaB/w134-h200/L&SR200.jpg" width="134" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg475It2HPTAhs9-xp6EG8q1Ue68c8kGIdLA9BoKhWWGo0dq08cPUMv8-06EE-yhBxo98VM9opiikCXGJOuPP1vlNFBx-jCbUS18e9zwk6SUj1xTR9Ar7Cah_oqRVH645O_J4TZIw5VgQgmmkQbyQyku1CBKVT97V1SUDeS-hznfMU5cKTVUlCg_KWo/s1600/LSR-front%20cover.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1066" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg475It2HPTAhs9-xp6EG8q1Ue68c8kGIdLA9BoKhWWGo0dq08cPUMv8-06EE-yhBxo98VM9opiikCXGJOuPP1vlNFBx-jCbUS18e9zwk6SUj1xTR9Ar7Cah_oqRVH645O_J4TZIw5VgQgmmkQbyQyku1CBKVT97V1SUDeS-hznfMU5cKTVUlCg_KWo/w133-h200/LSR-front%20cover.JPG" width="133" /></a><br /></div></div></div><o:p><br /></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Every few
years I get this urge to rewrite the 17 stories from <i>Lovers and Strangers
Revisited</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No doubt that seems
silly and a waste of time for most writers since the book has already been
published. Had I not done so, it wouldn't been published a second or a third time!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US">Originally published in Singapore as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lovers and Strangers</i> (Heinemann Asia,1993, Writing in Asia
Series), I revisited the stories in 2005 when a Malaysian lecturer requested to
use the collection for a course on Malaysia and Singapore literature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book—after consulting with an editor and
going back to the original inspiration for each story, visiting many of the
original settings and overhauling the stories, adding new scenes,
back-stories, and endings—was republished as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lovers and Strangers</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Revisited</i>
(Silverfish Books).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 1cm;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZqGq_uAX_LrNH2reG4seQAGaG3FnApbirg9CE7fgyBm8Mbqpxvb76FQTqVXp03r4Ghoyv50NXijgJrhRDNzc0tRLwJynrhWxdFGFldcqymWNA1lkBxHJAdl_HljPNAEp2VJHCt9hcuEVDig6p6HqYXQA0jINpGnOGrqSZoIslqv26dR-ubw3EXYL2/s1600/Pop%20Award.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1047" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZqGq_uAX_LrNH2reG4seQAGaG3FnApbirg9CE7fgyBm8Mbqpxvb76FQTqVXp03r4Ghoyv50NXijgJrhRDNzc0tRLwJynrhWxdFGFldcqymWNA1lkBxHJAdl_HljPNAEp2VJHCt9hcuEVDig6p6HqYXQA0jINpGnOGrqSZoIslqv26dR-ubw3EXYL2/w210-h320/Pop%20Award.JPG" width="210" /></a></div><br /><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">In 2008, a third revised version with two
additional stories was published by MPH, which </span>I wrote
about in a blog about <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/11/publishing-books-in-malaysia-and.html">publishing in Malaysia and Singapore</a>, that later <span lang="EN-US">won the 2009 Popular-The Star
Reader’s Choice Awards and was translated into French.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To complement the MPH edition, I wrote a blog
series, <a href="https://thestorybehindthestoryoflsr.blogspot.com/2009/06/on-fridays-story-behind-story-of-lovers.html">The Story Behind the Story</a>, about the development and the significant changes of each story that led
to their various magazine/literary journal publications—often used as writing/teaching
aids in schools, colleges, and universities. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-language: EN-SG;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
main character from the story <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/01/neighbours-by-robert-raymer.html">“Neighbors”</a> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-language: EN-SG;"> was featured by an expat teacher
in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New Straits Times, </i><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2010/09/neighbours-comment-are-you-mrs-koh-by.html">“Are You Mrs. Koh?”</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">So why revise the stories </span><i><span lang="EN-US">again</span></i><span lang="EN-US">? I’ve
always felt that </span><i><span lang="EN-US">Lovers and Strangers Revisited</span></i><span lang="EN-US">, based on its publishing track record, deserves a wider audience both
inside and outside of Malaysia/Singapore. For example, the collection is still available in French by Editions GOPE as <i>Trois
autres Malaisie. </i> In fact, the publisher will be exhibiting the
collection along with his other Malaysian titles at a French book fair in Kuala
Lumpur on 24 March 2024, which should translate into more sales!.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevqWIuMxuN7QJM8SeQmBuoANWw_hktSEJt9YECxak1aI9C1XZmtciCaXWUUClnOP6M8T9Andp1tS0jgMN1SC5Qa16A7TSgmaIdcxBiV3_G2wt6xB0FrUgFeqFUY1ZwG7nmK5_Sxh3WdO_xmKrMEeEJgVPyFCfG3DBvVLbDt5Kh6rhfiNjJ8z1uaRC/s414/Front%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="284" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevqWIuMxuN7QJM8SeQmBuoANWw_hktSEJt9YECxak1aI9C1XZmtciCaXWUUClnOP6M8T9Andp1tS0jgMN1SC5Qa16A7TSgmaIdcxBiV3_G2wt6xB0FrUgFeqFUY1ZwG7nmK5_Sxh3WdO_xmKrMEeEJgVPyFCfG3DBvVLbDt5Kh6rhfiNjJ8z1uaRC/w138-h200/Front%20cover.jpg" width="138" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5E7Ba8nTSZeC2KPrqhzARhx4SkBZUDMs45Bp-ryZr-sVFsFB1EwxNpejP1NsMUo9S3HrX4QqIv-xDN5GrSUyc7nMdJ6LIN1BfarYyXL39CTfJTldwUOGb_GHwqriBP2fGCAP7pPpqQ_4tbFQ90qvc00cS3yUM9AmOyVunqqoU1Kd6BI7COjSeVtzl/s1080/DK-Fest-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="770" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5E7Ba8nTSZeC2KPrqhzARhx4SkBZUDMs45Bp-ryZr-sVFsFB1EwxNpejP1NsMUo9S3HrX4QqIv-xDN5GrSUyc7nMdJ6LIN1BfarYyXL39CTfJTldwUOGb_GHwqriBP2fGCAP7pPpqQ_4tbFQ90qvc00cS3yUM9AmOyVunqqoU1Kd6BI7COjSeVtzl/w229-h320/DK-Fest-1.jpg" width="229" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSeCpD_bTVH5NNZIOthAeYNxdqb65AE1gg6rlQLSBLu49mr1xiuJ7IcTvl22fUJEAHFMVzyweWd9IbnQy0-jyyMrusvCHcehBPebEyYQJK02VBvlJJw0iXJUFGTNgmMcPG2XpbnqYtlqBdvnUA_mjtwCj1QD7mPTN-8BOoP1qxS6i9nz6UYR1cLYdr/s1080/DK-Fest-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="772" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSeCpD_bTVH5NNZIOthAeYNxdqb65AE1gg6rlQLSBLu49mr1xiuJ7IcTvl22fUJEAHFMVzyweWd9IbnQy0-jyyMrusvCHcehBPebEyYQJK02VBvlJJw0iXJUFGTNgmMcPG2XpbnqYtlqBdvnUA_mjtwCj1QD7mPTN-8BOoP1qxS6i9nz6UYR1cLYdr/w229-h320/DK-Fest-2.jpg" width="229" /></a></div></div></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">So far, thanks to rewriting those published stories, the individual stories have been
published 82 times in 12 countries (11 stories in USA and UK); taught in Malaysian
secondary school literature for six years (“Neighbors”), as well as in Canada
and USA (Ohio University); and several stories have been taught for years in various
Malaysian universities and private colleges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Film students at Ohio University found the original collection in
their library, came to Malaysia, and <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2012/12/ohio-university-in-malaysia-shooting.html">filmed, “Home for Hari Raya.”</a> </span><span style="text-indent: 27pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Maybe because of this persistent belief
that these stories (individually and as a collection) are still relevant—they
are <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2024/02/on-fridays-uitm-google-meet-that-i.html">still being taught in Malaysia as of May 2023</a> and are still being published
in the USA (“The Stare” appeared in <i>Thema,</i> Spring 2021).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> As </span>I began editing again (clarifying
details, cutting needless words or phrases, tightening the writing), I could
see significant improvements in <i>each</i> story.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Also, the process feels like a trip down memory
lane, both as a writer and as an expatriate living in Malaysia. “Mat Salleh,” for example, was my first <i>published</i>
story, a nonfiction short story, 28 </span>January 1986 (<i>New Straits Times) </i>and
my first published story in the UK (<i>My Weekly</i>). "Teh-O in K.L." was my first published short story is USA (<i>Aim</i>). The other stories, all published but one, are all loosely based on my
early experiences or on my observations of kampong and modern-day life in
Malaysia. Not all the memories are good—a
failed marriage for me (“Dark Blue Threads”) and a neighbor committing
suicide (“Neighbors”); nevertheless, these stories are <i>my </i>Malaysian<i> </i>roots,
so to speak, having lived in Penang as an expatriate for twenty-one years and
taught creative writing at USM for ten years, before moving to Sarawak to grow
new roots.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The real payoff, of course, is that these
revised stories now have a chance for <i>future</i> publications in the US or
UK or Australia or elsewhere—the main reason I do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or the collection, fingers crossed, is republished to a wider
audience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or the play that I added a</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-language: EN-SG;">s a
bonus, “One Drink Too Many,” a comedy adapted from the short story, “Neighbors,”
is produced in Malaysia or Singapore. Preferably, all three!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">What helps me to keep the faith in <i>Lovers
and Strangers Revisited </i>(and the<i> </i>individual stories) is rereading the
MPH back-of-the-book reviews and other review snippets that I include while
marketing the collection to agents and other publishers:</span><span style="text-indent: 27pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="yiv1457094089msonormal" style="margin: 0cm; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-SG">MPH Publisher’s synopsis
and reviews from the back of the book:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">In this collection of 17 stories, Robert Raymer portrays
the traditional in modernity, the unexpected in relationships both familiar and
strange, the recurring theme of race even as contemporary Malaysia finds ways
to understand its multicultural milieu. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">In the title story, a selfish writer gets more than he
bargained for when two former lovers haunt him in more ways than one. In another
story, a man's loneliness turns into obsession when he shares a taxi ride with
a Malay woman. A Clark Gable lookalike is a barrister wannabe with a shocking
secret and gossipy neighbours reveal more about themselves than the man who
commits suicide. Elsewhere, expats cross the border to Had Yai to experience a
good bargain in the Thai flesh trade before going home to their wives in
America.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">In this republished edition of <i>Lovers and Strangers
Revisited</i>, Raymer's snapshots of scenes from various walks of life provide
an insider-outsider view on love, family and culture, and urges a second look
at ourselves in the mirror of self-awareness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><b><span lang="EN-US">Praise for <i>Lovers and Strangers Revisited</i></span></b><span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">'Raymer not only writes from his own viewpoint as a foreigner
and observer, but also delves into the minds of desperate Malay woman, a young
Indian girl, an adulterous Chinese couple, and an old Chinese man who survived
the Japanese occupation... He has an uncanny ability to hold a mirror up to the
people of his adopted country, not as a foreigner but as one of us. His
stories are full of personalities that you know, you work with them, or live
next door to them, or eavesdrop on them at the <i>kopi tiam.'</i> <b>The Borneo
Post</b> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">'This account ("On Fridays") of a crammed ride
with strangers in a taxi may well stand as a metaphor of Raymer's own
experience of living among Malaysians... He imbues each of the characters in
his stories with a realistic, genuinely believable voice even as he tempers it
with the valuable perspective of an observer.' <b>New Straits Times</b> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">'Raymer gives a lushly and rich and multi-layered rendition
of the Malaysian way of life as colored and influenced by his own experiences
from his twenty years as an expat here... These stories are some of the few
authentic portrayals of the inner workings and inner plays of the average
Malaysian's life in all of its robustness and unique cultural settings.' <b>The
Expat</b></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">A little ego boost for sure, something all writers need now
and then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, it’s good to touch base,
like stretching before exercising. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Awfully glad I rewrote those stories. </span>Now that
2023 is over (having rewritten eight books</span><span style="text-indent: 36px;">—</span>six novels and two collections of stories<span style="text-indent: 36px;">—</span>in two years), I’m ready to embark on new writing projects for 2024 and beyond...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 27pt;"><span lang="EN-US">—Borneo Expat
Writer<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 27pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">My interviews with other Malaysian writers:</span></p><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-ivy-ngeow-robert-raymer-chats.html">Ivy Ngeow</a><span lang="EN-MY" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-bidi-font-family: Times-Italic;"> author of </span><i>Cry of the Flying Rhino,</i><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-golda-mowe-robert-raymer.html">Golda Mowe</a> author of <i>Iban Dream</i> and <i>Iban Journey</i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "" serif "" , "serif";"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2018/01/interview-preeta-samarasan-robert.html">Preeta Samarasan</a>, author of <i>Evening is the Whole Day, </i>finalist for the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2009.</span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-family: "" serif "" , "serif";"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/10/interview-chuah-guat-eng-robert-raymer.html">Chuah Guat Eng</a>, author of <i>Echoes of Silence</i> and <i>Days of Change.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "" serif "" , "serif";"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "" serif "" , "serif";"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/interview-malachi-edwin-vethamani.html">Malachi Edwin Vethamani</a>, author of <i>Complicated Lives</i> and <i>Life Happens</i>.</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-44624094619060192852023-10-10T18:05:00.002-07:002023-10-10T18:10:45.953-07:00Being Seen on TV by a Friend<p>“You’re on TV!” my wife told me over the
phone, calling from a Toyota dealership where she was having her car serviced. A friend of hers had texted that she was
watching me on TV. I soon realized that it was a repeat of the <i>Past Present Future Episode 5: Writing Natives</i> episode
on TV Sarawak that featured Golda Mowe, author of such novels as <i>Iban
Dream</i>, <i>Iban Journey</i> and <i>Iban Women </i>that I had
<a href=" https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2022/02/sarawak-author-golda-mowe-featured-in.html">blogged about</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8kzB5kG4azE1g3dg7AV6YfqDYaFzjiowP2Lvb7XEBpxPz_5Sj2qvMjtS9OqnQBqpTgRngDXHecAi_vqBiZ-yD21x9p_FPfBVInutvPrtI6QI3FXO--uaD2ow6zXnHzW1761vjc9DKOBl_S2qUFXISr3kLz-5x1KeFqZAsCgdPoM0JesbKemWTfA=s1920" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8kzB5kG4azE1g3dg7AV6YfqDYaFzjiowP2Lvb7XEBpxPz_5Sj2qvMjtS9OqnQBqpTgRngDXHecAi_vqBiZ-yD21x9p_FPfBVInutvPrtI6QI3FXO--uaD2ow6zXnHzW1761vjc9DKOBl_S2qUFXISr3kLz-5x1KeFqZAsCgdPoM0JesbKemWTfA=s320" width="320" /></a></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHLcJFJgiO9_zoI9Ft3kxYPVgzaz8yMPPVRjJApMOONnPBjDF0FS5LhlK5QopxjGvO3q3dAvmmAOG9uYR_nfYRUaVMal49FoEtOzBVt56iPiv17ct7s3TmacBytqBj6JCGUGmb7JH7e2vESqEYD1eDRzabQKg4ntXV89SPCoWuT3rnrcsslVRpfQ=s2048" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1340" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHLcJFJgiO9_zoI9Ft3kxYPVgzaz8yMPPVRjJApMOONnPBjDF0FS5LhlK5QopxjGvO3q3dAvmmAOG9uYR_nfYRUaVMal49FoEtOzBVt56iPiv17ct7s3TmacBytqBj6JCGUGmb7JH7e2vESqEYD1eDRzabQKg4ntXV89SPCoWuT3rnrcsslVRpfQ=w184-h282" width="184" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqf8cydKhTXKimiwjYca2rmEH19wqYtKMCSXiTmTXc9KjJkWvBRPkrD8iFrA6gYQK6CFJzaSWzXN5Mht8Tgve_t8-UVjaz0T3Jt6AUeEGbvY7gI2dXPqQEEzMOCD43SxsN7e01ef7vPI98vOlN6q9f__le3A6Wr_McxU7GnttOtbFsLsW1z_PbJA=s2048" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1340" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqf8cydKhTXKimiwjYca2rmEH19wqYtKMCSXiTmTXc9KjJkWvBRPkrD8iFrA6gYQK6CFJzaSWzXN5Mht8Tgve_t8-UVjaz0T3Jt6AUeEGbvY7gI2dXPqQEEzMOCD43SxsN7e01ef7vPI98vOlN6q9f__le3A6Wr_McxU7GnttOtbFsLsW1z_PbJA=w197-h281" width="197" /></a></div></div></div><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhXQmHXYKhC2wwosM8zU9W1dkQfY92L77CL-JdfmWk0G0w3byZ68OKShsMwF8mCoGHWfw2VbsGJIRk49e-b2s9eJpvohkm7C1gRa0aTXBdr5BCqHR7DjTjc63LlrsW8tWEm0QyRkk3qeGwDuKwkM21MxDyXNPDROrmdVGSGH9BrGJc2Q04gQeYffg=s391" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="255" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhXQmHXYKhC2wwosM8zU9W1dkQfY92L77CL-JdfmWk0G0w3byZ68OKShsMwF8mCoGHWfw2VbsGJIRk49e-b2s9eJpvohkm7C1gRa0aTXBdr5BCqHR7DjTjc63LlrsW8tWEm0QyRkk3qeGwDuKwkM21MxDyXNPDROrmdVGSGH9BrGJc2Q04gQeYffg=w209-h292" width="209" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">After <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/11/interview-golda-mowe-robert-raymer.html">interviewing Golda</a> a few years ago, I had been asked to take part in a documentary
about her writing life. The filming for my part was
done at my house, which made it convenient. Unfortunately, I missed the actual program
but I was glad that at least someone I knew watched it (or a at least a repeat
version of it).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9wxDnSE6Slo" width="320" youtube-src-id="9wxDnSE6Slo"></iframe></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I told my wife to let her friend know that I would be available for autographs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
still waiting…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span> —Borneo Expat Writer</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">My other Interviews with First Novelists: </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-ivy-ngeow-robert-raymer-chats.html">Ivy Ngeow</a> author of <i>Cry of the Flying Rhino,</i></span><span lang="EN-GB"> winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.</span><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2018/01/interview-preeta-samarasan-robert.html">Preeta Samarasan</a>, author of <i>Evening is the Whole Day, </i>finalist for the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2009.</span><span lang="EN-US"><br /><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/10/interview-chuah-guat-eng-robert-raymer.html">Chuah Guat Eng</a>, author of <i>Echoes of Silence</i> and <i>Days of Change. </i><br /><br />Also, <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/interview-malachi-edwin-vethamani.html">Malachi Edwin Vethamani</a>, author of <i>Complicated Lives</i> and <i>Life Happens</i>.<br /><br />Five part <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefilmed-for.html">Maugham and Me series</a></span></p>Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-52401194080816099162022-02-09T16:51:00.001-08:002023-10-10T18:05:32.901-07:00Sarawak Author Golda Mowe Featured in a Documentary<p><span style="text-indent: 0cm;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8kzB5kG4azE1g3dg7AV6YfqDYaFzjiowP2Lvb7XEBpxPz_5Sj2qvMjtS9OqnQBqpTgRngDXHecAi_vqBiZ-yD21x9p_FPfBVInutvPrtI6QI3FXO--uaD2ow6zXnHzW1761vjc9DKOBl_S2qUFXISr3kLz-5x1KeFqZAsCgdPoM0JesbKemWTfA=s1920" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8kzB5kG4azE1g3dg7AV6YfqDYaFzjiowP2Lvb7XEBpxPz_5Sj2qvMjtS9OqnQBqpTgRngDXHecAi_vqBiZ-yD21x9p_FPfBVInutvPrtI6QI3FXO--uaD2ow6zXnHzW1761vjc9DKOBl_S2qUFXISr3kLz-5x1KeFqZAsCgdPoM0JesbKemWTfA=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0cm;">Congrats to Golda
Mowe on being featured on <i>Past Present Future Episode 5: Writing Natives</i>,
which aired 4 August 2021 on </span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">TV
Sarawak (TVS). </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0cm;">Having come across
my <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/11/interview-golda-mowe-robert-raymer.html">author-to-author interview with Golda</a>, Deborah Christopher, who </span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">studied Cinematography at Universiti Malaysia
Sarawak (UNIMAS) where I taught for a number of years, asked me if I was interested
in being interviewed for a documentary featuring Golda Mowe. Golda, from Sarawak, is the author of the
novels <i>Iban Dream</i>, <i>Iban Journey</i> and <i>Iban Women</i>. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="text-indent: 0cm;"><br /></span></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg2IzSI-SAHwX_8gCbklIOrSyUIuj8E1Q5bEu96k0iY7YH4UIqyWJl50VVp9ilbjH8L3Ch3rWsFuAH64LMBa9r3iVfm9b9vLLSCGiHctnzeUqAJQHPrq349Ql93hoRyZ-St7NA8MugXOaXS7JORtryShGFMHDRovdbYtGCK5nhDgVhh-vH_oHHmzA=s960"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="960" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg2IzSI-SAHwX_8gCbklIOrSyUIuj8E1Q5bEu96k0iY7YH4UIqyWJl50VVp9ilbjH8L3Ch3rWsFuAH64LMBa9r3iVfm9b9vLLSCGiHctnzeUqAJQHPrq349Ql93hoRyZ-St7NA8MugXOaXS7JORtryShGFMHDRovdbYtGCK5nhDgVhh-vH_oHHmzA=s320" width="320" /></a></div> Blue Lotus 15<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-MY;">Deborah
is the co-producer for a documentary series named Past, Present, and Future, a
project funded by </span><span lang="EN-US">TVS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-MY;">Each episode highlights
different stories of </span><span lang="EN-US">Sarawak personalities </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-MY;">who have incorporated their culture and
traditions from the past into their present (and future) careers or projects.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-MY;">I
was glad to hear that Golda Mowe was being featured since she is underappreciated
and deserves a wider audience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was impressed
</span><span lang="EN-US">by her discipline, her persistence and her willingness
to rewrite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many Malaysian writers do
not seem to want to put in the extra work, thinking it is good enough for
Malaysia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The good ones, like Golda and
others that I have interviewed who want to attract an international audience,
know better.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-MY;">Due
to the on-going pandemic, the project was delayed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then last year the film crew nearly got
locked down in Sibu while interviewing Golda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Meanwhile, I ma</span><span lang="EN-US">de a list of things to do before
the filming: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>reread <i>Iban Dream</i>
and<i> </i>purchase and read the other two novels in the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>series; prepare for the interview by coming
up with something interesting to say; make notes, reminders of what I need to do
the week and the day before the shoot (including domestic chores—sweeping,
dusting, cleaning the living room); and more reminders for the morning of the
shoot itself (arrange mythology books on table, make sure I have handy
everything I may need—water bottle, pen and notebook, outline of my talk in
case I go blank.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHLcJFJgiO9_zoI9Ft3kxYPVgzaz8yMPPVRjJApMOONnPBjDF0FS5LhlK5QopxjGvO3q3dAvmmAOG9uYR_nfYRUaVMal49FoEtOzBVt56iPiv17ct7s3TmacBytqBj6JCGUGmb7JH7e2vESqEYD1eDRzabQKg4ntXV89SPCoWuT3rnrcsslVRpfQ=s2048" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1340" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHLcJFJgiO9_zoI9Ft3kxYPVgzaz8yMPPVRjJApMOONnPBjDF0FS5LhlK5QopxjGvO3q3dAvmmAOG9uYR_nfYRUaVMal49FoEtOzBVt56iPiv17ct7s3TmacBytqBj6JCGUGmb7JH7e2vESqEYD1eDRzabQKg4ntXV89SPCoWuT3rnrcsslVRpfQ=s320" width="209" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqf8cydKhTXKimiwjYca2rmEH19wqYtKMCSXiTmTXc9KjJkWvBRPkrD8iFrA6gYQK6CFJzaSWzXN5Mht8Tgve_t8-UVjaz0T3Jt6AUeEGbvY7gI2dXPqQEEzMOCD43SxsN7e01ef7vPI98vOlN6q9f__le3A6Wr_McxU7GnttOtbFsLsW1z_PbJA=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1340" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqf8cydKhTXKimiwjYca2rmEH19wqYtKMCSXiTmTXc9KjJkWvBRPkrD8iFrA6gYQK6CFJzaSWzXN5Mht8Tgve_t8-UVjaz0T3Jt6AUeEGbvY7gI2dXPqQEEzMOCD43SxsN7e01ef7vPI98vOlN6q9f__le3A6Wr_McxU7GnttOtbFsLsW1z_PbJA=s320" width="209" /></a></div><br /></div></div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhXQmHXYKhC2wwosM8zU9W1dkQfY92L77CL-JdfmWk0G0w3byZ68OKShsMwF8mCoGHWfw2VbsGJIRk49e-b2s9eJpvohkm7C1gRa0aTXBdr5BCqHR7DjTjc63LlrsW8tWEm0QyRkk3qeGwDuKwkM21MxDyXNPDROrmdVGSGH9BrGJc2Q04gQeYffg=s391" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhXQmHXYKhC2wwosM8zU9W1dkQfY92L77CL-JdfmWk0G0w3byZ68OKShsMwF8mCoGHWfw2VbsGJIRk49e-b2s9eJpvohkm7C1gRa0aTXBdr5BCqHR7DjTjc63LlrsW8tWEm0QyRkk3qeGwDuKwkM21MxDyXNPDROrmdVGSGH9BrGJc2Q04gQeYffg=s320" width="209" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US">After reading Golda’s
three novels, I learned a lot about Iban myths, their fears and dreams, their
omens and taboos, their customary laws (cannot refuse a visitor if he makes a
request to stay at your longhouse and cannot refuse food offered to you), the
significance of weaving patterns (and the harmful risks of trying to weave
above your skill level) and also retribution, an obligation to take avenge if
one of your relatives was killed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also,
that the ideal matrimonial match should be between a feared headhunter and a
gifted weaver.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9lQQWQ1ci6E_oAk3Ke1dMy4qAgc3rQrPAu4oMwuwKcvLj_-N4WOf9hIFfSJJm32axvngatVqDv6NGpKPczZ7-KjUbwPagWLgrqqGPqpPAeCHSVik-Ice62F7WEY8jphRHFssUDdLgxLhCg2IeVjzcLEWzXoQYiFZZahoob7p2RRF3m7CaK275OQ=s275" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="174" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9lQQWQ1ci6E_oAk3Ke1dMy4qAgc3rQrPAu4oMwuwKcvLj_-N4WOf9hIFfSJJm32axvngatVqDv6NGpKPczZ7-KjUbwPagWLgrqqGPqpPAeCHSVik-Ice62F7WEY8jphRHFssUDdLgxLhCg2IeVjzcLEWzXoQYiFZZahoob7p2RRF3m7CaK275OQ" width="174" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjri_k2i4VX_kT9mBi86cM8tV1jQRVJckOMGZL9oRzpt4soVvDKENm1dieXuWWWVnwCF_ANpsj9Lhm6pMPV7U49aR0EYKCptnnQc47uA_OAtmYpSn0LGYu4_Y2eOd1QKVcGQ0CQWjeeo-bUujEBTukD5K_nTgF-QInGCrXLQfzcU47k9wiKjj3bVw=s197" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="128" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjri_k2i4VX_kT9mBi86cM8tV1jQRVJckOMGZL9oRzpt4soVvDKENm1dieXuWWWVnwCF_ANpsj9Lhm6pMPV7U49aR0EYKCptnnQc47uA_OAtmYpSn0LGYu4_Y2eOd1QKVcGQ0CQWjeeo-bUujEBTukD5K_nTgF-QInGCrXLQfzcU47k9wiKjj3bVw=w153-h270" width="153" /></a></div></div><br /><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-MY;">For
the documentary I was asked to talk about Golda, her writing, and her life
journey, which got me to thinking in terms of <i>The Writer’s Journey</i>, </span><i><span lang="EN-US">Mythic Structure for Writers</span></i><span lang="EN-US">, </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-MY;">a book by Christopher Vogler, which </span><span lang="EN-US">I picked up at a writing conference in Maui, along with a companion
book, <i>Myth and the Movies, Discovering the Mythic Structure of 50
Unforgettable Films </i>by Stuart Voytilla.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US">Vogler, inspired by
the work of Joseph Campbell, author of <i>Hero with a Thousand Faces</i>, discusses </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-MY;">t</span><span lang="EN-US">he use of archetypes such as the Hero, the
Mentor, the Threshold Guardians, the Herald, the Shapeshifter (gods and
demons), the Shadow and the Trickster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also
the Mystic Structure and Stages of the Journey:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ordinary World; Call to Adventure; Refusal of the Call; Meeting with the
Mentor; Crossing the First Threshold; Tests, Allies, Enemies; Approach to the
Innermost Cave; Ordeal; Reward (Seizing the Sword); The Road Back;
Resurrection; Return with the Elixir.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US">This mystic
structure can be applied to nearly every story from adventures to romance to
slapstick comedy, even to animation such as Disney’s <i>The Lion King</i>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US">To prepare myself
for the documentary, I broke my presentation into four parts: (1) Golda’s use
of mythology; (2) her plots and themes; (3) her personal writer’s journey and how
we met (MPH workshop that I conducted in 2009); and (4) her writing in Sarawak and
publishing in Singapore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had written a
blog about publishing books in <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/11/publishing-books-in-malaysia-and.html">Malaysia and Singapore</a>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US">A common theme in all
three of Golda’s novels is the hero being made a scapegoat or an outcast—you
against the world (both visible and invisible). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hero, even as a child, is often forced to
undertake the ‘hero’s journey’, like Tarzan, or Mowgli in <i>The Jungle Book</i>,
or Simba in <i>The Lion King</i>, often cast out unfairly by society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Golda’s <i>Iban Dream</i>, the child
Bujang, is raised by an orangutan…destined to be a great warrior. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All three novels are connected by a cursed
family line and each hero/heroine sets out to prove that they are <i>not</i>
cursed, to right <i>wrongs</i>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZolMKwFoyYLykDE7NccUCoXn6UrnNwgu_w24S7cnR-mwOA5cv3iJPUvUCQUSapstIY74u8-OnV3fbEkrEHf9HNpXtXQc72aFjpNZM_xRO-eMHOMHqcyQ03LX9OTvsECuP4xT8t-InmajI8JSKoK0R54hshKQFQskl4c8v_yL_sYMh4CotDgIs1w=s5312" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2988" data-original-width="5312" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZolMKwFoyYLykDE7NccUCoXn6UrnNwgu_w24S7cnR-mwOA5cv3iJPUvUCQUSapstIY74u8-OnV3fbEkrEHf9HNpXtXQc72aFjpNZM_xRO-eMHOMHqcyQ03LX9OTvsECuP4xT8t-InmajI8JSKoK0R54hshKQFQskl4c8v_yL_sYMh4CotDgIs1w=s320" width="320" /></a></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxNxrRfPOxKGzuGMHE8_CVgmMLNoEnF-njMbBSwRdKWQmxko7nVqal0oDHXhlJI0OnqNNK5Mi0NDaY5vbhKsTqC_mnnlD25J6Jlyhuo_m-JYy7exePBjzFyniJn7dRvX9lvPFCEWzPqnsc4sddkwFq7NPo_QwTTSw5Fb4lNrwJAtL02roUGm0hiA=s5312" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2988" data-original-width="5312" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxNxrRfPOxKGzuGMHE8_CVgmMLNoEnF-njMbBSwRdKWQmxko7nVqal0oDHXhlJI0OnqNNK5Mi0NDaY5vbhKsTqC_mnnlD25J6Jlyhuo_m-JYy7exePBjzFyniJn7dRvX9lvPFCEWzPqnsc4sddkwFq7NPo_QwTTSw5Fb4lNrwJAtL02roUGm0hiA=s320" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><br />
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US">Deborah and Jeremy
Emang (the producer and director), along with the rest of the crew, Shawn and
Elisha, arrived at my house for the half-day shoot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They proceeded to set up the camera and
lights and the rest of their equipment in one section of our living room, aimed
at me sitting at a round table and with </span><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">several coffee
table books on mythology and lost cities, lost empires, including Homer’s <i>The
Iliad</i> and <i>The Odyssey</i>,</span> <span lang="EN-US">with a nice backdrop
of collected items from my travels.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US">Once the filming
began</span><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">, I proceeded to talk about
</span><span lang="EN-US">Golda’s personal hero’s journey as a writer and her own
mystic journey, some of which I had learned from my research from my previous
interview.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrOEquSvpTCeVQOwl7H_kjOApjZZlOWkEfGrGeN4o_PMI6_rAlozcUpUElFZ2h881CzPx7YXQ0gDzW28_Atpz_qKRJ2c7twPah5kKvVg1np9KknPjm5OcdyllyvfIHrS5O7GBoh6dWIZ0lZ0DMlF_zjnEX9UgvhmQ6sa6opKlaDnwDPP6pU28L9w=s5312" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2988" data-original-width="5312" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrOEquSvpTCeVQOwl7H_kjOApjZZlOWkEfGrGeN4o_PMI6_rAlozcUpUElFZ2h881CzPx7YXQ0gDzW28_Atpz_qKRJ2c7twPah5kKvVg1np9KknPjm5OcdyllyvfIHrS5O7GBoh6dWIZ0lZ0DMlF_zjnEX9UgvhmQ6sa6opKlaDnwDPP6pU28L9w=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">Then I spoke
about the hero’s journey within her stories and how it dates back to ancient
Greeks, which she, coincidentally talked about during her own segment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When </span><span lang="EN-US">most people think
of mythology, they often limit themselves to Greek and Roman mythology, dating back
to the Trojan War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But every culture has
their own mythology, and Golda Mowe wrote about the Iban mythology that is important
to her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She writes about what she knows,
what she has learned, and from her meticulous research to get the details of her
rich Iban heritage correct.</span><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US">It’s these details
that make her fantasy novels palpable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As a reader, we are caught up in their journeys, their quests, their
battles with demons and headhunters.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US">I continued to talk
until I heard an all too familiar jingle from an ice-cream truck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Knowing that sound equipment for the filming could
pick it up, I took a much-needed break and drink of water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We waited several minutes until the vendor made
his rounds and took away his jingle.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US">I picked up where I
left off and continued to say what I felt needed to be said on Golda’s
behalf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had done my homework and was
well prepared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the interview, Jeremy
told me that he had written a list of questions but I had answered all of them
as I spoke, so there was no need to interrupt me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He could relax, check off each
unasked question, and concentrate on the filming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMkMnnqpShcCkciwMCZpdlZGkdrC_e9YaRUU2WLSEmQI1oUeTW3RtJO-V5wYjsuhvINdtt9-RThg6_sgv4Rr7l3Tomcfi80d9d1PmfB5X11FVcvSUTz8FuavXRJ6_E91yVkdJgXRag2VZAxbdu3afLpLSRxRaboFdGNP_pP7OOyC9ZUVyVHJgAbQ=s5312" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5312" data-original-width="2988" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMkMnnqpShcCkciwMCZpdlZGkdrC_e9YaRUU2WLSEmQI1oUeTW3RtJO-V5wYjsuhvINdtt9-RThg6_sgv4Rr7l3Tomcfi80d9d1PmfB5X11FVcvSUTz8FuavXRJ6_E91yVkdJgXRag2VZAxbdu3afLpLSRxRaboFdGNP_pP7OOyC9ZUVyVHJgAbQ=s320" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jeremy Emang </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US">A few weeks later, Deborah
contacted me to borrow my three Golda Mowe books for another shot (since Golda
was still in Sibu) and promptly returned the books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the actual documentary, I appeared
four times; however, I was bleeped only once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What I said was the right word for the context (bullsh…ing). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought they would cut it from the actual
documentary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, I have my first
recorded ‘bleep’ caught on film, a badge of honor.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US">Although I didn’t
get a chance to meet Golda again, it was good to see her on film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">Since she did all
the hard work, the research and writing her books, she deserves all the credit
for her well written books about Ibans in Sarawak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US">I wish her all the
best with her writing and hope she continues her hero’s journey that all
writers must undertake if they dare to dream and write and see their work published.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9wxDnSE6Slo" width="320" youtube-src-id="9wxDnSE6Slo"></iframe></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>—Borneo Expat Writer<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">My other Interviews
with First Novelists: </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US">
<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-ivy-ngeow-robert-raymer-chats.html">Ivy
Ngeow</a> author of <i>Cry of the Flying Rhino,</i></span><span lang="EN-GB"> winner of the 2016 Proverse
Prize.</span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2018/01/interview-preeta-samarasan-robert.html">Preeta
Samarasan</a>, author of <i>Evening is the Whole Day, </i>finalist
for the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2009.</span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/10/interview-chuah-guat-eng-robert-raymer.html">Chuah
Guat Eng</a>, author of <i>Echoes of Silence</i> and <i>Days of
Change. </i><br />
<br />
Also, <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/interview-malachi-edwin-vethamani.html">Malachi
Edwin Vethamani</a>, author of <i>Complicated Lives</i> and <i>Life
Happens</i>.<br />
<br />
Five part <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefilmed-for.html">Maugham
and Me series</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="text-indent: 0cm;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-76069084307404765662021-09-04T05:26:00.000-07:002021-09-04T20:06:35.877-07:00A Final Farewell to a Tango Dancer<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6nVJD6u2mTg/YTNO80Bw2cI/AAAAAAAABxA/RC-ESEJ1JtU_T3QlT4B4TeC-hE_-e4-4ACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Anni%2Band%2Bhorse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1694" data-original-width="2048" height="265" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6nVJD6u2mTg/YTNO80Bw2cI/AAAAAAAABxA/RC-ESEJ1JtU_T3QlT4B4TeC-hE_-e4-4ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Anni%2Band%2Bhorse.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center;"><br /></p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-pagination: none; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">I originally wrote this article “</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Farewell to a Tango Dancer”</span><span lang="EN-US"> in 2003 for a farewell dinner for Anni Nordmann before she left Penang, Malaysia where I first met her, and later published a revised version for <i>Tropical Affairs</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having learned that she had recently passed away due to cancer, I thought I would post the article as a final tribute to Anni.</span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AnBKqAg_cuc/SyDYrahKCmI/AAAAAAAAAOs/VgYFHQHtOGwLrpOVZJTimSCAZkH8edv0wCPcBGAYYCw/s1535/Joelle%2Band%2BAnni.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="1535" data-original-width="1087" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AnBKqAg_cuc/SyDYrahKCmI/AAAAAAAAAOs/VgYFHQHtOGwLrpOVZJTimSCAZkH8edv0wCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Joelle%2Band%2BAnni.JPG" width="227" /></a></div> Joelle, Robert, Anni<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HbNxUiToEj8/Su7eMCZYQUI/AAAAAAAAAL0/jvxSeE-IPpQPc5YPWMqxgTBqetnaWrDTQCPcBGAYYCw/s1177/Tropical%2BAffiars-Front%2Bcover.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HbNxUiToEj8/Su7eMCZYQUI/AAAAAAAAAL0/jvxSeE-IPpQPc5YPWMqxgTBqetnaWrDTQCPcBGAYYCw/s1177/Tropical%2BAffiars-Front%2Bcover.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1177" data-original-width="773" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HbNxUiToEj8/Su7eMCZYQUI/AAAAAAAAAL0/jvxSeE-IPpQPc5YPWMqxgTBqetnaWrDTQCPcBGAYYCw/w131-h200/Tropical%2BAffiars-Front%2Bcover.JPG" width="131" /></a></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">If
expats are good at one thing it’s saying goodbye because we do it so often—to expats
leaving and those staying behind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Expats
come in two types: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>those who come to a
country for a year or two before moving onto the next country, and those who come
to one country and stay put.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anni
Nordmann was both.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had been an expat
in eight countries—South Africa, Zimbabwe, Switzerland, Gabon, Thailand,
Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Singapore—before arriving in Penang, Malaysia where
she ended up staying for sixteen years.</span> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">After
being away from the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United
States</st1:place></st1:country-region> for 28 years, she’s finally returning
home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like other
long-stayers-in-one-country expats like myself, I was wondering, how do you say
goodbye to a fellow expat whom you thought would never leave?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Like
Anni, when I came to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Malaysia</st1:country-region></st1:place>
20 years ago, the intention was never to stay for very long, but as years went
by, I became settled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Initially I was
awed by those long-time expats who had been here for ten or twelve years, and
thought, how do they stay that long?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Don’t they miss their families and friends back home?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as the years went by, as we started our
own families here, this becomes home, </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Although
I moved to Penang in 1985, Anni came in 1987 with her Swiss husband and
three-year old son, Chris.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later we
discovered that before we met, our paths had crossed several times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anni was living in Holiday Inn, where her
husband was the general manager, and I had been to the Holiday Inn on many occasions,
attending various functions, including a Thanksgiving dinner for Americans
where she was also present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My ex-wife
and I were close to Stella, Holiday Inn’s guest relations officer, and attended
her wedding, as did Anni.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1991, after
four years, after Anni had already left Holiday Inn, after her husband had moved
away to another hotel in another country, we finally met.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wz6cvfQJQdU/SximWcO_ZnI/AAAAAAAAAN0/RXFG_98ApbEwOiCUAFHfwpUurCNb8U_8QCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Indochine%252C%2BTango%2BDancers%252C%2BRobert%2Btop%2Bleft.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1074" data-original-width="1600" height="215" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wz6cvfQJQdU/SximWcO_ZnI/AAAAAAAAAN0/RXFG_98ApbEwOiCUAFHfwpUurCNb8U_8QCPcBGAYYCw/w320-h215/Indochine%252C%2BTango%2BDancers%252C%2BRobert%2Btop%2Bleft.JPG" title="The Tango Dancers" width="320" /></a></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">During
the filming of <i>Indochine, </i>starring Catherine Deneuve and Vincent Perez, which
won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, the director decided to do a day
shoot instead of a night shoot for the Christmas Dinner scene, thus several male
expats had to back out as guests and tango dancers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the casting people called me as one of the replacements.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Before the actual filming of the scene, all eight tango dancers met in Hotel Equatorial with the film’s choreographer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In walked Anni, a classy looking American who played polo and taught horseback riding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anni, however, was not fated to be my dancing partner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead it was her good friend Joelle Saint-Arnoult, another longtime expat from France. </span></span>For one week we learned how to dance and turn and dip to perfection.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mQ6LgabIBt8/SvyYU-U3U8I/AAAAAAAAAMk/AURxXfPvsDAcG7q9ypt9TGrAdK5WxrqXACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Indochine%252C%2BRobert%2Band%2BJoelle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1074" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mQ6LgabIBt8/SvyYU-U3U8I/AAAAAAAAAMk/AURxXfPvsDAcG7q9ypt9TGrAdK5WxrqXACPcBGAYYCw/s320/Indochine%252C%2BRobert%2Band%2BJoelle.JPG" width="215" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PFVh6bk4jy4/SwYcLGv96kI/AAAAAAAAAM0/5JdRwLh7oZE4DhtpAeBDihUrg72k6pdNACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Indochine-%2BChristmas%2Bparty%2Bscene%252C%2BRobert%2Bat%2Bcenter.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="1074" data-original-width="1600" height="215" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PFVh6bk4jy4/SwYcLGv96kI/AAAAAAAAAM0/5JdRwLh7oZE4DhtpAeBDihUrg72k6pdNACPcBGAYYCw/s320/Indochine-%2BChristmas%2Bparty%2Bscene%252C%2BRobert%2Bat%2Bcenter.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kbAuYLu5gVY/YTNh3SKSBLI/AAAAAAAABxU/6We3h7LWrrMiaguU7GFNUlp0vOAoQUwpwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Anni%2Bat%2Btable.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1084" data-original-width="2048" height="169" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kbAuYLu5gVY/YTNh3SKSBLI/AAAAAAAABxU/6We3h7LWrrMiaguU7GFNUlp0vOAoQUwpwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Anni%2Bat%2Btable.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Our Christmas Dinner scene in the old Crag Hotel atop Penang Hill took four days to shoot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elegantly dressed in period outfits from the 1930s, </span>Anni sat directly across from me, so <span style="text-indent: 0cm;">we had plenty of time to get to know one another.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes; text-indent: 0cm;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">A few weeks later, Anni, Joelle and I were invited to take part in the racing boat scene in Parit, Perak.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sXBOg4T1BgE/Sw56X0qC66I/AAAAAAAAANU/LUskXsv8y8URFCBmD7O96yw40N3i77ymgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Indochine%252C%2Bboat%2Brace%2Bscene%252C%2BRobert%2Bwith%2Bantress%2BLinh%2BDan%2BPham.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1074" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sXBOg4T1BgE/Sw56X0qC66I/AAAAAAAAANU/LUskXsv8y8URFCBmD7O96yw40N3i77ymgCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Indochine%252C%2Bboat%2Brace%2Bscene%252C%2BRobert%2Bwith%2Bantress%2BLinh%2BDan%2BPham.JPG" width="215" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">with Lind Dan Pham </td></tr></tbody></table><span style="text-indent: 0cm;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">After </span><i style="text-indent: 0cm;">Indochine</i><u style="text-indent: 0cm;">,</u><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">
all three of us were extras in </span><i style="text-indent: 0cm;">Beyond Rangoon</i><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">—also set in Penang—directed
by John Boorman, starring Patricia Arquette and Francis McDormand, and </span><i style="text-indent: 0cm;">Paradise
Road</i><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">, directed by Bruce Beresford, starring Glenn Close and Cate Blanchett.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes; text-indent: 0cm;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">In </span><i style="text-indent: 0cm;">Beyond Rangoon</i><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">, Anni and I worked a
few days in wardrobe when they needed extra help to deal with 2000 extras, where
we gained a whole new perspective into movie making.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yzXcQRVDpOU/SvVxc26pjeI/AAAAAAAAAMU/LXQCLEDxJnQq-YREcw1uOvHqn77F469rQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Beyond%2BRangoon%252C%2Btacky%2Btoursit%2Bwith%2BJoelle%252C%2Bthe%2Blady%2Bin%2Bpink.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1074" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yzXcQRVDpOU/SvVxc26pjeI/AAAAAAAAAMU/LXQCLEDxJnQq-YREcw1uOvHqn77F469rQCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Beyond%2BRangoon%252C%2Btacky%2Btoursit%2Bwith%2BJoelle%252C%2Bthe%2Blady%2Bin%2Bpink.JPG" width="215" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e4dJq2BmAc8/Su7aGL2vmvI/AAAAAAAAALs/HfZkJLQmw_46RDBpf1g9HrKC_frRZvggwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Paradie%2BRoad%252C%2BRobert%2Bat%2Bleft%252C%2Bbloodied%2Bsailor.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1074" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e4dJq2BmAc8/Su7aGL2vmvI/AAAAAAAAALs/HfZkJLQmw_46RDBpf1g9HrKC_frRZvggwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Paradie%2BRoad%252C%2BRobert%2Bat%2Bleft%252C%2Bbloodied%2Bsailor.JPG" width="215" /></a></div><br /><span style="text-indent: 0cm;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">In 1992,
Anni, Joelle and I were asked by Angela Clark another tango dancer from </span><i style="text-indent: 0cm;">Indochine,</i><span style="text-indent: 0cm;"> to help revive Penang Players after a twelve years hiatus.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes; text-indent: 0cm;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">Our first play was </span><i style="text-indent: 0cm;">Admirable Crichton</i><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">
where Joelle and Anni had small acting parts.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes; text-indent: 0cm;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">Anni’s big part was sound effects, and I was stage manager.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes; text-indent: 0cm;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">Our behind-the-scenes roles continued for
several productions including, </span><i style="text-indent: 0cm;">Gosforth’s Fete, Between Mouthfuls, The
Mousetrap</i><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">, and </span><i style="text-indent: 0cm;">Dick Whittington and Wonder Cat</i><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes; text-indent: 0cm;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">Joelle played the Wonder Cat and Anni’s son
Chris, then age 10, played Dick Whittington.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="text-indent: 0cm;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AuTVwJwjyHE/YTNicHaSrcI/AAAAAAAABxc/9HzDH5Ifj7UDFBv5Z9LHA7KVJ0gK4Xq7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Anni%2BAdmiral%2BChriton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1428" data-original-width="2048" height="223" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AuTVwJwjyHE/YTNicHaSrcI/AAAAAAAABxc/9HzDH5Ifj7UDFBv5Z9LHA7KVJ0gK4Xq7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Anni%2BAdmiral%2BChriton.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="text-indent: 0cm;"><br /></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-noekREoyn6A/YTNjq89FcEI/AAAAAAAAByE/01C64uBzJqwABdNU1SSYABQ-5TStQADBQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Anni%2Bmaids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1588" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-noekREoyn6A/YTNjq89FcEI/AAAAAAAAByE/01C64uBzJqwABdNU1SSYABQ-5TStQADBQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Anni%2Bmaids.jpg" width="248" /></a></div><br />
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-indent: 0cm;">During this time, Anni and I shared other adventures, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She helped to dress me up as Santa Claus for St. Christopher’s School, where her son Chris was attending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks to <i>Indochine</i>, we became models for Hotel Equatorial, City Bayview, and Bacchus, a French restaurant owned by Joelle and her husband.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were then hired to dress up as Colonial Officers and their spouses at the E & O Hotel for 200 French Lotto winners.</span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I9ljyG_UIes/SyDZOduhfjI/AAAAAAAAAO0/LrwxtunSAZoPK_7_pbbJsDOMCza85jybQCPcBGAYYCw/s1535/Modelling.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1087" data-original-width="1535" height="227" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I9ljyG_UIes/SyDZOduhfjI/AAAAAAAAAO0/LrwxtunSAZoPK_7_pbbJsDOMCza85jybQCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Modelling.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mKFW4zg2dYc/YTNj6hI2InI/AAAAAAAAByM/86oAGtuYT2ALTdprOM0YhdjDW2hyzb44gCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Anni%2BGyn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1429" data-original-width="2048" height="223" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mKFW4zg2dYc/YTNj6hI2InI/AAAAAAAAByM/86oAGtuYT2ALTdprOM0YhdjDW2hyzb44gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Anni%2BGyn.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">For the
Penang Heritage Trust’s Twenties Revival at the former Runnymede Hotel, we were
asked to reprise our roles as tango dancers from <i>Indochine</i> and put on a
performance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By then, the eight tango
dancers in <st1:place w:st="on">Penang</st1:place> had dwindled to five.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <br /></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f2t9rd0xhd4/Sxiqi9Lkf3I/AAAAAAAAAOE/0NKrk9ZvZJ8CTBZL7vhqHg9DpebI-KpcgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/20%2527s%2Bdinner%252C%2BRobert%2Bwith%2Btango%2Bdanners%2BAnni%2Band%2BJoelle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1074" data-original-width="1600" height="215" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f2t9rd0xhd4/Sxiqi9Lkf3I/AAAAAAAAAOE/0NKrk9ZvZJ8CTBZL7vhqHg9DpebI-KpcgCPcBGAYYCw/s320/20%2527s%2Bdinner%252C%2BRobert%2Bwith%2Btango%2Bdanners%2BAnni%2Band%2BJoelle.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3lReqk42zk0/SxipKFs7d6I/AAAAAAAAAN8/WB7MUKyZB-AA09vIKE9lIXFrsYyj0gKLACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/20%2527s%2Bdinner%252C%2BRobert%2Bstanding%2Bwith%2Btango%2Bdancers%2BAnni%2Band%2BJoelle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1074" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3lReqk42zk0/SxipKFs7d6I/AAAAAAAAAN8/WB7MUKyZB-AA09vIKE9lIXFrsYyj0gKLACPcBGAYYCw/w214-h320/20%2527s%2Bdinner%252C%2BRobert%2Bstanding%2Bwith%2Btango%2Bdancers%2BAnni%2Band%2BJoelle.JPG" width="214" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E9QDWsnWFN8/SyDWnuyg3MI/AAAAAAAAAOk/F3nq7ieO1LMqVGrs2twbyai2B5lMF4M4QCPcBGAYYCw/s1535/Dancing%2Bwith%2BJoelle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1535" data-original-width="1087" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E9QDWsnWFN8/SyDWnuyg3MI/AAAAAAAAAOk/F3nq7ieO1LMqVGrs2twbyai2B5lMF4M4QCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Dancing%2Bwith%2BJoelle.JPG" width="227" /></a></div></div><br /></span><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Anni and
I shared a penchant for visiting places where we didn’t belong, like the
remnants of a house in Batu Ferringhi where another long-term expat-cum hermit
named Bill McVeigh was still living out the remainder of his life before he
passed away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We snuck into several abandoned
bungalows, including one where we were chased by bats, and another time, I tore
my shirt slipping through a hole in a fence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">There
were sad moments too, like giving blood to a fellow Penang Player who later
died of cancer; although he was from Penang, he was a long-term expat in France.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes; text-indent: 0cm;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">Anni, at her own personal risk, once helped
another expat flee Penang from an abusive husband.</span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dlEKMH6HVuM/YTM__osr1yI/AAAAAAAABw4/Nt7Jyf2AM2sTt5TBbXOnRPrJ8x3VjJGdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1006/Anni%2Bat%2BThe%2BFarm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1006" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dlEKMH6HVuM/YTM__osr1yI/AAAAAAAABw4/Nt7Jyf2AM2sTt5TBbXOnRPrJ8x3VjJGdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Anni%2Bat%2BThe%2BFarm.jpg" width="204" /></a></div><br /><span style="text-indent: 0cm;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In the
last five years, Anni devoted herself to “The Farm” at Lone Pine Hotel, where
she taught horseback riding, resurfacing now and then to do the sound for yet
another Penang Players’ production.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Meanwhile I settled to a life teaching creative writing at USM, went
through a divorce, and eventually met someone wonderful from <st1:place w:st="on">Sarawak</st1:place>
and remarried.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Oe70A11GEA/SIBo8wfn0II/AAAAAAAAAAk/kv_hXgSJj6YP1LbwxhZUdEuGyhjLUvn3QCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/LSR-front%2Bcover.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1066" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Oe70A11GEA/SIBo8wfn0II/AAAAAAAAAAk/kv_hXgSJj6YP1LbwxhZUdEuGyhjLUvn3QCPcBGAYYCw/w133-h200/LSR-front%2Bcover.JPG" width="133" /></a></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br />While I concentrated on teaching and my own writing, Anni offered to read an early draft of my
novel and gave helpful feedback.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over
the years she had edited two more of my novels and some short stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Extremely supportive of my writing, she,
Joelle and others from Penang Players volunteered to launch my collection of
Malaysian-set short stories, <i>Lovers and Strangers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Later they did again for the revised version,
<i>Lovers and Strangers Revisited</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By then Anni had left, although I
acknowledged her in the book.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">When Joelle
first told me that Anni was leaving Penang, I contacted her and we quickly caught
up with each other’s lives, reminiscing about all the adventures we had shared
in Penang, as well as airing each other’s concerns about her returning to the
US and her future life as a former expat whose heart will always be in Malaysia
where she had spent a third of her life.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes; text-indent: 0cm;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">When I was going through a difficult custody battle for my son, she gave
me the timely advice to “keep your head high”.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes; text-indent: 0cm;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">I know she will be do the same no matter what happens in the US where
many fellow Americans have never traveled out of the US, other than weekend
trips to Mexico or Canada, and have no desire to do so.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Like
many other short- and long-term expats in Penang, as well as hordes of local
friends, especially those in Penang Players or from The Lone Pine—we will miss
Anni, particularly Joelle and I, who will remain behind in Penang as the last
two tango dancers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DtcvBPQCrbc/YTNjDkngKKI/AAAAAAAABx8/b56-Yfa5s2s6l5ByaP3JM8XY9dxBIXawACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Anni%2Band%2BJoelle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1169" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DtcvBPQCrbc/YTNjDkngKKI/AAAAAAAABx8/b56-Yfa5s2s6l5ByaP3JM8XY9dxBIXawACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Anni%2Band%2BJoelle.jpg" width="183" /></a></div><br /><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p>*Later, </o:p></span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">in 2006, I left
Penang for Sarawak on the island of Borneo in East Malaysia where I still reside as an expat. Joelle remains in Penang.</span></p>Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-53180741722890514822021-03-17T05:43:00.000-07:002021-03-17T05:43:07.264-07:00“The Stare” Published in Thema (Spring 2021)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aiPe8nodIlI/YFH2Wi_gdxI/AAAAAAAABtg/4MW87pJsO40-uwCX6xa-5JtzwCpMKqw0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/The%2BStare.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1257" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aiPe8nodIlI/YFH2Wi_gdxI/AAAAAAAABtg/4MW87pJsO40-uwCX6xa-5JtzwCpMKqw0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BStare.jpg" /></a></div> <br /><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">My short story “The Stare” was published in <i>Thema</i> (Spring
2021) in the US.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story was first
published in <i>New Straits Times</i> in Malaysia back in 1986.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s 35 years ago, so I guess it has a
timeless quality about it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got the
idea after visiting an old Malay cemetery and wrote about it in <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2008/12/story-behind-story-of-lovers-and.html" target="_blank">Story Behind the Story</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the fifth short story published in <i>Thema, </i>four from the <i>Lovers and Strangers Revisited </i>collection.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eETqgYaR2-s/YFH2eESuGoI/AAAAAAAABtk/TKLIh4tLvfgZPR_KX-7SqVGAMtWEeZbTwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/The%2Bstare-Thema.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1384" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eETqgYaR2-s/YFH2eESuGoI/AAAAAAAABtk/TKLIh4tLvfgZPR_KX-7SqVGAMtWEeZbTwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2Bstare-Thema.jpg" /></a></div><p></p>Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-50426604912498617942020-10-18T05:28:00.002-07:002020-10-18T15:20:35.689-07:00 Being Brother Patrick of St. Joseph in Abdul Taib Mahmud: An Untold Story-Part II<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bm-U8IlgY54/X4wRWVckpSI/AAAAAAAABpc/4HRjyK9n1_YRZDHH5WlxV1P10Haz8I4eACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Taib-p-stage%252C%2Bcrew%2Bbehind%2Bus.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bm-U8IlgY54/X4wRWVckpSI/AAAAAAAABpc/4HRjyK9n1_YRZDHH5WlxV1P10Haz8I4eACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h266/Taib-p-stage%252C%2Bcrew%2Bbehind%2Bus.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US"><br /><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">After filming at the chapel at the
Carmelite Monastery <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2020/10/being-brother-patrick-of-st-joseph-in.html">(see Part I)</a>, both the school assembly and class photo scenes at St. Joseph Secondary School were switched to Sunday, the
final day of filming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the
extras—</span>Garret-another Brother, Leslie-the photographer, and about three dozen Form Five students from St. Joseph—were brought it for the shots.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ulKBF8adws8/X4wFXhOOyOI/AAAAAAAABos/uOc1gwVkzQIdoHhecnYAuI8xmilGhWfNQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Taib-p-%2Bwith%2Bphotographer.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ulKBF8adws8/X4wFXhOOyOI/AAAAAAAABos/uOc1gwVkzQIdoHhecnYAuI8xmilGhWfNQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-p-%2Bwith%2Bphotographer.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">There was some drama in the school assembly
when the Taib and Annuar characters arrived late and Annuar collided with
Brother Charles who was wielding his cane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My opening lines addressing the school assembly went well, just needed
to work on the cadence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tiles,
however, were slippery from the early morning rain for my dress shoes, so I had
to be careful while walking and then climbing onto the platform (they had to
remove the makeshift steps which were even more precarious).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rf-dqV9920I/X4wSU3Mf2mI/AAAAAAAABpk/Zkr1d1xRCNMX-zRiM8GsqDkJL8M1CfklgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Taib-v-podium%2Bwith%2Bstudents.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="733" data-original-width="1024" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rf-dqV9920I/X4wSU3Mf2mI/AAAAAAAABpk/Zkr1d1xRCNMX-zRiM8GsqDkJL8M1CfklgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-v-podium%2Bwith%2Bstudents.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Jocelyn would assist me coming down, which
I didn’t mind. One take, I even had two
ladies helping me, one for each hand.
Wouldn’t look good if I fell since they didn’t have a spare
cassock. What did fall was the top
portion of an old gramophone that was being wound up to play the school
rally. The two previous takes went fine,
but then the whole top portion of the gramophone dropped off.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ADaElTHhPY/X4wEvsVyUZI/AAAAAAAABoM/qjxEusWe-eoEct_XFt-p3k0Gg4C2MnafgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Taib-p-me%2Band%2Bgramophone.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1345" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ADaElTHhPY/X4wEvsVyUZI/AAAAAAAABoM/qjxEusWe-eoEct_XFt-p3k0Gg4C2MnafgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-p-me%2Band%2Bgramophone.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Still, the school rally had to be
sung.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6QqGjgeCxt4/X4wPvMH3G4I/AAAAAAAABpI/d5YR8V9-4CUuKr8z-_EgtRxXhzb3YyYRACLcBGAsYHQ/s516/Taib-rally%2Bsong.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="516" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6QqGjgeCxt4/X4wPvMH3G4I/AAAAAAAABpI/d5YR8V9-4CUuKr8z-_EgtRxXhzb3YyYRACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-rally%2Bsong.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tRWQLBAmEOg/X4wFDx5Cr0I/AAAAAAAABoc/bH6cWUg08UwWuW9Jxh06fRqn9YfDJgBAgCLcBGAsYHQ/s784/Taib-v-me%2Band%2BAlex%2Bsinging.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="784" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tRWQLBAmEOg/X4wFDx5Cr0I/AAAAAAAABoc/bH6cWUg08UwWuW9Jxh06fRqn9YfDJgBAgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-v-me%2Band%2BAlex%2Bsinging.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><span lang="EN-US"> </span><a name="_Hlk53914753"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a><p></p><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I made the announcement, put my
hand on my heart, as did all of the students, and we sang the school rally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had been rehearsing all week and had it
memorized, but I kept screwing up the lines and then picking it up later and
screwing up again, although no retakes were done for my sake, which I found…well,
surprising and relieving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I got an
idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked Alester, our director, to
ask all of the students to put some school spirit into the song, since they all
knew the song by heart, and to sing loudly, too, which I hoped would drown me
out (and cover my mistakes).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It worked!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4SchYfPJFvE/X4wQGeWV2aI/AAAAAAAABpQ/-ZaGGU40klEzOEkRIysJWGTk6LvU-ZJ7ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1080/Taib-p-singing%2Btogether.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4SchYfPJFvE/X4wQGeWV2aI/AAAAAAAABpQ/-ZaGGU40klEzOEkRIysJWGTk6LvU-ZJ7ACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h266/Taib-p-singing%2Btogether.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /> </span><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While waiting for the class photo scene, I
ran into Donjie, the kantung seller, who Alex and I knew from <i>Road to
Nationhood: Sarawak.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></span></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d4Qoi2jdVDY/X4wXqDaBLII/AAAAAAAABqk/_HWyntk5E_kAs2428stKfNaYqf5IvfP6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1056/Taib-Donjie%2Bwith%2Bhat.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="1056" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d4Qoi2jdVDY/X4wXqDaBLII/AAAAAAAABqk/_HWyntk5E_kAs2428stKfNaYqf5IvfP6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-Donjie%2Bwith%2Bhat.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Donjie <a name="_Hlk53914753"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uN-4mcUkKqk/X4wXtvXSLBI/AAAAAAAABqo/OMinKjHfNokiArId1x2p2Pp_spIM9UzHwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1000/Taib-Donjie%2Band%2Bcrew.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uN-4mcUkKqk/X4wXtvXSLBI/AAAAAAAABqo/OMinKjHfNokiArId1x2p2Pp_spIM9UzHwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-Donjie%2Band%2Bcrew.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p9JyUzUD3VQ/X4wYQhF6ZpI/AAAAAAAABq4/3ipJGTBdo1c1sTf5cn5cMr41JySKVt0ywCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Taib-getting%2Bready%2Bclass%2Bphoto.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p9JyUzUD3VQ/X4wYQhF6ZpI/AAAAAAAABq4/3ipJGTBdo1c1sTf5cn5cMr41JySKVt0ywCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-getting%2Bready%2Bclass%2Bphoto.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">By the time the class photo sequence was
ready to begin, the sun was directly above our heads and we were all melting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I acted cool, the bald spot in the
back of my head could feel the heat.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-29_nxtW1NIA/X4wUiXDDu9I/AAAAAAAABqA/mButGh3wLDMaQVdGtm5prLA9nTTSETGZQCLcBGAsYHQ/s523/Taib-photographer.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="523" data-original-width="426" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-29_nxtW1NIA/X4wUiXDDu9I/AAAAAAAABqA/mButGh3wLDMaQVdGtm5prLA9nTTSETGZQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-photographer.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US"><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-psdqUKI9ZC4/X4wUydzzHkI/AAAAAAAABqI/WyxzD_-EEKM4GX4LDTNZ8wR_yEUAWRfMACLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Taib-v-photographer%2Bwith%2Bclass%2Bphoto.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="1024" height="259" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-psdqUKI9ZC4/X4wUydzzHkI/AAAAAAAABqI/WyxzD_-EEKM4GX4LDTNZ8wR_yEUAWRfMACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h259/Taib-v-photographer%2Bwith%2Bclass%2Bphoto.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9atNnS4sFAU/X4wV66A2t5I/AAAAAAAABqU/Wf6c-9bTKrQ42trXgUvMxT8LCXJsFPwBACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Taib-p-group%2Bphoto.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9atNnS4sFAU/X4wV66A2t5I/AAAAAAAABqU/Wf6c-9bTKrQ42trXgUvMxT8LCXJsFPwBACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h225/Taib-p-group%2Bphoto.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">This was where the film ends, just as the photographer called out, “One, two, three…” He had no flash in his camera, but in the film, it flashed, and the class photo morphed into the actual class photo with Taib Mahmud taken in 1955.</span></p><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Tv02r4KJv8/X4wT_kwD_lI/AAAAAAAABp4/KPM7mfY2RIwXG5UwQ9zNlpbHCf1PV_nQQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Taib-55%2Bclass%2Bphoto-3%2Benhanced.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Tv02r4KJv8/X4wT_kwD_lI/AAAAAAAABp4/KPM7mfY2RIwXG5UwQ9zNlpbHCf1PV_nQQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h225/Taib-55%2Bclass%2Bphoto-3%2Benhanced.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Taib's Class Photo 1955</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN-US">I thought we
were done, but we were called in for an ADR—Additional Dialogue Replacement—to
dub in lines that weren’t clear on the film for a variety of reasons, some out
of our control like that passing ambulance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I immediately dreaded redoing the school rally, something I was still
singing inside my head, and desperately wanted out!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I figured, since they were no longer
filming, I could read from the script, so no problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, the school rally was fine and the
close-ups on me were at the beginning before I had time to mess up.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">We arrived at Momentum Studio Thursday
evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since I had the longest drive
home, and it was a school night and I had to be up at 5:15 a.m. the following
morning, they let me go first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">“Are you ready?” asked Amos as he led me to
the sound room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">“When have I ever not been ready?” I
replied jokingly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">My wife would’ve laughed at that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Now what?” she would say, after another
delay whenever we were rushing anywhere.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">“Wait,” I told Amos, “I forgot my
backpack…”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LizfOF0HSDk/X4wTsmPlBoI/AAAAAAAABpw/hgfaD5lqXWYbEpRyz5MQxXTE3RJrMZATQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Taib-v-praying%2Bwith%2Bboys.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="772" data-original-width="1024" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LizfOF0HSDk/X4wTsmPlBoI/AAAAAAAABpw/hgfaD5lqXWYbEpRyz5MQxXTE3RJrMZATQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-v-praying%2Bwith%2Bboys.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US"><br /><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">On the monitor was me from the church
scene, kneeling in my pew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I needed to
redo the prayers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bernie keyed me in
with a series of three beats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the
fourth non-existent beat I would begin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was weird speaking to myself, trying to match the words with the lips
that were moving in front of me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I
had to do was say my prayer a couple of times and then I silently prayed it
would be over before they changed their minds about redoing that song.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">One month to the day of my audition to play
Brother Patrick I happened to be in Sibu when I heard that Sarawak TV would be
airing our film that evening; however, they weren’t sure of the time, anywhere
from 7:30-9:30.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hotel didn’t carry
that channel, but I was told it could be watched live online.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">We watched the news at 7:30, and kept
glancing at the time as the program, a tribute to Taib Mahmud dragged on…a
variety show of speeches, singing and dancing that culminated with the presentation
of our film by Pixbugs Studio—his special birthday present—at 10 pm!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By then both of our boys were sound
asleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, my wife and I
watched the program on her phone in bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Luckily, it didn’t put <i>us</i> to sleep.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> Here is a link to the 15 minute video: </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wagk4AbCPCHrJ9d0h6Eu8m5FIEgzlLqM/view</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">What really jolted me awake was the first
shot of me—a closeup of the balding spot on the back of my head as I stood on
the podium about to address the school assembly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was not a good look.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shocking to say the least since I never see
that particular angle when I look at myself in the mirror, nor do I want to see
it, let alone millions of strangers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other than that, the film was nicely done,
shot in black and white in a nostalgic style befitting Malaysia in the
mid-50’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Malaysians, think P.
Ramlee.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dBrv-yZpTxM/X4wY6wIRyEI/AAAAAAAABrM/ebBhqoXh87E2rht9gEizPkfFORMizf0ewCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Taib-v-me%2Band%2Bboys-2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="773" data-original-width="1024" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dBrv-yZpTxM/X4wY6wIRyEI/AAAAAAAABrM/ebBhqoXh87E2rht9gEizPkfFORMizf0ewCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-v-me%2Band%2Bboys-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yDOfYhbU6nA/X4wYu9xEnlI/AAAAAAAABrE/9U6Uvku9XbQrTALcfS7os4fzGh7J12m4QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Taib-v-closeup%2Bclass%2Bphoto.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="1024" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yDOfYhbU6nA/X4wYu9xEnlI/AAAAAAAABrE/9U6Uvku9XbQrTALcfS7os4fzGh7J12m4QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-v-closeup%2Bclass%2Bphoto.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span><br /><o:p></o:p></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8_kKQVTroTU/X4wY16JH5NI/AAAAAAAABrI/V-qG_TVYuasVDJ1EM6yAt4rDafUO2M84ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Taib-v-profile%2Bin%2Bchurch.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="752" data-original-width="1024" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8_kKQVTroTU/X4wY16JH5NI/AAAAAAAABrI/V-qG_TVYuasVDJ1EM6yAt4rDafUO2M84ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-v-profile%2Bin%2Bchurch.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The boys got to see it the following morning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">“You look weird,” one of them said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So much for making a good impression. <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">An astute Catholic friend, other than
pointing out the bald spot, noted that the sign of the cross before the Second
Vatican Council (1962-1965) was:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost (not Holy Spirit as I had
said.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh well, for me it was still a
wrap…in the can…and launched onto TV land and into the realm of Social Media throughout the world…and
into infinity and beyond...<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Next time, I just pray I don’t have to sing
that school rally again and maybe they could cover up that bald spot for
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A nice stylish hat would do.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2020/10/being-brother-patrick-of-st-joseph-in.html">Being Brother Patrick Part-I</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>—Borneo Expat Writer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.85pt;"><span lang="EN-US">Beheaded on the
Road to Nationhood—<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/09/beheaded-on-road-to-nationhood-sarawak.html"><span style="color: #993322;">Part I </span></a></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-MY;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.85pt;"><span lang="EN-US">Beheaded on the
Road to Nationhood—<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/09/getting-killed-on-road-to-nationhood.html"><span style="color: #993322;">Part II</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Somerset Maugham and Me—<a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefilmed-for.html"><span style="color: #ff3300;">Part I-V</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN-US">Joseph <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/arte-joseph-conrad-and-mesarawaks.html"><span style="color: #993322;">Conrad and Me</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-56943191258267514692020-10-17T22:26:00.002-07:002020-10-18T05:43:42.755-07:00Being Brother Patrick of St. Joseph in Abdul Taib Mahmud: An Untold Story-Part I<p> <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p8q0iJRjMPY/X4urrxyrAhI/AAAAAAAABkQ/buC0WiaPGL0hoolR6GnxLsDQU_MUCTN6ACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Taib-kneeling%2Bwith%2Bclapboard.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p8q0iJRjMPY/X4urrxyrAhI/AAAAAAAABkQ/buC0WiaPGL0hoolR6GnxLsDQU_MUCTN6ACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h266/Taib-kneeling%2Bwith%2Bclapboard.JPG" title="Pixbugs Studio" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> Robert Raymer, Pixbugs
Studio</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table>The Taib Mahmud tribute
film was quick—one month from audition to seeing myself as Brother Patrick on
Sarawak TV as part of a tribute for the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak’s 84<sup>th</sup>
birthday. <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Two days before my audition, Alex contacted
me, asking me if I was interested in the playing the role Brother Patrick,
headmaster of St Joseph Secondary School.
He was auditioning for Brother Charles, a stern class teacher who carries
a cane. Alex and I had previously taken
part in the <i><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/09/beheaded-on-road-to-nationhood-sarawak.html">Road to Nationhood: Sarawak</a></i> that was aired on the <i>National
Geographic</i> channel.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span lang="EN-US"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ncTVQKs7KLo/W5StZTbt8cI/AAAAAAAABMM/32TaITD8VhEm_-z5yKNAoU8xBjHdRzs_gCPcBGAYYCw/s2048/2018-09-01%2B09.04.52.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1152" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ncTVQKs7KLo/W5StZTbt8cI/AAAAAAAABMM/32TaITD8VhEm_-z5yKNAoU8xBjHdRzs_gCPcBGAYYCw/s320/2018-09-01%2B09.04.52.jpg" /></a></div></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Alex passed the
phone to Michele who works for Film Makers Company who in turn was hired by
Pixbugs Studio, in charge of Production, to do the casting and wardrobe. She informed me that auditions would end in a
few days, so I made an appointment for Thursday afternoon. I dropped off one of my sons at St. Joseph
Secondary School, slipped on my Covid-19 pandemic face mask and arrived at
their office.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">After filling in my
personal details and measurements, Michele passed me my lines. A lot of lines. I had a moment of panic. Although I have been an extra in <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2011/03/four-films-writer-as-film-extra-while.html">four feature films</a>, including <i>Indochine</i>, which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, I’ve
never had to interact and exchange lines with other actors before (not even in
plays, although I’ve been a stage manager for several Penang Players productions).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I did take part in two French documentaries, one on <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefilmed-for.html">Somerset Maugham</a> and the other<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/arte-joseph-conrad-and-mesarawaks.html"> Joseph Conrad</a>. For both projects, I extensively researched my subjects and expounded upon what I had learned, their ties to Sarawak.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F-h4scuKLeY/WTY6DB5dd8I/AAAAAAAAA7w/sadkRGgdg3cWW0XcU2UegSC03fznHBg3wCPcBGAYYCw/s2048/smart%2Bphone%2BMay%252717%2B1943.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F-h4scuKLeY/WTY6DB5dd8I/AAAAAAAAA7w/sadkRGgdg3cWW0XcU2UegSC03fznHBg3wCPcBGAYYCw/s320/smart%2Bphone%2BMay%252717%2B1943.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kDFC2g0kUrs/XTgRxnn7pAI/AAAAAAAABXg/rVmKL3_ygPM6_V9L8pvgGey0EL9s2vQTwCPcBGAYYCw/s992/Conrad-mic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="992" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kDFC2g0kUrs/XTgRxnn7pAI/AAAAAAAABXg/rVmKL3_ygPM6_V9L8pvgGey0EL9s2vQTwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Conrad-mic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Exchanging dialogue with another actor is quite different. You have to listen closely, react accordingly,
and speak your lines on cue. The church
scene was a very long dialogue sequence between Taib and Brother Patrick at a
crucial junction in the film.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Not sure I was up to it, I considered
bailing on the project, but Sam, who was Michele’s boss, came over and gave me
a pep talk and encouraged me to try out since I was there. Due to Covid-19 there weren’t that many expatriates
in Kuching in my age category who could (or wanted to) act. Ok, so maybe they were desperate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Michele gave me some time to memorize my
lines. She then filmed me as I stated my
name, age, height, and previous acting experience. I then had to act out four emotions: Happy,
Sad, Angry and Excited.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">“Have you ever done this before?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">“No,” I replied, but found it fun. The less fun part was remembering my lines
which I kept flubbing, even skipping whole paragraphs, but eventually I got the
hang of it. After a few takes they
convinced me that I did fine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">At home, I still
contemplated bailing since I was in the middle of a long writing project and
didn’t want to break my momentum. Then I
figured someone else would get the part.
That didn’t happen. Late Friday, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I
got the call.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I was in.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So was Alex.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2LGDc94CPis/X4uu2K0fcVI/AAAAAAAABks/LFZEar58l7cWxyzjXuNuQBMh-BvNs7KRwCLcBGAsYHQ/s784/Taib-v-me%2Band%2BAlex%2Bsinging.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="784" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2LGDc94CPis/X4uu2K0fcVI/AAAAAAAABks/LFZEar58l7cWxyzjXuNuQBMh-BvNs7KRwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-v-me%2Band%2BAlex%2Bsinging.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I had to break the bad news to my two sons, Form Four and Form One, that I would be acting as the headmaster of their school, although the year would be 1955. I also had to learn their motto, Ora et Labora (Latin: pray and work) and their school rally song. Two of my scenes would be set at their school. As a father, now and then, you need to embarrass your children.</p><p class="MsoNormal">I arrived at Pixbugs Studio at the same
time as Alex for the briefing, rehearsals and costume measurements, where we
met Alester Leong-Director, Bernie-First Assistant Director, Shawn-Director of
Photography, Liew-Cast Director, and a handful of other actors, many of whom
were students, including from St. Joseph private, plus the two main actors, Ezmir
who plays Taib Mahmud and Adhwa, Taib’s friend Annuar.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9QYGFTlqaVM/X4usLC4FWjI/AAAAAAAABkg/0ASXrDTgilIyVVgg6S5TPe5hXU94FACxACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Taib-poster.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9QYGFTlqaVM/X4usLC4FWjI/AAAAAAAABkg/0ASXrDTgilIyVVgg6S5TPe5hXU94FACxACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-poster.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gmjTHKD2xfE/X4urEaQlDtI/AAAAAAAABj8/y3PNN6S4Xngh_nBVAH91dtGkhMurLGnuwCLcBGAsYHQ/s847/Taib-Ezmir%2Band%2BTaib.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="847" data-original-width="598" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gmjTHKD2xfE/X4urEaQlDtI/AAAAAAAABj8/y3PNN6S4Xngh_nBVAH91dtGkhMurLGnuwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-Ezmir%2Band%2BTaib.jpg" /></a></div><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Jocelyn-Art Director and Melissa-Makeup
Artist studied my face—an unnerving experience having two young ladies conferring
back and forth on the flaws of my face up-close and personal and what they
would need to do to make me look more like Brother Patrick since a total facelift
was out of the question (and out of their budget). Alex got the same treatment.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MLXSn7WF6Yw/X4uq-PxGejI/AAAAAAAABj4/1U_fYT3_bywCnDIEPP_wMK8hiAqjlywggCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/Taib-Brother%2BPatrick.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="348" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MLXSn7WF6Yw/X4uq-PxGejI/AAAAAAAABj4/1U_fYT3_bywCnDIEPP_wMK8hiAqjlywggCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-Brother%2BPatrick.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Brother Patrick</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6-j-n9yZMu0/X4urr31ZGzI/AAAAAAAABkM/l5Rr_fdMxEUQ0t9e1R7cRdCJZylMHAW8wCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Taib-Brother%2BCharles.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6-j-n9yZMu0/X4urr31ZGzI/AAAAAAAABkM/l5Rr_fdMxEUQ0t9e1R7cRdCJZylMHAW8wCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Taib-Brother%2BCharles.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Brother Charles</td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Rehearsals went well since we could look at
our scripts if necessary. The school
rally song went horribly wrong. Some of
the students knew it by heart, the rest of us were clueless. Someone found the music and the words on YouTube,
so we tried to follow along. Later I
asked my son if he had a copy of the school rally and he passed me a notebook
that had the words on the back, so I cut it out and kept a copy in my car. Turned out there was more than one version,
so I had to amend it accordingly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R7g-mZGhwE4/X4uvgQpY_9I/AAAAAAAABk0/lxQgtE34HkIRQB7qY-LyFqbdPGhQ5A3CACLcBGAsYHQ/s516/Taib-rally%2Bsong.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="516" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R7g-mZGhwE4/X4uvgQpY_9I/AAAAAAAABk0/lxQgtE34HkIRQB7qY-LyFqbdPGhQ5A3CACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-rally%2Bsong.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">A Taib Production Talent group was set up
on WhatsApp to keep us informed of production details and shooting schedules. Plus, a second group, Cast for Untold Story,
to ease communication between the director and the principal cast, which included
updated copies of the script and video references for the main characters so
they could see the facial expressions and mannerisms of those whom they would portray. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I suggested a few editing changes in my lines
to improve emphasis, which were readily accepted and caused additional updated
scripts. Alester and Bernie were very accommodating.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Filming would take place on Wednesday, Sarawak
Day, at Carmelite Monastery, and then on Saturday and Sunday at St.
Joseph. By Tuesday most of the lines
that I had memorized got changed. They
were changed again when we were handed the new script on Wednesday.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I was told to bring black shoes, not to
wear my wedding ring, and was given a pair of round glasses, which made it
difficult to see, but gave me a rather nice Harry Potter look.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m4Kgw9dYdy0/X4uvt1UjoMI/AAAAAAAABk4/Yjqu8KMwcvcyWWj3BrRFfurF3RCcmFN5QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1445/Taib-selfie%2Bme-good.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1445" data-original-width="925" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m4Kgw9dYdy0/X4uvt1UjoMI/AAAAAAAABk4/Yjqu8KMwcvcyWWj3BrRFfurF3RCcmFN5QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-selfie%2Bme-good.jpg" /></a></div><br /><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">No one said anything about a white t-shirt
to wear underneath the white cassock. For some reason I thought the cassock would be
dark…burgundy perhaps. Luckily, they had
a spare t-shirt. Later, I realized that I
had overlooked that detail buried within all the other messages. I then brought a spare t-shirt for Garrett,
another Brother involved with the Sunday shoot, who was under the impression he
was to wear a white dress shirt, not a white t-shirt. Miscommunications happen.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jb5Is811sWU/X4uxglC-iJI/AAAAAAAABlQ/P5J4iU2QvpgwMYsWQvtWbLo-KFM8rQT6ACLcBGAsYHQ/s615/Taib-Robes%2Binstructions.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="475" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jb5Is811sWU/X4uxglC-iJI/AAAAAAAABlQ/P5J4iU2QvpgwMYsWQvtWbLo-KFM8rQT6ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-Robes%2Binstructions.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uHKOw52oopY/X4uwsLzx2cI/AAAAAAAABlI/z3b9fdLX4ZgLIiJuFc4N24rucislCatxACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Taib-me%2Bmakeup.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1326" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uHKOw52oopY/X4uwsLzx2cI/AAAAAAAABlI/z3b9fdLX4ZgLIiJuFc4N24rucislCatxACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-me%2Bmakeup.jpg" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Melissa slicked back my hair and did the
makeup. Meanwhile Ezmir and I ran
through our lines. Once we were ready, we were driven to the set,
to the chapel at the Carmelite Monastery.
For the shoot that morning there was only three actors, but 30 for
production! Most were from Pixbugs, some
from Film Makers, others were freelancers. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-svR46wx5Hjw/X4uxnZuYnDI/AAAAAAAABlU/ARN57XLufAcXLDKhawkqxMVdBaAnM6JxACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Taib-p-crew.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-svR46wx5Hjw/X4uxnZuYnDI/AAAAAAAABlU/ARN57XLufAcXLDKhawkqxMVdBaAnM6JxACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-p-crew.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Amos-Sound Designer fixed me up with a microphone
hidden underneath my clothes.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LIEShNipGpU/X4uxpqCYr4I/AAAAAAAABlY/anJQ87UY9l8TgAM5arYdBjQ6cNEQ3wcpQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1080/Taib-p-mic.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LIEShNipGpU/X4uxpqCYr4I/AAAAAAAABlY/anJQ87UY9l8TgAM5arYdBjQ6cNEQ3wcpQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-p-mic.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p34wm9NFtGA/X4uzG2XR1uI/AAAAAAAABls/F-SW-R-NSGYmqeFtJCKJ_EkHDiSrev6awCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Taib-p-2%2Bboys%2Bin%2Bback.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p34wm9NFtGA/X4uzG2XR1uI/AAAAAAAABls/F-SW-R-NSGYmqeFtJCKJ_EkHDiSrev6awCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-p-2%2Bboys%2Bin%2Bback.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span lang="EN-US">While they filmed the two students shyly entering
the chapel, sitting on a back pew, and then making their way up the aisle
towards my character, I had plenty of time to go over my lines. Sam from Film Makers dropped by and told me
that he was glad that I got the part, which made me feel good. I didn’t ask how many others I had beaten out
just in case I was the only one. (I
think there was one other person who came in second place…Covid-19, what to
do?)<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Later, I found a secluded place in the
monastery so I could practice rising from a seated position and saying my lines—out
of eyesight and earshot of everyone else.
Or so I thought. Suddenly a door opened,
and I found myself face to face with an elderly nun who gazed suspiciously at
me dressed in a cassock. She said she
heard someone talking and thought I needed to be let in. I apologized for disturbing her and explained
my presence. I hoped that I had her
blessing and not a curse for disturbing her peace as I went back to rehearsing
my lines. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u6525M9vWgo/X4uzeJxVLiI/AAAAAAAABl4/hqUpVblEMhMnCRlY0KI834f7b4b_INkIACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Taib-p-director%2Band%2Bcrew%2Bin%2Bchapel.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u6525M9vWgo/X4uzeJxVLiI/AAAAAAAABl4/hqUpVblEMhMnCRlY0KI834f7b4b_INkIACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-p-director%2Band%2Bcrew%2Bin%2Bchapel.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ul1o_1GLxVo/X4u4uK68PWI/AAAAAAAABns/3e7uJgsX5JgqKXItL97J6JHJIkPfj0D9wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1080/Taib-p-briefing.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ul1o_1GLxVo/X4u4uK68PWI/AAAAAAAABns/3e7uJgsX5JgqKXItL97J6JHJIkPfj0D9wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-p-briefing.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Finally, I was allowed inside the chapel
and guided to the second pew and briefed. For
effect, smoke was created by waving a carpet, which added to the
stuffiness inside. With the cameras
rolling, I would start by kneeling, then I would sit back in my pew. Two students would appear at my side.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tHyUhrvIZaE/X4u7pRYtICI/AAAAAAAABn4/RCaHdOIkYNMEkDBnmuZtdutV-HMZUXsJgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1080/Taib-p-sitting%2Bwith%2B2%2Bboys.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tHyUhrvIZaE/X4u7pRYtICI/AAAAAAAABn4/RCaHdOIkYNMEkDBnmuZtdutV-HMZUXsJgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-p-sitting%2Bwith%2B2%2Bboys.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US"><br /><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Surprised at seeing them, I would stand to
greet them and then listen to their formal request to leave classes early on
Fridays to attend prayers at the mosque. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PrcjxZsDYrs/X4u2YbrsTtI/AAAAAAAABmY/f4tcqIx7KSITKt0o53eJL0IT0yF6Tvv4ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1080/Taib-p-%2B3%2Bwith%2Bcamera%2Bleft.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PrcjxZsDYrs/X4u2YbrsTtI/AAAAAAAABmY/f4tcqIx7KSITKt0o53eJL0IT0yF6Tvv4ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-p-%2B3%2Bwith%2Bcamera%2Bleft.jpg" width="320" /></a><a name="_Hlk53914753" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;"> </span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a name="_Hlk53914753" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;"> Pixbugs Studio</span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Three paragraphs had been cut from Ezmir’s
dialogue, but I felt they were crucial to convince Brother Patrick to grant Taib
(and the other Muslim students) permission since the lines also cited the
school motto to great effect (a nice tie in to the school assembly scene, shot
later, but would come sooner), since this was a pivotal, dramatic moment in
the film. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8Bv6OyXRoGY/X4u2atYX5kI/AAAAAAAABmg/dRYRWYWHOfE0gYQTlP0XngEzkT7NLdIxACLcBGAsYHQ/s1080/Taib-p-3%2Bwith%2Bcamera.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8Bv6OyXRoGY/X4u2atYX5kI/AAAAAAAABmg/dRYRWYWHOfE0gYQTlP0XngEzkT7NLdIxACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-p-3%2Bwith%2Bcamera.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I had expressed my concerns to Ezmir and others earlier before I finally approached the director on the set.
Alester readily agreed, so he asked Ezmir, who also agreed to
re-insert those three paragraphs back into his already rather long dialogue
(and thankfully he could still remember them!)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HvHe9z1X8p4/X4u252mmsuI/AAAAAAAABnA/wxFga_EtVvILJXhWs0uZ2KD_BL5cDZO7QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Taib-v-me%2Band%2Bboys.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="759" data-original-width="1024" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HvHe9z1X8p4/X4u252mmsuI/AAAAAAAABnA/wxFga_EtVvILJXhWs0uZ2KD_BL5cDZO7QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-v-me%2Band%2Bboys.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sdPU45mfWOQ/X4u3zuwbLlI/AAAAAAAABng/bAoJFryLBJcUD0lwIGIXRNKLJCS9vDGdQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Taib-p-standing%2Bwith%2B2%2Bboys%2Bbw.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sdPU45mfWOQ/X4u3zuwbLlI/AAAAAAAABng/bAoJFryLBJcUD0lwIGIXRNKLJCS9vDGdQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-p-standing%2Bwith%2B2%2Bboys%2Bbw.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ezmir and I then took about nine
takes. Ezmir, who did an excellent job
of acting throughout, kept stumbling over his lines (he had an awfully lot to
say and those three paragraphs taken out and re-inserted thanks to me didn’t exactly
help). Then it was my turn to stumble a
few times. One take was going rather
well for both of us until a passing ambulance blaring its siren drowned us
out. Finally, it looked like we could both
make it all the way through in time for lunch, but half-way through my final
sentence I blanked out.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">“Take five!” Alester called out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Everyone cleared
out of the chapel for some fresh air, but I remained behind, sitting in the
pew, stewing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The next take
we nailed it! We needed another take as
backup, and then, ran through it few more times for close-up shots. By then, no problem. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Problems for me came later when they filmed me
kneeling, saying my prayers. <o:p></o:p></span>Nothing like having all of their attention focused on me..to make me feel like being put on the spot.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gF9B0IV-FSA/X4u2iIgxCjI/AAAAAAAABmk/ux-2GE_ntdYlWVNflfEXIkVCzvykGghNQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1080/Taib-p-kneeling%2Bwith%2Bcrew.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gF9B0IV-FSA/X4u2iIgxCjI/AAAAAAAABmk/ux-2GE_ntdYlWVNflfEXIkVCzvykGghNQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-p-kneeling%2Bwith%2Bcrew.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ay5zxt_lxHk/X4u2XkJ2yLI/AAAAAAAABmU/b9y36R4XpBI6ai11XyDoh1sqEmY8Erh4ACLcBGAsYHQ/s2530/Taib-Alester%2Band%2BShawn%2Bchapel.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2530" data-original-width="1242" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ay5zxt_lxHk/X4u2XkJ2yLI/AAAAAAAABmU/b9y36R4XpBI6ai11XyDoh1sqEmY8Erh4ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-Alester%2Band%2BShawn%2Bchapel.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p></p>Occasionally they would forget to let me up while they conferred on the various takes, adjusting the
prayer beads, and making sure that the cross draped over my hand appropriately. I felt the pain in my knees and lower back
since I was kneeling in an awkward angle to get the right height among the
pews for the cameras, which were moved to various positions. I was perspiring from the strain, which the
director noted and duly apologized.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YnLEn86Yizk/X4u2Wh4dzSI/AAAAAAAABmQ/f2DIyBN2BykY38MPTD-d72zuPGnl3iuUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2509/taib-camera%2Bat%2Bpew.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1253" data-original-width="2509" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YnLEn86Yizk/X4u2Wh4dzSI/AAAAAAAABmQ/f2DIyBN2BykY38MPTD-d72zuPGnl3iuUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/taib-camera%2Bat%2Bpew.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a5nGNT3u4M8/X4u3sRxMTuI/AAAAAAAABnc/QGEisHR381oGxBI2uDwXe5qRQwpjZKnhwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Taib-p-praying%2Bwith%2Bboys%2Bat%2Bdoor.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a5nGNT3u4M8/X4u3sRxMTuI/AAAAAAAABnc/QGEisHR381oGxBI2uDwXe5qRQwpjZKnhwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taib-p-praying%2Bwith%2Bboys%2Bat%2Bdoor.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <a name="_Hlk53914753" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;">Pixbugs Studio</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">It was past 2 p.m. when we finally finished
shooting at the chapel. Although I was
done for the day, Ezmir and Adhwa still had filming that afternoon that would last
late into the evening. On Saturday and
Sunday, Brother Patrick would return for two more scenes in <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2020/10/being-brother-patrick-of-st-joseph-in_18.html">Part II</a>.</span> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> —Borneo Expat Writer<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"># # #</span></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Being Brother Patrick-<a href="Being Brother Patrick-Part II ">Part II</a> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Beheaded on the Road to Nationhood—<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/09/beheaded-on-road-to-nationhood-sarawak.html">Part I </a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Beheaded on the Road to Nationhood—<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/09/getting-killed-on-road-to-nationhood.html">Part II</a> </span></div></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Somerset Maugham and Me</span>—<a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefilmed-for.html">Part I-V</a><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal">Joseph <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/arte-joseph-conrad-and-mesarawaks.html">Conrad and Me</a> </p><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div>
Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-28119577617565716932020-07-30T23:22:00.002-07:002020-10-17T22:34:58.802-07:00“The Musical Tree” has been published in The Blue Lotus, Special Issue, 22<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="722" height="354" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NfSNfW9yOuA/XyOzmozdjfI/AAAAAAAABd4/7unMQuv3jjo_UhVA78TlQX_Tf3JOpwgpQCLcBGAsYHQ/w500-h354/The%2Bmusical%2Btree.jpg" style="text-align: left;" width="500" /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 1.0cm;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 1.0cm;"><span lang="">“The Musical
Tree”, previously published in French for <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-musical-tree-published-in-french.html">Editions GOPE</a>, and an excerpt from my Penang-set novel <i>A
Perfect Day for an Expat Exit</i>, has been published in <i>The Blue Lotus</i>, Special Issue, 22.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The excerpt, a flash fiction,
was part of the short story “Following the Cat” that appeared in <i>Off
the Edge</i> in Malaysia and <i>Thema</i>, a USA literary Journal, in 2006. <i>Thema</i>, by the way, recently accepted
one of my short stories, “The Stare” due out in 2021, the fifth short story for
them, all set in Malaysia, dating back to 2005.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I like working with them because each issue has a stated theme and if
one of your works already fits that theme (or if you can revise it to fit), it increases
your odds of publication.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 1.0cm;"><span lang=""><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 1.0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-chsR3ucDz_0/XyO2iaXUi2I/AAAAAAAABeM/md-e12LO8GskgSAwCLoRSSTwqfX8-EYFwCLcBGAsYHQ/s938/Blue%2BLotus%2B22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="664" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-chsR3ucDz_0/XyO2iaXUi2I/AAAAAAAABeM/md-e12LO8GskgSAwCLoRSSTwqfX8-EYFwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Blue%2BLotus%2B22.jpg" /></a></div><span lang=""><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 1.0cm;"><span lang="">Two other
stories from the same novel, one</span> a short story, <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2020/04/monkey-beach-accepted-by-secret-attic.html">“Monkey Beach”</a> and the other flash fiction “The Funeral Procession” were also published this year in
<i>The Secret Attic</i>, a UK publication. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">Recently I revised the 88,000-word novel and have been considering reverting it back to the previous title, <i>The Woman on the
Ferry</i>, the first novel in a planned trilogy set in Penang. The second novel, in progress, will be <i>The
Lady on the Balcony</i>. The third
novel, already completed, <i>The Girl in the Bathtub</i>.</p><br /><p></p>Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-116864825932316592020-05-22T23:33:00.009-07:002020-05-23T01:25:17.337-07:00Neighbours: a Google Meet with UiTM—Penang<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_JojObGEySA/Xsi6hc19r7I/AAAAAAAABbY/pJyg5sTQNFASy0v51A5zNP3ao0OZlVu7QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20200522-WA0000%2B%25283%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="1080" height="222" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_JojObGEySA/Xsi6hc19r7I/AAAAAAAABbY/pJyg5sTQNFASy0v51A5zNP3ao0OZlVu7QCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/IMG-20200522-WA0000%2B%25283%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In every classroom, whether you are teacher
or a student or an invited guest as I was yesterday, everyone should learn
something. I learned one new skill, how
to Google Meet, and two new words, <i>membawang</i> and <i>kay poh chee</i>!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I was invited by Nazima Versay Kudus into
her on-line classroom, Integrated Language Skills II, at Universiti Teknologi
MARA or UiTM—Penang (Bertam campus) via Google Meet to answer questions about
my short story <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/01/neighbours-by-robert-raymer.html">“Neighbours</a>”, from my collection <i>Lovers and Strangers Revisited</i>,
which they were studying.<span> </span>The sixty
students were from the Faculty of Health Sciences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">This was my first time on Google Meet or
any on-line forum during this Covid-19 MCO (Malaysian movement control order).<span> </span>In 2012 I did speak to students from <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2012/04/skyping-with-ohio-university.html">Ohio University via Skype </a>for their class on Exploring Malaysia’s Diversity through Film and Fiction, answering
questions about two other stories from the same collection, “Only in Malaysia”
and “Home for Hari Raya”.<span> </span>“Home for Hari
Rara” was later <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2012/12/ohio-university-in-malaysia-shooting.html">filmed by Ohio University</a> students who came all the way to
Malaysia. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9ozCLX1FDnQ/XsjTvs430vI/AAAAAAAABcA/ITN9wh2fFOoowQuHZvzA1nKmEKSnEVTZACK4BGAsYHg/Bookfest%2B2010%2Bwith%2Bstudents%2Bfrom%2BSMK%2B%2528p%2529%2BSri%2BAman%252C%2BPetaling%2BJeya.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9ozCLX1FDnQ/XsjTvs430vI/AAAAAAAABcA/ITN9wh2fFOoowQuHZvzA1nKmEKSnEVTZACK4BGAsYHg/s320/Bookfest%2B2010%2Bwith%2Bstudents%2Bfrom%2BSMK%2B%2528p%2529%2BSri%2BAman%252C%2BPetaling%2BJeya.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;">Two years earlier, in 2010, I did meet with Christina Chan and a dozen of her students from SMK (P) Sri Aman, Petaling Jeya,
who were also teaching “Neighbours”, at the Popular Bookfest. Later they <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2011/02/neighbors-gets-play-treatment.html">adapted the story into play.</a> </span></span></p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Membawang</span></i><span lang="EN-US">,
by the way, is a Malaysian slang for gossiping…like peeling layers of an onion,
getting to the core of the truth, perhaps….<i>Kay poh chee </i>is a busybody.<span> </span>Both words are appropriate for “Neighbours” a
story about a bunch of neighbors gossiping about the suicide of Johnny Leong.<span> </span>Mrs. Koh, who was once featured in a <i>New
Straits Times</i> article, “<a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2010/09/neighbours-comment-are-you-mrs-koh-by.html">Are You Mrs. Koh?”</a> is your typical <i>kay poh chee—</i>a know-it-all busybody!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The students and I first talked about the
neighborhood, how it was not typical of Malaysia for most Malaysians.<span> </span>Having lived in a new housing area that had
recently opened to all Malaysians, I was given a unique perspective of
Malaysia.<span> </span>Over time, as I found out, new
neighborhoods start to skew in one direction or another.<span> </span>As more of one race move in, others start
moving out.<span> E</span>ventually, it became a “Malay”
area long after I moved away to a “Chinese” area closer to where I was teaching
at Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Had I lived in a predominantly Malay
neighborhood or a Chinese one or even an Indian one, my perspective of Malaysia
would have been totally different...as it is now that I'm living in Sarawak!<span>
</span>Fortunately, being new to Malaysia, I was not biased against one race or
another.<span> </span>I judged them as I saw them, as
we interacted—they were my neighbors!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VN22kqniimE/TH5OaX1r5VI/AAAAAAAAAWU/1qcvDpu5lV8ji0kaW5NhedIzc4A2h8OPgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Doublecover%2Bfrom%2BLife%2B%2526Style.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="562" height="294" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VN22kqniimE/TH5OaX1r5VI/AAAAAAAAAWU/1qcvDpu5lV8ji0kaW5NhedIzc4A2h8OPgCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Doublecover%2Bfrom%2BLife%2B%2526Style.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The question-and-answer session lasted one
hour and the first two questions were, “Is the story real?”<span> </span>“Did it really take place?” I briefly talked
about my neighbor committing suicide and my personal involvement and the
choices I had to make, <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/01/neighbors-suicide-and-making-choices-or.html">as I had written about in an earlier blog</a> and later reprinted
in <i>Tropical Affairs</i>: <i>Episodes from an Expat’s Life in Malaysia.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Several questions veered away from the
story, about writing in general, how to overcome writing slumps, what books I
would recommend, what project am I working on now, and even how to be a good
neighbor, but I would steer the conversation back to the story by pointing out
aspects of “Neighbours” that they may have overlooked.<span> </span>I kept several questions handy just in case…like
how did they interpret the story or what conclusions could they draw about the
neighbors? <span> </span>(They really didn’t know
each other very well.) <span> </span>How would someone
who had never been to Malaysia perceive Malaysia, based on the story?<span> </span>(It’s multi-racial and the various
races appeared to mix freely.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">What is the relevance of each character and
what are their main concerns?<span> </span>Each
character was, in fact, selfish in his own ways, concerned about their own
‘loss’ if the family moved away.<span> </span>The
dentist would lose two more clients, the teacher would lose her ‘best’ student…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">When I asked about Koh’s main concern, they
merely compared him to his wife, so he seemed ok, but as an insurance salesman,
he was upset that, if Johnny had bought life insurance, he didn’t buy it from <i>him</i>!<span> </span>He had asked Johnny several times!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I asked them, what was the significance of
that last line by Mrs. Koh, when Tan asked “Who’s going to tell Veronica?” and
she replied, “Not me! It’s none of <i>my </i>business!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">This was after she had made it very much <i>her</i>
business, making sure that each neighbor, as they joined the group, knew
exactly what had happened (according to her), why it had happened (according to
her), and what was wrong with each member of that family (according to her)!<span> </span>She had even insisted that Veronica was out
gambling or spending all of her money on her daughter!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Later, one student asked, “Did Veronica actually
go gambling or shopping?”<span> </span>Instead of
giving the answer, I asked, “What does the evidence say?”<span> </span>Initially the student replied there was no
evidence, but when I asked, “What were Veronica and her daughter Lily carrying
at the end of the story?”<span> </span>Another student
replied, “Shopping bags!”<span> </span>So, I asked,
based on the evidence, did she go gambling or shopping?<span> </span>I wanted them to think!<span> </span>To look for clues in the stories that they
read and draw their own conclusions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Another question was, “Why did he kill
himself (in the story) and also in real life?”<span>
</span>So, I speculated over the financial implications, the fact that he sold
his motorcycle and walked home.<span> </span>I also
talked about how easy it is for someone to slip into depression when their
world suddenly falls apart and drew parallels to the on-going Covid-19 virus,
of people losing their jobs and finding themselves unable to pay their bills or
to provide for their families.<span> </span>Unable to
find a solution, they take the easy way out—easy for them, but painful for
their survivors!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I also mentioned that, if they ever get
into a difficult situation, that they should always look for a solution, to
focus on the good aspects of life not just their current ‘bad’ situation, and
that they are stronger than they think, and to never to give up! At times, we all need encouragement...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">One of the last questions was “Did any of
them tell Veronica?” and “Why did you stop the story short and not wait for
Veronica to arrive?”<span> </span>I explained that
the real story was about the neighbors themselves, their actions and their
harsh words that reflected more on them than on Johnny’s suicide.<span> </span>And based on all of their excuses and their scattering
<i>before</i> Veronica arrived, it left only Tan, the conscience of the story,
to do the right thing.<span> </span>In the ‘real’
story, that fell to me, the newest neighbor, the foreigner, the white guy, who had
to tell Johnny’s wife and daughter what had happened to Johnny.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">When the hour was up, we said our goodbyes.<span> </span>Hopefully all of them came away with a deeper
appreciation for the story and for the opportunity to pose questions to the
author who had written it.<span> </span>(I would have
loved to have that opportunity as a student!)<span>
</span>I know I appreciated the opportunity of my being asked and sharing my
insights on writing and on life itself, especially during this historic event
that we are still in the midst of, not knowing how it will all turn out or how
our families will be affected (including my own in America).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">We can only keep our fingers crossed (or whatever Malaysians do for good luck) and hope that our neighbors remain healthy and safe (if not, they may infect us)
and that they are not wasting their time gossiping about each
other….The last thing we need during Covid-19 is another <i>kay poh chee!<span> </span></i>One Mrs. Koh is quite enough!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AGgYTnhvnXA/XsjAqPptSQI/AAAAAAAABbk/723LonjOC8gnZdzkCxDfqr2mkJT6ifFiACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20200522-WA0001%2B%25284%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="1080" height="223" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AGgYTnhvnXA/XsjAqPptSQI/AAAAAAAABbk/723LonjOC8gnZdzkCxDfqr2mkJT6ifFiACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/IMG-20200522-WA0001%2B%25284%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">—Borneo
Expat Writer</span></div>
<br />Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-65732694337664647112020-05-12T20:00:00.001-07:002020-05-12T20:00:46.737-07:00“The Funeral Procession” accepted by The Secret Attic, a British anthology<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
“The Funeral Procession”, a 1000-word
excerpt from my novel A Perfect Day for an Expat Exit, has been accepted by <i>The
Secret Attic</i>, a British anthology.
It follows the acceptance of another excerpt, <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2020/04/monkey-beach-accepted-by-secret-attic.html">“Monkey Beech”</a>, a full short story, taken from the same novel, accepted by the same publication
last month.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">So far, parts of five
chapters have been published in six countries, fourteen times—all of chapters
one and two, nearly all of chapters five and eleven, and part of chapter fifteen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One excerpt was even <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-musical-tree-published-in-french.html">translated into French.</a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">I have turned two other
chapters into long short stories and several other parts into flash fiction. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though this novel has never been
published, mostly through my own stubbornness, since I had a chance to publish
it in Singapore (and Malaysia) a really, really long time ago, I have held off
and have been revising it every couple of years, including last year, where it was
a finalist in the 2019 Faulkner Wisdom Novel Awards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Also <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/10/taking-expat-exit-finalist-2017.html">a finalist in 2017</a> </span><span lang="EN-US"> <span style="color: black;">& 2016.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Each publication from
that novel shows me that I’m on the right track and bolsters its chances of
being published in the US or UK, my desired markets, along with Malaysia and
Singapore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been very patient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I have completed a sequel full of
excerpts that I could no doubt publish when I get around to it…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">—Borneo Expat Writer <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY;">My
interviews with four Malaysian novelists and one poet: </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-ivy-ngeow-robert-raymer-chats.html">Ivy
Ngeow</a> author of <i>Cry of the Flying Rhino,</i></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> winner of the 2016
Proverse Prize.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-golda-mowe-robert-raymer.html">Golda
Mowe</a> author of <i>Iban Dream</i> and <i>Iban Journey</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/01/interview-preeta-samarasan-robert.html">Preeta
Samarasan</a> author of <i>Evening is the Whole Day</i>.<br />
<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/10/interview-chuah-guat-eng-robert-raymer.html">Chauh
Guat Eng</a> author of <i>Echoes of Silence</i> and <i>Days
of Change. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Also, <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/interview-malachi-edwin-vethamani.html">Malachi
Edwin Vethamani</a>,<b> </b>author of <i>Complicated Lives</i> and <i>Life
Happens</i>.</span><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-89696830069218183622020-04-16T01:55:00.002-07:002020-05-22T23:38:35.229-07:00“Monkey Beach” accepted by Secret Attic, a British anthology, via a contest<br />
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It was impulsive. I admit it. In the Malaysian Writers Community, Tutu Dutta
highlighted that it was the last day to enter the <i>Secret Attic</i> contest. The prize awarded was minimal 25 British
pounds. No fee to enter, and since it
was a new contest, I figured there wouldn’t be hundreds or thousands of
entrants to compete against. She said
they were hoping to reach 60, the reason for the last-minute push. They ended up with 78.</div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“What the hell,” I thought, and entered a
novel excerpt set in Penang, titled “Monkey Beach”. In my rush, I failed to
notice that they preferred under 1500 words.<span>
</span>Naturally it didn’t win.<span> </span>To my surprise,
however, I was one of ten chosen to be published—I wasn’t aware that was a
possibility, an unexpected bonus.<span> </span><a href="https://www.secret-attic.co.uk/competition/category/results">Two of the ten writers</a> are from (or based in) Malaysia.<span> </span>The rest from the US, Canada, UK or Wales.<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">That’s the beauty of international
contests, you get to test your writing skills against those from other countries.<span> </span>What may be ‘good’ in Malaysia or Turkey may
not be so good in the UK.<span> </span>By good I mean...your story-telling ability and the high standard of writing and all that it implies.<span> </span>Having published short stories in all three of
those countries (from my collection <i>Lovers and Strangers Revisited</i>—ten countries
in all), I have a right to compare.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I admit I have not entered a short story contest
in far too many years for various reasons (stories needed revision and I was concentrating
on writing and revising novels).<span> </span>Entering
writing contests was how I came to write those 15 stories in that original collection
(now 17 stories). <span> </span>Back in the late 80’s,
Malaysia had several major contests, <i>The Star</i>, <i>Her World</i>, <i>New
Straits Times</i> (as an expat I could not enter). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/01/neighbours-by-robert-raymer.html">“Neighbours”</a>, originally titled “The Aftermath” was a consolation prize winner in <i>The Star
</i>contest thirty-two years ago.<span> By the way, d</span>uring
our Covid-19 lockdown, I have been asked to answer questions from the students
at UITM next month via Google meet about that very story—still being taught! *Here is the actual <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2020/05/neighbours-google-meet-with-uitmpenang.html">Google-Meet with students at UiTM-Penang</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The best thing about contests, besides the
prospect of winning some serious money and the prestige, is the deadline!<span> </span>You either write and submit your story by the
deadline or you miss out.<span> </span>Many of those
stories that I wrote were rushed to meet that deadline and didn’t win.<span> </span>Of course not, they didn't stand a chance...they were rushed early drafts!<span> </span>But, and this is the point, they got
written!<span> </span>I polished and entered them in
future contests.<span> </span>After I had enough
stories and a good publishing track record, I compiled them into a collection.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I have also been on the other end, as judge
and have blogged <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2009/01/mph-alliance-national-short-story-prize.html">about what judges look for</a>. One caveat, entering contests can be expensive when converting local currency into
dollars, pounds or euros.<span> </span>You must weigh
the cost versus the benefit and your realistic chances of winning.<span> </span>If the contest (or an anthology accepting submissions)
is free, you risk nothing, so go for it!<span>
</span>Also, is there one winner or, perhaps, several?<span> </span>More winners, increases your odds.<span> </span>Are they publishing only the winner or are finalists
considered for publication?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I admit that this contest that I entered was
a pretty small.<span> </span>It’s new.<span> </span>It will grow.<span>
</span>The biggest contest I ever entered had over two thousand entries.<span> </span>I sent in six stories, increasing my
odds.<span> </span>Naturally I didn’t win.<span> </span>I won twice!<span>
</span>Third prize, RM2,000 and a consolation prize, RM500.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">So, enter those contests! <span> </span>Big and small—you never know.<span> </span>More importantly, get those stories
written!<span> </span>Even though you may never win a
contest you may have enough stories for a collection and, who knows, that
collection itself might even win a contest!<span>
</span>That’s what happened to me when <i>Lovers and Strangers Revisited </i>won
the Star-Popular Readers’ Choice Awards.<span>
</span>In addition to the money and the recognition, I received a pretty nice
trophy for my efforts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q7ATa6pk-yA/SqOpsekIw4I/AAAAAAAAAKM/snuFZHVxgwQMiDynKpGxl9N3DA9d8x-mACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Pop%2BAward.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1047" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q7ATa6pk-yA/SqOpsekIw4I/AAAAAAAAAKM/snuFZHVxgwQMiDynKpGxl9N3DA9d8x-mACPcBGAYYCw/s400/Pop%2BAward.JPG" width="261" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">If you do win a contest, please think of me…and think
of all those writers around the world who would love to be standing in your
place.<span> </span>Remember, if you don’t enter, you
cannot win!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Good luck and may the best story win!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"> --Borneo Expat Writer</span></div>
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My interviews with four Malaysian novelists and one poet: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-ivy-ngeow-robert-raymer-chats.html">Ivy Ngeow</a> author of <i>Cry of the Flying Rhino,</i><span lang="EN-GB"> winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-golda-mowe-robert-raymer.html">Golda Mowe</a> author of <i>Iban Dream</i> and <i>Iban Journey</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/01/interview-preeta-samarasan-robert.html">Preeta Samarasan</a> author of <i>Evening is the Whole Day</i>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/10/interview-chuah-guat-eng-robert-raymer.html">Chauh Guat Eng</a> author of <i>Echoes of Silence</i> and <i>Days of Change.<span> </span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Also, </span><b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/interview-malachi-edwin-vethamani.html">Malachi Edwin Vethamani</a>, author of <i>Complicated Lives</i> and <i>Life Happens</i>.</span></b></span></div>
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<br />Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-67706994887117832552019-11-23T02:55:00.002-08:002019-11-23T02:59:06.740-08:00A Walk with My Two-Year-Old Son<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-niZlVgqw54M/XdkKSvrxUAI/AAAAAAAABZ0/qfgfo8YsfggObmvt4p2lKKXUwSfu-HPrgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Jason-two%2Byear%2Bold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="974" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-niZlVgqw54M/XdkKSvrxUAI/AAAAAAAABZ0/qfgfo8YsfggObmvt4p2lKKXUwSfu-HPrgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Jason-two%2Byear%2Bold.jpg" width="194" /></a></div>
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I first posted this in February 2007 in another blog, though the actual walk took place in 2006.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Based on the original comments, I regret not bringing
a camera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor did my phone, an old
Nokia, have one either.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Before moving to Sarawak and to get out of rut, I decided to
take my two-year-old son, Jason, for a walk. Usually when we walk it’s to a
known destination for a known reason—running errands for me or playing outside
with him. Today would be different. I wanted to see if we could learn anything
in half an hour. Any longer than that, the mosquitoes would be biting.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We lived in Penang, in a mostly Chinese residential area, in
Malaysia. Other than being Jason’s father, I teach creative writing and
recently published a collection of short stories set in Malaysia, <i>Lovers and
Strangers Revisited</i>—the Silverfish version.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vobmhy8gvuM/RqMcmRB8gwI/AAAAAAAAAAU/_qS-b5PkwNUokbDDL73VexWayA8vzP9fgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/L%2526SR200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vobmhy8gvuM/RqMcmRB8gwI/AAAAAAAAAAU/_qS-b5PkwNUokbDDL73VexWayA8vzP9fgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/L%2526SR200.jpg" /></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Oe70A11GEA/SIBo8wfn0II/AAAAAAAAAAk/kv_hXgSJj6YP1LbwxhZUdEuGyhjLUvn3QCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/LSR-front%2Bcover.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1066" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Oe70A11GEA/SIBo8wfn0II/AAAAAAAAAAk/kv_hXgSJj6YP1LbwxhZUdEuGyhjLUvn3QCPcBGAYYCw/s320/LSR-front%2Bcover.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
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Lately I’ve been feeling weary of the “author” bit and
needed to get back to “writing”. But in order to write, I needed to start
observing my surroundings again like I used to do when I first moved from
America to Malaysia. Jason, on the other hand, like most two-year olds, is a
natural sponge, taking everything in around him. He’s also tiny for his age,
petite like his mother, a Bidayuh from Sarawak.<br />
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I grabbed some biscuits for the both of us and a spongy orange ball to play
with. We didn’t get far; halfway down the stairs, I realized I had left the
ball behind while unlocking the door.<br />
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“Back so soon?” my wife asked, teasing me.<br />
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Jason wanted to hold the ball but I didn’t want him to drop it into the monsoon
drain that ran alongside our street, so I handed him a biscuit instead and held
his free hand securely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t want
him to fall into the drain either.<br />
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We turned the corner to the small field behind our building; we were both startled
to see an elderly Chinese man sitting on the ground, looking suspicious and looking
suspiciously at us. Careful not to make any eye contact, I steered Jason around
this man, whom I had never seen before. Not far away from him, on the other
side of a tree, was a small wicker basket. Normally, I would have taken a closer
look but the man’s gaze continued to bear down on us, so we kept walking.<br />
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Initially I planned to play ball here, but my wife had warned me before about
getting my son’s hands dirty and having him put those dirty fingers into his
mouth. So, I handed Jason another biscuit. I figured we’d finish the biscuits
first and play ball later. We were half way to the end of the field, when the
Chinese man began to point and shout at us as if ordering us off the field. I
detoured toward the road, but then I saw it, a zebra-striped dove resting peacefully
in the center of the field.<br />
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I pointed it out to Jason, and his eyes grew with excitement. We ventured
closer. The Chinese man shouted and furiously waved us away. Since he was
making his way toward us, wicker basket in hand, I thought it best to lead
Jason toward the side of the road. We stood there eating our biscuits,
observing both this strange man and this bird. I thought perhaps he was a
bird-catcher, like Papageno in <i>The Magic Flute</i>. (I had written a
novel about a delusional man obsessed with <i>The Magic Flute</i>.) The man cautiously
approached the dove. He set the basket down, opened the lower portion and
gently coaxed the dove inside.<br />
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Afterwards, he began to pick at the grass. At first, I thought he was gathering
some edible goodies for the bird. Then I saw a small spool. He was rewinding
the line that kept the bird from fleeing. I assumed the wings had been clipped
to prevent it from flying away. This dove—called a peaceful dove, I later
learned—was popular for cage-bird singing competitions. The man carried the
dove in the basket under his arm to his motorcycle; as he rode off, Jason and I
waved goodbye.<br />
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We made our way up a short alley, crossed the road and walked along a road I
had never been on before since I had assumed it was a dead end. Jason and I
discovered a much bigger field containing an old playground.<br />
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Delighted, Jason practically dragged me to the nearest sliding board. I
helped him up the steps and sat him down at the top of the plastic slide. He
squealed with delight when I caught him at the bottom—his first slide! He slid
down three more times before I led him to a larger sliding board and placed him at
the bottom and rolled the ball down from the top. He laughed and caught the
ball. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Catching on to this new game, he threw the ball about
halfway up the slide and laughed as the ball rolled down to him. He could’ve
played all night, but I spotted an even larger slide at the far end of the
field, so we went to investigate. It was an old wooden slide and way too tall
for Jason or me. Again, I placed him at the bottom of the board and rolled the
ball to the top. Jason’s eyes grew wide and wider as the ball rolled toward
him, gathering speed along the way.<br />
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Next up was the adjacent swing. Leaving the ball on the ground, we got on with Jason on my lap. He giggled as we swung, higher and higher. Wanting his ball,
Jason got off to play with it while I continued to swing. Jason suddenly ran
behind me. I desperately tried to stop the swing from slamming into him. I
somehow managed to reach around and catch Jason by the shoulder and stopped him,
the swing an inch from his head.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Relieved but upset, I had a stern talk with Jason about
running in back of swings. Jason, nodded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He may not have understood my every word but he understood my mood and knew
that he had done something wrong; he also knew or sensed it wouldn’t be fair to
punish him because I was partly at fault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Either way, we agreed not to tell his mother.<br />
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Noticing a mosquito on his arm, I swatted it away and we made our way back
across the field. Blocking our exit, however, were four large stray dogs. Being
a dog lover, Jason pointed with glee and said, “Dog!” He would’ve run straight
toward them if I hadn’t held him back. Not sure if the dogs were friends or
foes, I maintained a wary eye, while the four dogs eyed me and Jason rather warily.
Afraid he might hug them to death, the dogs wisely moved from our path. Jason
waved to the dogs as we passed by and said, “Bye!”<br />
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Jason and I crossed the road where I noticed three Indian children playing in a
fenced in area with three rabbits. Jason didn’t know what to make of the
rabbits. Other than Bugs Bunny, he had never seen a live rabbit before. Eyes large
and round, he marvelled as the rabbits hopped across the lawn pursued by the
three children.<br />
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Watching us watch the rabbits were two stray cats. Jason took an interest in
them. He gave chase and the cats, fearing for their lives, hid under a car.
Jason squatted down, bent over, and laughed as if to say, “You can’t hide from
me!”<br />
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Four dogs, three rabbits, two cats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
next?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were nearly home when we came
upon this woman who was walking beside us, almost step by step, although we
were in the alley and she was at a lower level beside her building. The woman
kept looking up at Jason and me as if trying to get our attention. Then we saw
it. Perched on her left hand was a small green bird. I pointed it out to Jason.
Like the elderly Chinese man, the woman was taking her bird for a walk.<br />
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When we reached home, I glanced at the time. Exactly half an hour had passed since
we had left for our walk. In that short time Jason and I had seen a lot and had
a whole lot of fun and even made a discovery and learned a valuable lesson about safety. </div>
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Already I was looking forward to
our next walk—no doubt our first walk in Sarawak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon, though, he would have a little brother
to walk beside him. <o:p></o:p></div>
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--Borneo Expat Writer<br />
<br />Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-49401314181176776442019-08-24T22:34:00.000-07:002020-04-16T01:43:09.439-07:00My interview with Malachi Edwin Vethamani is in Blue Lotus 19<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BfmXQooS-XQ/XWIO32im6EI/AAAAAAAABYo/XhhSCQ0xCS8E-CkWM3CWPdUTxJQc-oX2QCLcBGAs/s1600/Blue%2BLotus-8-9.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1131" data-original-width="1600" height="282" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BfmXQooS-XQ/XWIO32im6EI/AAAAAAAABYo/XhhSCQ0xCS8E-CkWM3CWPdUTxJQc-oX2QCLcBGAs/s400/Blue%2BLotus-8-9.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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My interview with poet and short story writer Malachi Edwin Vethamani<b>,</b> author
of <i>Complicated Lives</i> and <i>Life Happens </i>was published<i> </i>in Martin Bradley's <a href="https://issuu.com/martinabradley/docs/the_blue_lotus_19?fbclid=IwAR0VYrB9zhJloSTsSRRfLhz1bfQ98jDikA4o8jy9O902nY90UdPlwfJMQtE">Blue Lotus 19</a>, pages 8-17. Originally I had blogged about <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/interview-malachi-edwin-vethamani.html">our interview</a> in July 2019 </div>
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My other interviews with Preeta Samarasan, author of <i>Evening
is the Whole Day</i>, was published in <a href="https://issuu.com/martinabradley/docs/the_blue_lotus_12">Blue Lotus 12</a>, Ivy
Ngeow, <i>Cry of the Flying Rhino</i>, in <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/04/">Blue Lotus 13</a> and
Golda Mowe, author of <i>Iban Dream</i> and <i>Iban
Journey, </i>in<i> <a href="https://issuu.com/martinabradley/docs/the_blue_lotus_15">Blue Lotus 15</a> </i>and
Chauh Guat Eng author of <i>Echoes of Silence</i> and <i>Days of Change</i> in <a href="https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/62313886/the-blue-lotus-16">Blue Lotus 16</a> <o:p></o:p></div>
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Blog links to the other interviews with four Malaysian novelists: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-ivy-ngeow-robert-raymer-chats.html">Ivy
Ngeow</a> author of <i>Cry of the Flying Rhino,</i><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-golda-mowe-robert-raymer.html">Golda
Mowe</a> author of <i>Iban Dream</i> and <i>Iban Journey</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/01/interview-preeta-samarasan-robert.html">Preeta
Samarasan</a> author of <i>Evening is the Whole Day</i>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/10/interview-chuah-guat-eng-robert-raymer.html">Chauh Guat Eng</a> author of <i>Echoes of Silence</i> and <i>Days of Change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Five part <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefilmed-for.html">Maugham
and Me series</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/arte-joseph-conrad-and-mesarawaks.html">Joseph Conrad and Me</a></div>
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—Borneo Expat Writer<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-55055422831665685702019-07-24T02:21:00.000-07:002020-04-16T01:39:25.731-07:00 Arte: Joseph Conrad and Me—Sarawak’s French Connection to Lord Jim<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LoqVe1Ni0kw/XTgRK3eo2CI/AAAAAAAABV8/X1FTeOlP45Mt6Zigk43gTyFTvY_CJt-hQCLcBGAs/s1600/Conrad-frenchman%2Bfacing%2Bme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LoqVe1Ni0kw/XTgRK3eo2CI/AAAAAAAABV8/X1FTeOlP45Mt6Zigk43gTyFTvY_CJt-hQCLcBGAs/s400/Conrad-frenchman%2Bfacing%2Bme.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pierre Duyckaerts and Sebastien Bardos</td></tr>
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“The mysterious East faced me, perfumed like a flower, silent like death, dark like a grave,” wrote Joseph Conrad, the Polish-born English novelist of <i><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">Heart of Darkness</span></i><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">, <i>Almayer’s Folly</i>, and <i>An Outcast of the Islands</i></span>. When <span style="line-height: 17.12px;">French documentary maker Sebastien Bardos of Elephant Doc contacted me in late March about his project “</span>Conrad’s Malaysia” he asked me a question<span style="line-height: 17.12px;">. Of course, Conrad had been to Borneo where he had set several of his novels, but the question posed to me, had he ever been to Sarawak? The short answer is no, but the long answer is, without Sarawak, <i>Lord Jim</i> would never have been written.</span><br />
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Sebastien
works
with Laure Michel, who came to Sarawak in 2017 for a Somerset Maugham and Sarawak
pepper documentaries, which I had blogged about in the five-part series <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefilmed-for.html">“Somerset Maugham and Me.”</a> Like Maugham, Conrad will be filmed for the Franco-German
Cultural Channel Arte for the program “The Invitation to Travel” or <i>L’Invitation
au Voyage </i>to be aired in October 2019.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sebastien will be working with Karen Shepherd, who had worked with
Laure on the pepper documentary and her husband Peter John, featured in the
segment “A Personal Invitation”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the
previous production, Karen and I worked closely with Laure, recommending
people and sites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We did the same with
Sebastien until he hired fixer Edgar Ong, who for thirty years had worked in
the local filming industry including such notable films as <i>Farewell to the
King</i> (1989) with Nick Nolte and <i>The Sleeping Dictionary</i> (2003) with
Jessica Alba, both set in Sarawak.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Edgar would partner with Adrian Cornelius who scouts
locations and deals with logistics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Adrian is also involved with the on-again-off-again film <a href="https://steemit.com/history/@malloryblythe/the-white-rajah-hollywood-s-first-truly-doomed-film">The White Rajah,</a> about the life of James Brooke, that dates
back eighty years to the mid-1930’s when Errol Flynn was originally scheduled to
star, until delays and World War Two came along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I met Adrian last year with Rob Nevis while
discussing taking part in <i><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/09/beheaded-on-road-to-nationhood-sarawak.html">The Road to Nationhood</a></i> series. In<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">itially I was considered for a non-speaking role of Charles
Brooke but ended up playing smaller roles, including a man who was beheaded
(sadly cut from the documentary) and Captain Henry Keppel—who, as it turned
out, gave Joseph Conrad a helping hand in writing <i>Lord Jim</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More about that later.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Edgar had called for a meeting in May to work out some preliminary
details and suggestions for locations (I had suggested Fort Margherita for my
segment), but the day that we had agreed upon proved problematic for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My Bidayuh mother-in-law had passed away and that
was the day of her funeral.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Getting reacquainted with Joseph Conrad, I <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">reread <i>Almayer’s Folly</i>
and <i>Lord Jim </i>and</span> delved into the thorny issue of his connection
to Sarawak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Born in
1857 at the height of the British Empire, Joseph Conrad started writing late,
in his thirties, after twenty years in the merchant marines, four with the
French and sixteen with the British.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Conrad always viewed himself as a writer who sailed, rather than a
sailor who wrote, and used the pen name Joseph Conrad for his first novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Almayer’s Folly</i>, set on the coast of
Borneo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Almayer’s Folly</i>, together with its successor <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">An Outcast of the Islands</i>, laid the foundation for Conrad’s reputation
as a romantic teller of exotic tales, a label he disliked; he felt it was a
misunderstanding of his purpose and it would frustrate him over his career.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Although Conrad had never been to Sarawak, he
did have three significant connections to Sarawak that greatly aided his
writing of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord Jim</i>.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Published in 1900<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">,</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord
Jim </i>was famously based, at least the second half of the book, on James
Brooke, the first White Raja of Sarawak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>An English adventurer, Brooke sailed into Borneo in 1838 and earned the
title White Raja after assisting Pangeran Muda Hashim of Brunei in defeating
the rebels led by Datu Patinggi Ali.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">The first half of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord Jim</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">, however</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">deals
with</span> the Patna incident, whereby the captain, the first mate (Lord Jim)
and two crew members abandoned what they thought was a sinking ship leaving
hundreds of passengers to their own fate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This episode was based on an actual event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1880, the S.S. Jeddah travelled to
Singapore to Penang en route to Jeddah and began to take on water during a tropical
storm; the captain and some crew abandoned ship with 700 passengers
aboard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ship didn’t sink, so there
was a huge outcry and a trial in Singapore over their cowardly actions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Coincidently, James Brooke had an Official
Inquiry in Singapore over misleading the British about killing so-called
pirates to collect bounty, when in fact he was fighting natives defending
their land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like the character Lord Jim,
James Brooke had been living under a cloud.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Resisting British imperialism, Brooke founded
his own dynasty, the White Rajas that ruled a jungle kingdom larger than
England for one hundred years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>James
Brooke became a cause celebrity, often written about in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Illustrated London News</i>, which was founded in 1842, coinciding
with the start of Brooke’s ‘war’ against the so-called pirates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brooke was mythicized as an Imperial Hero,
capturing the imagination of would-be romantics and adventurers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to being the model for Lord Jim, James
Brooke was the inspiration for Rudyard Kipling’s “The Man Who Would Be
King”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Conrad was hailed as ‘the Kipling
of the Malay Archipelago’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">On
6 July, I arrived at The Ranee Boutique Suites at the Waterfront
where Edgar Ong introduced me to Sebastien Bardos and Pierre </span>Duyckaerts,
who had flown in from Penang on about two hours sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They found the heat in Penang oppressive and
had been sweating nonstop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t have
the heart to tell them that Kuching might be worse because of the humidity;
luckily for them, it was partly cloudy outside.<span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Sebastien told me that for the Conrad story they had previously interviewed
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">Jean-Luc Henriot in Singapore, Serge Jardin in Kuala Lumpur, and in
Penang, Gareth Richards, who runs the Gerakbudaya bookstore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Serge Jardin, who I believe I met in Penang many
years ago, lives in Malacca and took part in the Somerset Maugham documentary.
Sebastien informed me </span>that my book <a href="https://www.gope-editions.fr/trois-autres-malaisie-imprime.php">Trois autres Malaisie</a>, the French translation of <i><a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2014/01/lovers-and-strangers-revisited-20-years.html">Lovers and Strangers Revisited</a></i>, was being listed in French travel guidebooks to Malaysia, good news for my French
publisher, <a href="https://www.gope-editions.fr/catalogue-livres-imprimes.php">Editions GOPE</a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Over coffee and tea, Edgar ran through the shooting schedule for the
next three days. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before leaving the hotel, Pierre hooked me up
with a microphone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The plan was for
Adrian to drive us across the Sarawak River to Fort Margherita, but I suggested
it would be better for Sebastien and Pierre to take a <i>tambang</i> across,
which I thought would be more interesting and quicker than a roundabout drive
and risk getting stuck in traffic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Adrian could meet us at Fort Margherita.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sebastien and Pierre were expecting a bigger boat, perhaps like the one
the tourists use for the Sarawak River Cruise, so they seemed taken aback when
I pointed out the <i>tambang </i>waiting for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ducked our heads and climbed aboard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sat up front looking out at the river while
Pierre filmed me taking in the view and also the steersman, while trying to catch
the splashing sounds made by the <i>tambang</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once we reached the other side, they filmed
me climbing out onto the small jetty where a few passengers were waiting to
board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately they had to wait
a little longer since Pierre wanted to film the steersman in front of the <i>tambang</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The waiting passengers watched with amusement.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After filming the <i>tambang</i> departing the jetty, Pierre filmed
another arriving with Kuching as a backdrop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He took more shots of the Waterfront and then filmed me standing at the
edge of the jetty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was told to keep my
lower body planted (and to avoid falling into the river behind me); however, I
could move my upper body as I talked about Joseph Conrad, who died in 1924, on
the 3rd of August, which happens to be my birthday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sebastien and Pierre wore hats while I melted
in the late-morning, partly cloudy sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thankfully, Sebastien had an umbrella, which provided us shade in
between shots.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In addition to Conrad and his connection to James Brooke, I was asked
to speak a little about Kuching—its history, its reputation as a river city,
the Waterfront and the antique galleries at the Main Bazaar, as well as my own
impressions when I first visited Kuching twenty years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I purposely did not talk about the
ubiquitous cat statues; Kuching means cat in Malay.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We
took a short hike up to Fort Margherita and found Adrian who offered us
lime-flavored 100Plus isotonic drinks, their first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pierre then filmed me with the fort behind me
in the distance as we continued with the interview.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Fort
Margherita was named after the Second White Raja’s wife, Ranee Margaret
Brooke, author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My Life in Sarawak</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pointed out another, though minor Sarawak
connection, when </span>Conrad wrote a letter to the Ranee<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">, praising her Uncle, James Brooke.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">“The first Rajah Brooke has been one of my boyish admirations,
a feeling I have kept to this day strengthened by the better understanding of
the greatness of his character and the unstained rectitude of his purpose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book that has found favour in your eyes
has been inspired in a great measure by the history of the first Rajah’s
enterprise and even by the lecture of his journals as partly reproduced by
Captain Mundy and others.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Conrad knew the Malay Archipelago as a sailor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In writing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord Jim</i> and other Borneo-based novels, he could rely on his own
observations for the natural surroundings and the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His landfalls, however, were limited to four
stops at Berau in East Kalimantan, which he used as a setting for <i>Almayer’s
Folly</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, he relied on reading
first-hand accounts by others including James Brooke’s journals and those who
had written about him, as mentioned in the above letter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also relied heavily on a second major connection
to Sarawak, Alfred Russel Wallace, of the Wallace Line fame, who was based in
Sarawak for fourteen months, collecting birds and beetles and other specimens
to ship back to England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Wallace travelled extensively throughout the region
and wrote about his experience in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Malay Archipelago</i> (1869)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i>highly
regarded as a great travel book and the most famous book on the Malay Archipelago—the
very reason Conrad kept the book handy at his bedside, which he had used for
several novels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Conrad not only relied
on Wallace’s description of the area but also used Wallace himself as a model
for the character Stein in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord Jim</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stein was the man whom Marlowe had convinced
to hire Lord Jim to work for him in some remote, out-of-the-way locale…so he
was sent to Patusan, a third connection to Sarawak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Some experts have argued
that Patusan, the setting used in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord
Jim,</i> was based on Berau in East Kalimantan, a place Conrad had visited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others suggested that Patusan was located in
Java; however, convincing arguments have been made that Patusan was in fact
based on an actual site on the Batang Lupar river in Sarawak that was called—Patusan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although Conrad was never there, he did read about
Patusan in a book by Captain Henry Keppel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A friend of James Brooke, Keppel wrote about their exploits in Borneo in
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Expedition to Borneo on HMS Dido for
the Suppression of the Pirates</i>—another significant tie to Sarawak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">More importantly, inside of
Keppel’s book was an actual map of Patusan, identifying the fort and village
that Conrad had put to good use since he had never been there himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By looking at the map, you could see that Conrad</span><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
followed it closely in his descriptions of the fort and the village, the river,
the tributaries—</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">integral to the ending of <i>Lord
Jim</i>.</span><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">That map, along with Keppel’s
descriptions of Patusan, was perfect for Conrad to use in <i>Lord Jim</i>—in
lieu of actually visiting the location—just as Conrad had based the Patna
incident on the real S.S. Jeddah and the subsequent trial in Singapore.</span><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Incidentally, although
Joseph Conrad never visited Sarawak or Patusan, present day Sri Aman, another famous
English writer did—Somerset Maugham.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maugham, in fact, nearly died in Patusan in the 1920’s in a tidal bore and
wrote a story about the incident, “Yellow Streak.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8rQZ72UA0ss/XTgZwsligAI/AAAAAAAABYI/BsaaP5pudn4OBWHyn9COU-X8H6wq_-k5gCLcBGAs/s1600/Conrad-Maugham.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="220" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8rQZ72UA0ss/XTgZwsligAI/AAAAAAAABYI/BsaaP5pudn4OBWHyn9COU-X8H6wq_-k5gCLcBGAs/s1600/Conrad-Maugham.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">When I finished speaking, we went to another
side of Fort Margherita so Pierre could take some more shots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>He then brought out a drone and I
couldn’t help but recall <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/06/arte-somerset-maugham-and-melosing.html">what happened to the drone</a> used in other French documentary;
it went around a bend and struck an overhanging branch and was lost in the
river. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"> Pierre </span><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">used the drone to film
me walking alongside Fort Margherita; then walking down some steps and
approaching the entrance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-musYv4v-nV0/XThH64F55yI/AAAAAAAABYU/bdDdWXr_xwc-pau3tmaY_M6WITVEts8iQCLcBGAs/s1600/Conrad-Frenchmen%2Bprofile%2Bwith%2Bcamera.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-musYv4v-nV0/XThH64F55yI/AAAAAAAABYU/bdDdWXr_xwc-pau3tmaY_M6WITVEts8iQCLcBGAs/s320/Conrad-Frenchmen%2Bprofile%2Bwith%2Bcamera.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Later, after enough footage had been taken
outside of Fort Margherita (after Sebastien and I had finished solving the
world’s problems), Pierre packed the drone away and we entered the Fort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pressed for time, we had to bypass the nicely
done <a href="https://www.brookegallery.org/">Brooke Gallery</a>@FortMargherita.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">They filmed me inside the fort climbing the stairs and making my way along the
parapet walk on two sides, past a bolted but unlocked door containing some
heads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had first seen the human heads
about twenty years ago, which they kept in a suspended rattan basket, but now covered
with traditional cloth to keep tourists from disturbing them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Previously I had blogged about seeing heads
at a Bidayuh longhouse and being disturbed that evening at my wife’s village by
<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2011/02/two-sides-to-every-story-encounter-with_18.html">an actual spirit</a>—my first and hopefully my last encounter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SG6Kq3uPYp8/XTgSKbWPG_I/AAAAAAAABXs/-r0pUgHLlxU9REzgrmKkrL2Z8NFDNSE2gCEwYBhgL/s1600/Fort%2BM-heads.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SG6Kq3uPYp8/XTgSKbWPG_I/AAAAAAAABXs/-r0pUgHLlxU9REzgrmKkrL2Z8NFDNSE2gCEwYBhgL/s320/Fort%2BM-heads.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">by Paul Carling</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KEiZ1xr4wHo/XTgSNmibbTI/AAAAAAAABXw/6XUYi00S5qMTWuOeMxBJoEKjFjQMlYiVwCEwYBhgL/s1600/FortM-Headsinbasket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KEiZ1xr4wHo/XTgSNmibbTI/AAAAAAAABXw/6XUYi00S5qMTWuOeMxBJoEKjFjQMlYiVwCEwYBhgL/s320/FortM-Headsinbasket.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">by Paul Carling</td></tr>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I kept asking Sebastien if they wanted
me to open the door to have a peek inside but they didn’t seem to understand
the significance, so I would glance at the door each time I passed by, only natural
since there was a skull painted on the door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sebastien did </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">press me about my views of how</span><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
the Bidayuh revered James Brooke because he had put an end to their seemingly endless
slaughter by the Iban head-hunters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back
in the 1840’s, village after village, including my wife’s village, Quop, had
been decimated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5adSBcm2lD0/XTgSERb5_BI/AAAAAAAABXw/oRzc84e8j3Ms0OKPs4elKTJTIkkM3cL1QCEwYBhgL/s1600/Conrad-view%2Bfrom%2BFort.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1299" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5adSBcm2lD0/XTgSERb5_BI/AAAAAAAABXw/oRzc84e8j3Ms0OKPs4elKTJTIkkM3cL1QCEwYBhgL/s320/Conrad-view%2Bfrom%2BFort.jpg" width="259" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">At a lookout tower, they filmed me
gazing out at the Sarawak River, slowly turning my head from right to left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back on the parapet walk, despite the mid-afternoon
sun beating down on me, the clouds having long since departed, we continued
with the interview.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I talked about </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">the tragic fates that Conrad gave to the principle
characters of his novels and stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
often saw the darker side of man whether it was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Heart of Darkness</i> in the Belgian Congo, <i>The Secret Agent</i>,
or the elusive anti-hero of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord Jim</i>,
trying to escape the shame of abandoning the Patna, while still remaining noble—not
an easy task for any man to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was
also the theme of <i>Lord Jim</i>, the restoration of a man’s honor and pride.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In many ways the character Lord Jim is
one of us…tragic; a part of him would always be kept secret so we would never
know like others will never know our own secrets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p39L01HM1UM/XTgR0pMgloI/AAAAAAAABXM/2MjC6tt7ycIvyFTVYdZ_EhXhXRPH2UIJwCEwYBhgL/s1600/Conrad-old%2Bcourthouse%2Band%2Bcat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="564" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p39L01HM1UM/XTgR0pMgloI/AAAAAAAABXM/2MjC6tt7ycIvyFTVYdZ_EhXhXRPH2UIJwCEwYBhgL/s320/Conrad-old%2Bcourthouse%2Band%2Bcat.jpg" width="234" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">view of Old Courthouse with Cat</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a2GE_3k4S1E/XTgR7EZNtDI/AAAAAAAABXg/DZw6Y1JYipAmkFPA-3WLOuqelEKRVGjRACEwYBhgL/s1600/Conrad-stockade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="562" height="247" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a2GE_3k4S1E/XTgR7EZNtDI/AAAAAAAABXg/DZw6Y1JYipAmkFPA-3WLOuqelEKRVGjRACEwYBhgL/s320/Conrad-stockade.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stockade</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bdhvmj1_Tzw/XTgROHX6vZI/AAAAAAAABWQ/ZR4nq7EdP2IJZI1zv0m3zhxhPIYsT6pIACEwYBhgL/s1600/Conrad-astana-cropped%2B%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="569" height="227" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bdhvmj1_Tzw/XTgROHX6vZI/AAAAAAAABWQ/ZR4nq7EdP2IJZI1zv0m3zhxhPIYsT6pIACEwYBhgL/s320/Conrad-astana-cropped%2B%25283%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Astana</td></tr>
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<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">After
wrapping up the filming at Fort Margherita, we dropped off Pierre at the hotel
so he could take some shots of the nearby historical building since there was
still sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adrian then took Sebastien
and me to the Old Courthouse where we met with Karen Shepherd, who would be
talking more in depth about Alfred Russel Wallace, and Peter John, about the
local inhabitants.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Edgar
Ong joined us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sebastien and the others tried
to finalize the details and the logistics for the next two days of filming in
Kuching. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had just settled on an
itinerary—Santubong for one day and Bau, Siniawan and the river along Suba Buan
for the other day—when Sebastien asked about seeing some wildlife, particularly
the proboscis monkeys or the orangutans, to work into the documentary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since they couldn’t do both (located in
opposite directions) and still complete the other filming in Bau, they settled
on Bako National Park where they could see plenty of wildlife in addition to
the proboscis monkeys and some jungle shoots for Karen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MU6GI-7j0W4/XTgSVrpQ21I/AAAAAAAABX0/1Z5slZKfEug-GhBhwt_Xg3uCSw54z_C0ACEwYBhgL/s1600/Proboscis%2Bmoney%252C%2BSarawak%2BTourism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="435" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MU6GI-7j0W4/XTgSVrpQ21I/AAAAAAAABX0/1Z5slZKfEug-GhBhwt_Xg3uCSw54z_C0ACEwYBhgL/s320/Proboscis%2Bmoney%252C%2BSarawak%2BTourism.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proboscis monkey, Sarawak Tourism</td></tr>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Since
my part of the Joseph Conrad filming had come to an end, I called it a day, feeling
rather burnt out from way too much sun, yet feeling satisfied in knowing that
without Sarawak, Joseph Conrad would never have written <i>Lord Jim</i>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">*Here is the link to the <a href="https://app.frame.io/presentations/bc6c953a-9b7e-41de-97ba-1537a7459570">video on Lord Jim</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>—BorneoExpatWriter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Somerset
Maugham and Me</span>—<a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefilmed-for.html">Part I-V</a><span style="line-height: 107%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Beheaded
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Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-76992583261353370772019-07-18T04:57:00.000-07:002019-08-24T22:40:50.678-07:00INTERVIEW MALACHI EDWIN VETHAMANI: Robert Raymer chats with Malaysian Writer Malachi Edwin Vethamani on Writing and Publishing his Books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
was introduced to Edwin back in 2006 when I gave a creative writing workshop
for MELTA, the Malaysian English Language Teaching Association, in
Kuching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time, I had been based
in Penang and was considering moving to Sarawak with my Sarawakian wife and our
young family (we were expecting our second child) and I thought I could make
some connections at the conference and apply for a position at Universiti
Malaysia Sarawak where I later taught creative writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every time I saw Edwin, who was the President
of MELTA from June 2001 till January 2008, he always had a big friendly smile on
his face.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Not<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>only is
Edwin<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>a gifted poet, but also a short
story writer, editor, bibliographer and academic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is currently Professor, School of English,
University of Nottingham Malaysia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
holds a doctoral degree from University of Nottingham UK.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His most recent publication is his first collection
of short stories entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Coitus
Interruptus and Other Stories</i> (Maya Press, 2018). He has published two
volumes of poems, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Life Happens </i>(Maya
Press, 2017) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Complicated Lives </i>(Maya
Press, 2016). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He edited a volume of
Malaysian poems covering a period of 60 years entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Malchin Testament: Malaysian Poems </i>(Maya Press, 2017). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2003, he edited a volume of poems for young
adults entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In-Sights: Malaysian
Poems</i> (Maya Press, 2003). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2015,
he published <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Bibliography of Malaysian
Literature in English </i>(Petaling Jaya, Maya Press). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to being a past</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> President
of MELTA, he was also Vice President of Asia TEFL from 2008 to 2013. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is a recipient of the Chevening Award
(1993-1996) and the Fulbright Scholarship (2000). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">He had received
the Asian Education Leadership Award from the World Education Congress in
Mumbai, India in June 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR: </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Lately you’ve been rather
productive with the recent publications of two books of poetry, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Complicated Lives</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Life Happens</i>, a collection of short
stories <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Coitus Interruptus and Other
Stories</i>, plus the Malaysian anthology <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Malchin
Testament: Malaysian Poems</i>!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">People often say or think…who has time to read poetry?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, I was one of them until I found a way!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Red Lights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Like most drivers I detest getting caught at a red light, especially
when I am running late, but then I found the perfect solution — a way of
killing two birds with one poem!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I keep
a book of poetry beside me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I often
wish the red lights were slightly longer so I could finish the poem I’m in the
midst of reading. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This past year, thanks to those red lights, I have read most if not all
of your published poetry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They even inspired
me to dig through my unread collection of poetry that I had accumulated over
the years with the best of intentions and began reading them…poem after poem
that I might never have gotten around to read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And for this, I am grateful for you for getting the poetry ball rolling.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">One of your poetry collections is titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Complicated Lives</i>, which seems to sum up our lives these days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are our lives truly more complicated than
those of previous generations, even that of our parents, and does that
complication give us more possibilities (angst) to write about?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m also thinking, perhaps, the various
sexual permutations that seem to exist in your own writing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does complicated lives produce better poetry
and prose?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or just better gossip for the
readers?</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Edwin</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #002060; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">:</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe
every generation has had its own kind of complications. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would agree that our lives are indeed
complicated. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would wish for simpler
lives but I’m afraid that’s not often the case for many of us. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The complications do give us (at least, it does
for me) more to write about. It allows me to explore the various kinds of
relationships we find ourselves in, not just with fellow human beings but with
fellow creatures and the environment itself. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sexual permutations are often about love
and the desire to be loved; gender is secondary. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And some of my poems deal with sexual desire
and how that could complicate lives. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
can be difficult to separate sex and love and that could cause its own
complications. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Better gossip?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s
no gossip in the poems. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s both
pain and celebration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR: True, but that
doesn’t prevent readers (and nonreaders) from gossiping about the poems (and
the poet), which was what happened one hundred and fifty years ago when Walt Whitman published <i>Leaves of Grass</i> (and added to it throughout his life).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Speaking of Whitman, I recently </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">had this surreal literary moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While in the midst of reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leaves of Grass </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">(at red lights),</span> I was reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lincoln</i> by Gore Vidal (at home), when a clerk-cum-novelist asked
Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of Treasury, to consider a clerkship for a great
poet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“He comes to you, sir, with a letter
of introduction and commendation from Ralph Waldo Emerson.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Suddenly I had goose bumps; I knew he was referring to Walt
Whitman!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew he had gone to Washington
D.C. during the Civil War because his brother had been wounded in a recent
battle; then he stayed to help to comfort the other wounded soldiers, which he
wrote about in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leaves of Grass</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although he never met Abraham Lincoln,
Lincoln did know him (and his infamous reputation) as did Lincoln’s personal
secretary, John Hay who later wrote a book about Lincoln and had asked Walt
Whitman, since he was in town, to sign his copy of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leaves of Grass</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Walt Whitman </span>added several tributes
to Abraham Lincoln after he had been assassinated.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I don’t know how many degrees of separation that is, but suddenly I felt
like I personally knew Walt Whitman; and thanks to reading his poetry, I was
inspired to read four books about the Civil War that had been lying around for
years waiting for…someday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That day came
after reading your poetry, Edwin, because that got me to read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leaves of Grass</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, who
knows where a good book of poetry or even a single poem can take you if you let
it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me, it brought me closer to an
infamous Poet and a famous President and a terrible Civil War that still haunts
the American psyche today.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Life Happens</i> you quote the
Bible “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a
multitude of sin”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love — wanton love or
self-indulgent love — can also <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cause</i>
a multitude of sin (and a few marriage breakups along the way).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do lovers, more today, than in the past, go
too far in their kiss-and-tell books or their hook-up and broadcasting their
blogs all over the social media?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the
lover, it can increase their notoriety (Don Juan, anyone?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or the Kardashians?), but what about the
named or flushed-out victims who must deal with the real-time fallout that can
destroy their current relationships and wreck their professional and personal lives?
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are people going too far to inflict pain
on others (payback) and even themselves?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is poetry and even prose, based on your own writing, truly cathartic or
are writers merely a glutton for punishment?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But at whose expense?</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Edwin</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">: I
certainly do not subscribe to any form of kiss and tell in my writing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those who write such real-life confessional books
are certainly not doing it for any kind of literary reasons. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, that seems to be what some publishers
want, and they know these books have readers and they will sell copies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">My
poems are often drawn from various sources and I rework them and create my own
images and metaphors that attempt to capture the experience, the moment or the
emotion. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Writing prose and poetry are
different experiences. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Writing poetry
sometimes has an element of being therapeutic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As does
writing prose, which I had experienced firsthand during a divorce and a custody
battle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote a long story that
suddenly answered my unasked question…where was she coming from?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why was she doing this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what had I done that led to this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, more importantly, what could I do to help
resolve this in a way that would be best for both of us and our child?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Edwin</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of my early poems, especially the ‘Mother
Poems’ in <i>Complicated Lives </i>deal with my coming to terms with my mother’s
old age and Alzheimer’s illness. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
poems are very close to me and I still find it difficult to read them aloud in
the Readings sessions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I actually invite
others to read these poems.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Some
of my poems have been described as confessional poems. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here, I’d say that I’m not necessarily the
persona in all of these poems. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Poetry
allows for this ambiguity and I do draw on it. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">When
I write stories, I draw from various sources. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">If one listens and looks hard enough you see
and hear so many things that give fodder to writers. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">They are seeds that allow for fertilization
with the imagination and you have your stories. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I often take an issue or a problem and see how
I can give it a fresh look. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">My stories
do not have a clear closure as I want the readers to continue to think about
the characters and what options they may have.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR: We write, if not for
ourselves, then for others, it seems to me, even if it is only
for one person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What may be closure for the
writer and closure for the reader may be very, very different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s how we react or respond to a particular
piece of writing or, by association, how it links to our past that suddenly
awakens us or even provides a solution that we hadn’t been seeking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each reader may respond to a different
aspect of the story or the poem, even to a particular word that resonates for
them in unexpected ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, the cause
and the effect can go on and on for generations of readers…long after the
author had passed away.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Another of your quotes from the same collection is TS Eliot, “Only those
who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a true sentiment that applies to
various aspects of our lives, including <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2014/08/writer-as-marathoner-or-am-i-truly.html">running a marathon</a>, but
specific to writing, based on your own experiences, please elaborate.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Edwin</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I subscribe to what Eliot is advocating in
this quote. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like to think that my
writing is an attempt at “going too far”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One needs to be careful with what one decides
to publish. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are things I write and
don’t publish. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I certainly needed to
write them for myself. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My editor is my
barometer who cautions me, and I rarely disagree with him. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of my readers say I’m brave to publish
what they read in my books. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So maybe,
now I can go a little further. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Malaysians
self-censor for many reasons. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is
the fear that our work might be banned or at worse the writer gets arrested. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One has to be careful with matters of race and
religion. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My writings do deal with race
and aspects of religion, but I am very careful not to offend though I might touch
on these issues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">RR: </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">I remember reading one young poet in an anthology that I was
asked to write a comment for and it seemed to me that was exactly what he was
trying to do, offend. My advice to tone
it down fell on deaf ears; I had told him, later, when you mature, you are
going to cringe and regret this.</span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">W</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">hat got you interested in reading and writing poetry?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who were your early Malaysian influences or
mentors at school?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which poets, both local
and overseas, grabbed you or shook you out of your complacency and made you
think, this is what I want to do!</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Edwin</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">: From
an early age, I loved reading. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A habit I
picked up from my eldest brother. As we
could not afford to buy books, I joined the British Council library and the
library at the Lincoln’s Cultural Centre. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Living in Brickfields in the 60s and studying
in Methodist Boys’ Secondary School, Kuala Lumpur, I could walk to both the
libraries. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I used to look for new books
and try to be the first reader.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
my 20s, I read more poetry than prose. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
I read more modern poetry than I did the Romantics like Wordsworth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I only began to like Wordsworth much
later in life. I enjoyed T.S. Eliot from
my Form 6 days. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved the way he wrote
about people and life after World War Two. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His religious poems resonated well with me,
coming from a Christian background.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
try to capture our contemporary society in my poems too. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
in the case of poetry, I read more modern prose writers like Virginia Woolf,
Joseph Conrad and E. M. Forster. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shakespeare
grew on me very quickly too. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started
reading Shakespeare in Form 4. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a
wonderful English Literature teacher. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
introduced me to many writers including Ovid. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The American writers came much later in my
life, then I discovered Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Hemmingway, Steinbeck,
Faulkner and Baldwin and Scott Fitzgerald.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Among
the earliest Malaysian writers, I read were Ee Tiang Hong, Muhammad Haji
Salleh, Wong Phui Nam and Hilary Tham. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edwin
Thumboo had just brought out a volume of Malaysian and Singaporean poems
entitled ‘The Second Tongue’ and it opened the door to local writing,
especially poetry. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read Malaysian
short stories and novels much later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
had the privilege of being a student of Professor Lloyd Fernando. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was certainly a mentor and role model. We
became friends and he gave me access to his personal library in his home and
much of my early research on the bibliography of Malaysian literature was done
here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Getting the right teacher or
lecturer can make a huge difference; one turns you on, the other shuts you
down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For your Malaysian anthology <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Malchin Testament: Malaysian Poems,</i> which
spans sixty years and covers nearly sixty poets, what were your criteria for
choosing the poems?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could imagine that
would have been a difficult undertaking, not wanting to leave someone
deserving out, against cries of bias or showing favouritism or having to
defend yourself to the inevitable backlash from fellow poets and friends, “How
come so-and-so has four poems and I only have three!”</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Edwin</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #002060; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I had
several criteria for selecting the poems. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, that the poets are Malaysians or are
poets born in Malaysia and may now have gone abroad but continue to write about
Malaysia. Second, I chose only poems that have been previously published.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">My
work on <i>The Bibliography of Malaysian Literature in English </i>helped me
to find just about every published poetry collection by Malaysians poets. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Third, I only published poems that the writers
gave me permission to publish as they hold the copyrights to the poems. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The number of poems for each poet represented
the volume of the poet’s publications. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
are some poets with just one or two poems. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are usually the emerging poets whose
works have appeared in anthologies and the poets did not have their own
collection of poems. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are more
poems from the established Malaysian poets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That sounds fair; I hope they were all happy!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I liked how the</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">anthology, as you stated, “brings
together voices of poets from multicultural and multilingual Malaysian
appropriating the English language for their own expression” which I feel is a
tribute for all Malaysians, something everyone should be proud of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But has there been a struggle for this
multicultural and multilingual Malaysian voices to be heard and accepted by
all?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this an on-going process or has
Malaysia turned the poetic corner, so to speak, and embraced all of these
voices, enriching the literature of Malaysia in the process?</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Edwin</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">: Malaysians
write in an English which is quite distinctive. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can recognize Malaysian English both in its
standard and non-standard forms. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can
see the influences of the local languages on Malaysian English and it certainly
enriches the language, but we need to bear in mind that it should have
intelligibility for both local and international readers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Writing
in English in Malaysia has not been easy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having the writers’ voices heard is a good
start. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do not have many publishers
who want to publish poetry. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is the
option of self-publication. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even
established poets like Wong Phui Nam self-publish. Most poets look for options abroad and online
literary journals. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It slightly better if
you are publishing prose but that too is very limited though the opportunities
are more in the last few years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Those
who write in English in Malaysia do not get any governmental support unlike
those who write in the Malay language. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
lack of support has not deterred the writers as we see many more young people
writing in English than ever before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">There
are some success stories of Malaysians publishing in English who have won
awards and received international recognition. The first person to win such an
award was Shirley Geok-lin Lim in 1981 when she won the Commonwealth Poetry
Prize for a debut volume. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tan Twan Eng,
Tash Aw and Rani Manicka have won prizes for their novels. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year, Saras Manickam won the Commonwealth
Short Story Prize for Asia. So, it is
looking good for Malaysia, writing in English. As a literary tradition, we are only about sixty
years old. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a lot of diversity
in the writing and that for me makes Malaysian writing in English rather
vibrant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR: Plus <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/11/interview-ivy-ngeow-robert-raymer-chats.html">Ivy Ngeow</a>’s <i>Cry of the Flying Rhino</i> and Bernice Chauly’s <i>Once We Were
There </i>both won prizes.<i> </i> Having witnessed that
transition in the thirty plus years since I first came to Malaysia, I wholeheartedly
agree.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Anthologies...poetry...short stories...is a novel the next in your
future offerings, or is that risking going too far?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Edwin</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am working on a number of projects. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope to bring out a collection of Malaysian
short stories, similar to that of <i>Malchin Testament: Malaysian Poems</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s ready to go to the publisher. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This project has taken a lot of time as I want
it to be representative of stories from the 1960s to the present.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
have also been writing poems and short stories. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This I do constantly. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve re-written couple of my short stories
into scripts, hoping they will be staged at some point. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was very encouraged when three of my stories
from <i>Coitus Interrupted and Other Stories</i> were used to stage a performance
called ‘Love Matters’ in Mumbai by Playpen Performing Arts Trust directed by
Ashish Joshi in 2017 and 2018.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I would look to write a novel but maybe not yet. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of my short stories could have the seeds
for a full-blown novel, we’ll have to wait and see.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Back in the 1990’s, I used to be the Penang Coordinator
at MACEE, the Malaysian-American Commission on Education Exchange, which was run
under the Fulbright Program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a recipient
of a Fulbright Scholarship, tell us about your Fulbright experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How has the program impacted your writing and
your professional life?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">E<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">dwin</span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">: I totally enjoyed my Fulbright
experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the first of a series
that was called “Reading America”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
started at New School University, New York where we were given lectures on a
variety of topics ranging from literature to politics and history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New York City was in itself a learning
experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s so much to see and
do. Going to the New York University
Library and having access to use it was very exciting for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was in all the bookshops, especially
Strand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were theatres, museums and
art galleries to go to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can just go
on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">We then went to New Mexico.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here we had a few tours and going to the
native Indians reservations was an amazing experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Made me feel rather sad when we were told
about the history and violent past with the white settlers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A highlight in the New Mexico section was
going to Georgia O’ Keeffe’s house and seeing her work. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, we went to Washington D.C. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here, we received various guided tours,
including the White House and some monuments. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The visit to Library of Congress is something
I will remember.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What an amazing library
both architecturally and in terms of its collection of materials.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Fulbright program provided an excellent
opportunity for networking. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were
about twenty of us from different countries who shared similar interests, mostly
literature. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are still in contact and
I’ve been to visit some of them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
continue to communicate and read each other’s work. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This has certainly contributed in our
professional lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I'm sure it did. Hopefully you'll inspire other writers to apply. </span>I once had an amusing experience with Fulbright in
Kuala Lumpur when </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">attending a formal dinner in the mid-1990s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The set menu consisted of, among several
delicious dishes, two Brussel sprouts, which I thought a rather peculiar choice.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wondered who had taken the poetic
licence to suggest such an unpopular dish for the menu of a formal dinner
filled with hundreds of Fulbright scholars, Malaysian government officials, and
international dignitaries?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No doubt,
someone very important and everyone was afraid to say, “Aiyoh, are you crazy?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead they meekly shook their heads in
agreement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not to anyone’s surprise (I
call it poetic justice), those same two Brussel sprouts were the only untouched
items left on the hundreds of plates taken away by the waiters.</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">What else would you like us to know about you, about your
writing, or any writing topic that you feel passionate about that needs
addressing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Edwin</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like to present a Malaysian Indian
perspective which is contemporary but also deals with the past. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The past is very important to me, for example
the loss of people and places. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brickfields,
my birthplace, features in my poems. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
like to write about loss, longing and loving. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My hope is that my treatment of these themes
and issues will be different and will give a fresh and unique perspective.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
am currently doing a book tour to many universities. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The purpose of this tour is to meet my readers
and potential readers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It gives me an
opportunity to meet young people and very much want to share my love for poetry
and literature. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So far, I’ve visited
about eight universities in Peninsular Malaysia, one in Sarawak, one in
Singapore and two in Taiwan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What advice would you give young poets or writers
who are struggling to finish (or even seriously start) their first book?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Edwin</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want to write, my advice is to read. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read widely and read as much as you can. That
is certainly the first step towards becoming a writer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would advise writers to have reading
buddies. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People who you could trust to be
honest with you about your work. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, a
poet or short story writer, one could send poems and stories to literary
journals and online magazines. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of
these are peer-reviewed and they often give useful feedback; getting them
published is certainly a great way of building one’s confidence. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully, with this one publication they will
have enough writings and confidence to get more work published, possibly even a
book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p>My interview with Malachi Edwin Vethamani has been published in<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/08/my-interview-with-malachi-edwin.html"> Blue Lotus 19</a>.</o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Other Interviews with First Novelists:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-ivy-ngeow-robert-raymer-chats.html">Ivy Ngeow</a></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-MY" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> author of <i>Cry of the Flying Rhino,</i></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-golda-mowe-robert-raymer.html">Golda Mowe</a> author of <i>Iban Dream</i> and <i>Iban Journey</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/01/interview-preeta-samarasan-robert.html">Preeta Samarasan</a> author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Evening is the Whole Day</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br />
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/10/interview-chuah-guat-eng-robert-raymer.html"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Chuah Guat Eng</b></span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">, <b>author of <i>Echoes of Silence</i> and <i>Days of Change.</i></b><i> </i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Five part <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefilmed-for.html">Maugham and Me series</a></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/arte-joseph-conrad-and-mesarawaks.html" style="font-weight: 400;">Joseph Conrad and Me</a></b></div>
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—Borneo Expat Writer</div>
<br />Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-64210237287701585812019-01-18T05:19:00.005-08:002020-05-23T20:16:02.769-07:00Neighbors: A Suicide and Making Choices or How to Turn Your Story into the Right Story<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">I learned firsthand when my neighbor committed
suicide (the neighbor who inspired my short story <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/01/neighbours-by-robert-raymer.html">“Neighbours”</a> that featured the gossip Mrs. Koh (<a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2010/09/neighbours-comment-are-you-mrs-koh-by.html">“Are You Mrs. Koh?”</a>): </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span> </span>When someone dies, people will ask how did
they die?<span> </span>When someone commits suicide,
people will tell you <i>why</i>…<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4deqlsYAnP8/T3EsNFStybI/AAAAAAAAAks/u4hlYyPi864XyO_e35jPOfAGCKPCmFyYwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Doublecover.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="562" height="183" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4deqlsYAnP8/T3EsNFStybI/AAAAAAAAAks/u4hlYyPi864XyO_e35jPOfAGCKPCmFyYwCPcBGAYYCw/s200/Doublecover.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">While reposting the new link to “Neighbours”, I got to thinking why I wrote the original story, why I chose to focus on
that aspect of the story and not the <i>whole</i> story. I first touched
upon this in an old blog (later published in <i>Tropical
Affairs</i>) that I posted soon after “Neighbors” (using the American spelling)
had been accepted for publication in the American literary journal <i>Thema</i> — <i>twenty</i> years after I first wrote the story for a Malaysian contest. The story, from <i>Lovers and Strangers Revisited,</i> was later taught </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">for six years (2008-2014)
in SPM literature and in various private colleges and universities throughout Malaysia,
and translated into French along with the rest of the collection.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">This is the updated version of what I wrote:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">Writing, I used to tell my students, is about
making choices.<span> </span>If you choose wisely you
might surprise yourself with the story you end up with. <span> </span>For example in “Neighbors”, I could’ve written
a nonfiction narrative or a different story starting with my hearing some
groans coming from my neighbor’s house, two doors away.<span> </span>When I investigated, I found an elderly
Chinese man lying helpless on the couch.<span>
</span>His door was locked, yet in between moaning he managed to tell me that the
keys were by the sink, which I was able to obtain by reaching through the
grille at the kitchen window. <span> </span>With the help
of another Chinese neighbor (whose wife was pregnant and very upset that he was
getting involved), we took him to the General Hospital.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">I could’ve written about the hospital’s reaction
to me, a young white man attending to this elderly Chinese man who was dying,
their giving me strange looks as I wrote in my journal, trying to get all the
details and my impressions while they were still fresh — the writer part of me
at work; and then my anger at the doctors and nurses who seemed indifferent about my
neighbor’s plight. <span> </span>He was dying and no
one wanted to help!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">Since the doctors didn’t know what poison he had
taken, I volunteered to go back to his house. Although I often chatted with this neighbor
across the gate or his fence, I had never ventured inside his house. <span> </span>I could’ve written about the eerie feeling I
had wandering inside this empty house where a man had just tried to kill
himself. <span> </span>Upstairs I located two glasses
of beer and some green liquid, which I took to the hospital.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">Since this was in the mid-80s before CSI, the
doctors wanted me to go back to the house once more to find out what the green
stuff was. <span> </span>So back I went and eventually
found, hidden behind a partition, a bottle of the weed killer, Paraquat. By then there was nothing the doctors could
do, so I stayed with this man for several hours at the hospital, while we tried, without success, to contact his family. <span> </span>I
didn’t want him to die alone like another expat that I wrote about who had <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2011/01/dying-alone-in-far-away-land.html">died alone in a faraway land</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">I could’ve written about my attending the
three-day Chinese (Teochew) funeral held outside their house, which was very lively
and noisy and attracted a lot of attention from the other Chinese neighbors. <span> </span>When it was over, I was invited back to the
house and given a gift, a token of appreciation for what I had done for this
family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">The family, however, refused to live in the house anymore
because of this suicide. <span> </span>Months later,
another family had moved in, but they kept hearing mysterious noises — like
someone walking around upstairs in the master bedroom — and it was scaring the
children. <span> </span>The family didn’t know about
the suicide until <i>after</i> they had
decided to leave. <span> </span>Malaysians,
particularly the Chinese, take ghosts and spirits very seriously.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">None of this mattered to the story that I wanted
to write. <span> </span>For me the story began when I
returned from the hospital to the man’s house and found several neighbors
gossiping.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">I was fascinated by all of the comments the
neighbors made, the wild speculations about the family and why the man had
taken his life.<span> </span>Some of the things they
had said were mean and spiteful.<span> </span>Later,
when the man’s wife and daughter returned home, the neighbors quickly dispersed;
they refused to inform them about the man’s death.<span> </span>Even though I was the newest neighbor and an
expat, I had to bear the bad tidings alone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">This was the story that <i>fascinated</i> me.<span> </span>The story I
wanted to tell was not a first person narrative of my finding this man and all
that took place that day (although I could still write about it since it’s in
my journal as either non-fiction or incorporate it into another story or as
part of a novel — it’s all there to be used, grist for the mill as writers often say).<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">Instead, I chose to write about the neighbors themselves
and what they said about this family in the aftermath of the suicide.<span> </span>In fact ‘Aftermath’ was the original title
when it was first published in Singapore and Australia and in <i>Lovers and Strangers</i> (Heinemann Asia,
1993).<span> </span>Again thanks to my journal, all
the details were there, still fresh, including those that had completely
slipped my memory after several years had already passed, one of the reasons I
urged my writing students to keep a diary/journal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">Another choice I made was to leave me, as a
character, out of the story.<span> </span>I felt it
would be better without a Westerner or a <i>mat
salleh</i> in it.<span> </span>I wanted the dialogue
to be natural, spontaneous, and an expat present would alter the dynamics of
the group, including the dialogue.<span> </span>Also I
wanted to shift the sympathy to this man and his family — even after hearing
many bad things about them. <span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">I purposely wrote the story in a neutral tone with
the viewpoint of an observer, to avoid racial bias, so no one race in this
multi-racial society is talking down to another. Yet, at the same time, all
Malaysians should be able to identify with these characters.<span> </span>They could be your very own neighbor or a
relative, hopefully distant....I wanted to make the story universal, so readers
around the world could relate to the characters and also learn about Malaysia,
where different races freely mix and socialize, and yes, gossip.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">When writing your story, whether it is based on a
true dramatic incident or nor, or whether it is fiction or nonfiction, ask
yourself, do you want to write the whole story or just one aspect of that
story?<span> </span>Consider your choices
carefully.<span> </span>I did and thirty years later the
story keeps paying off in unforeseen ways.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">Then again, i</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">t
is always hard to keep a good story down, especially when it involves a suicide and
neighbors gossiping.<span> </span>At times, we all
love a good gossip.<span> </span>Just ask Mrs. Koh.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span>
</span>#<span> </span>#<span> </span>#<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">Later I had blogged about the significant changes
that I made in *“Neighbours” that led to its initial publication, and the subsequent
revisions for publications overseas and in various book forms (three publishers
and a French translation), </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">which I noted
in the series <a href="https://thestorybehindthestoryoflsr.blogspot.com/2009/06/neighbours-story-behind-story-of-lovers.html">The Story Behind the Story</a>,
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="EN">used by teachers as
an aide for their students. <span> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">MELTA (Malaysia English Language Teaching Association)
had even created an on-line discussion for “Neighbours” for students and
teachers on their literature forum, which had over 20,500 hits and 30 pages of
comments about the story and Mrs. Koh before it was archived and later take
down.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">*The link to the short story <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/01/neighbours-by-robert-raymer.html">“Neighbours”</a> </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">is the revised version, written in the
present tense, after the French translation of <i>Lovers and Strangers Revisited</i> came out.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">*</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">*Here is link to a recent Google Meet with students at UiTM-Penang during</span><a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2020/05/neighbours-google-meet-with-uitmpenang.html" style="font-size: 12pt;"> a Q-and-A session about "Neighbours"</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> and the motivation of the various characters and why I ended the story where I did. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> —Borneo
Expat Writer</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-3112353682915758002019-01-15T18:48:00.004-08:002024-01-10T17:24:58.722-08:00"Neighbours" by Robert Raymer<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cYUmY2y3dsg/SN3AOyFnuwI/AAAAAAAAABw/kkSQG3JMJH4xfa96nzZ-cnCTcYCd6NxgQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/LSR-front%2Bcover.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1066" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cYUmY2y3dsg/SN3AOyFnuwI/AAAAAAAAABw/kkSQG3JMJH4xfa96nzZ-cnCTcYCd6NxgQCPcBGAYYCw/s200/LSR-front%2Bcover.JPG" width="133" /></a></span></div>
<span style="text-indent: 1cm;">Thirty-two years
after I wrote “Neighbours”, after it was first published in </span><i style="text-indent: 1cm;">The Star</i><span style="text-indent: 1cm;"> as
consolation winner in their national short story contest, it is still being taught now and then, most recently at UITM (as of 2020).</span><span style="text-indent: 1cm;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 1cm;">Published in the
USA, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia, the story had been taught in Malaysia secondary
schools for six year for STM literature and at numerous private and public
universities and colleges throughout the country.</span><br />
<br />
I'm posting this to replace the one from an old website since it is no longer available and I had over a dozen links to the story in various "Neighbour" related blogs. This is the revised version, after the French translation of <i>Lovers and Strangers Revisited.</i> (Revised it again in December 2023).<br />
<span style="text-indent: 1cm;"></span><br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US">NEIGHBOURS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US">by<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"> Robert Raymer <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> </span>“I suppose there’s a mess in the
back seat,” Mrs. Koh says, her face flushed, her arms crossed as she stands in
front of Johnny Leong’s terrace house. She
shakes her head and waits impatiently for Koh and Tan to get out of the
car. “You had to volunteer our new car,
didn’t you? Why didn’t you borrow
someone else’s car like I told you, or wait for an ambulance? Now it’s ruined. Ruined!”</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Koh
doesn’t bother to respond, his attention drawn to the mournful sound of someone
playing the saxophone. He stretches and
rubs his aching back. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Koh
and Tan are Johnny’s immediate neighbors.
The Koh’s terrace house is on the left, while Tan, a bachelor, lives on
the right. The medium-income housing
area is new, less than two years old.
Malays, Chinese and Indians live together in relative harmony—a mini
Malaysia. The streets are narrow,
though, with no sidewalks to walk on because of the uncovered monsoon
drains. Neighbors must walk on the
street where they also stop and chat, moving aside to let an occasional car
pass by.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Across
the street, Miss Chee, a secondary school teacher, slender with short black
hair and razor-sharp bangs, unlocks her gate and lets out her white
Pomeranian. Upon noticing Mr. and Mrs.
Koh standing in front of Leong’s gate, she waves and crosses the street to join
them. She realizes that Tan, the new
math teacher at Penang Free School, is with them. She blushes, but it’s too late to turn back
or he may think she’s avoiding him or being rude.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Mrs.
Koh, peering through the car side window, doesn’t see a mess, although she’s
convinced the evidence is just waiting for her to find. She looks up to see Miss Chee approaching. Before anyone has a chance to speak, Mrs. Koh
blurts out, “Hear about Johnny?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Taken
aback, Miss Chee asks a bit nervously, “Were he and Veronica fighting again?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Mrs.
Koh’s beady eyes light up like shiny new coins.
“Did <i>you</i> hear them fighting this morning?” She turns to her husband with an
I-told-you-so look on her face. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Wait
a minute, were they fighting?” Tan asks, glancing at Koh.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “No,
they <i>weren’t</i> fighting,” Koh says, glaring at his wife. “I told you that already. I was outside all morning, and I would’ve
heard them.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “I
didn’t think so,” Tan says, adjusting his glasses. “When Veronica and Lily stepped outside, they
seemed perfectly fine. In fact, they
smiled and waved like they normally do.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Mrs.
Koh twitches her nose. “Veronica didn’t
say where they were going, did she?
Gambling, that’s where! Every
Sunday she plays mahjong and I’m sure she’s in debt!” She pauses to catch their surprised
reaction. To prove her point, she adds, “She
once tried to borrow money from Koh.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “She
only wanted five ringgit-<i>lah,</i> to buy
some vegetables,” Koh says, shaking his head.
“She didn’t have time to go to the bank.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “You’re
not her bank either! Otherwise, she’d be
borrowing from you all the time,” Mrs. Koh says. “Thank heavens you didn’t give her any.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “You
wouldn’t let me,” he says, “and she’s our neighbor!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “It’s
bad enough she’s always collecting advance money for her meals, and now that
Johnny’s dead—”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Miss
Chee’s mouth drops open. “Dead?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “He’s
not dead yet,” Koh says to his wife.
“He’s still breathing.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Dead? Still breathing?” Miss Chee’s mouth goes slack as she looks
from Koh to Tan for some answers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “He’s
as good as dead,” Mrs. Koh snaps.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Miss
Chee gasps in frustration, “I don’t understand…who? Who are you talking about? Johnny?
Is he all right?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “All
right? He’s all <i>wrong</i>,” Mrs. Koh says. “Him and his whole family!” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Johnny
tried to commit suicide this morning,” Koh explains to Miss Chee.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “<i>Wah</i>!
But why?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Because
Veronica ran up all those gambling debts!” Mrs. Koh says.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Koh
glowers at his wife. “We don’t know
that. We do know he drank
weed-killer. He was drinking it with his
beer.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Mrs.
Koh plants her hands squarely on her hips.
“Drinking! That’s all that man
did—sit around and drink. And that—that
Veronica! The way she lets that daughter
of hers run around like some tramp!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Miss
Chee’s eyes open wide. “Lily? She’s an all-A student.” She leans toward Tan and says in a low voice,
“Lily is my best student.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Tan
nods and smiles at her politely. Again,
he adjusts his glasses even though they seem perfectly fine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Miss
Chee hesitates, but then asks Tan, “When did you find Johnny?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Just
before noon,” Koh replies. “Isn’t that
right, Tan?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Yes,
about noon.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Mrs.
Koh nods. “Koh told me he heard Johnny groaning
one hour after Veronica took Lily gambling.
I just happened to look at my watch when they passed by.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “I
didn’t hear the groaning until after Tan called me from his gate,” Koh says, giving
a salute to Tan. “If it wasn’t for Tan,
Johnny might already be dead.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “And
<i>you</i> had to put him in our <i>brand
new car</i>!” Mrs. Koh says. “Just
imagine if he died there. All the bad
luck it’d bring, and with the New Year just around the corner! We’d have to sell it, and it’s not even two
months old!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Dr. Nathan, an Indian
dentist who lives next door to Miss Chee, waves at them from his car window as
he slows down. </span><span lang="EN-US">He
stops in front of his gate, gets out and unlocks it before driving inside. Instead of closing and locking his gate, he waves and crosses the street to join
them. He extends his hand to Koh,
one of his patients.<br />
“A fine Sunday afternoon,”
Nathan says.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Not
for Johnny,” Mrs. Koh replies. “He’s
dead.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “<i>Alamak</i>!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “He’s
not dead yet,” Koh says, shaking Nathan’s hand.
“Tan and I just took Johnny to the General Hospital. He tried to commit suicide by drinking Paraquat. We finally managed to contact his son, and
he’s over there now. Veronica and Lily
haven’t been told yet. We don’t know how
to contact them.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “For
heaven’s sake,” Nathan says, and looks as if he just pulled the wrong tooth. “I never realized. Just last New Year—yes, it was just last New
Year Johnny had that party and everyone was there…having a grand time.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Especially
Koh,” Mrs. Koh says, eyeing him. “He was
so drunk I had to drag him home.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “I
was not drunk! I was celebrating!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Celebrating,
ha! That’s what you call it! You had a hangover and missed work for two
days!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “I
was on annual leave,” Koh corrects.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Same
thing. You missed work!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Nathan
</span><span lang="EN-US">rubs his balding head and asks, “Who found Johnny?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Miss
Chee nods at Tan and says, “Mr. Tan did.
He heard Johnny groaning.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “I
can’t take all the credit, Miss Chee.
Your name is Miss Chee, am I correct?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 1.0cm;"><span lang="EN-US"> “Why yes…it is,” Miss Chee replies, her
smile widening. “My friends call me
Alice.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “My
friends <i>and</i> my patients call me Nathan.”
He offers his hand to Tan, who introduces himself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Anyway,
it was Koh who went inside the house first,” Tan said. “And he called the ambulance.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “But we decided not to wait,” Koh says. “The hospital kept asking all these foolish
questions that we couldn’t answer, so we took him in ourselves.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “In
our BRAND NEW CAR!” Mrs. Koh says.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “You
have a new car. I never realized,”
Nathan says. “I remember my first new
car, a Proton Saga—the very year it came out, mind you. Our national car. We’ve certainly come a long way since
Independence, haven’t we?” Nathan’s
smile overflows with pride. “Now Johnny,
he was a good neighbor. Yes, a good
neighbor, even though he owes me for treatment. Root canals aren’t cheap, you know.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “That
reminds me,” Koh says, “my tooth has been hurting again.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Oh,
dear,” Nathan says. “You mustn’t wait,
or you could find yourself in a lot of pain.
That’s what happened to Johnny.
He waited until the pain was simply unbearable.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Should
I call your office for an appointment or just drop by?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Two
passing motorcycles drown out Nathan’s reply.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Miss
Chee’s dog barks, feigning chase; after a few frantic steps, it returns to Miss
Chee.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Ramli’s
kids!” Mrs. Koh says, staring down the street after them. “Race here, race there. Last week I saw one of them teaching Lily how
to ride. I don’t know why Veronica lets
her daughter—at that age—run around with boys.
I’d never let <i>my</i> daughter do that! And today, of all days, she takes Lily
gambling!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Nathan
scratches an ear. “Oh dear, I never
realized Veronica gambles.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Mrs.
Koh is nodding. “Every Sunday she goes
to her cousin’s house in Air Itam.
That’s where she gambles! <i>Every</i> Sunday!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “You
told me you had no idea where Veronica went,” Koh says, annoyed, frowning at his
wife. “Johnny’s son was trying to reach
her.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Mrs.
Koh crosses her arms in defiance. “It’s
none of my business where she <i>gambles</i>!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “You
should never gamble with your teeth,” Nathan says to Tan, and passes him a business
card. “If you ever need a reliable
dentist, I live right across the street.
You can’t get more reliable than a neighbor.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Ramli,
an elderly Malay, his back ramrod straight, sells satay at the night markets. He walks in the middle of the street and nods
to Tan, one of his regular customers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “My
eldest daughter tells me Johnny hasn’t been at school the past three days,”
Ramli says. “Then yesterday she saw him
walking along the main road carrying a helmet without his motorcycle. Imagine that!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Miss
Chee asks Tan in a low voice, “Is Johnny a teacher?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “No,”
Tan replies, “he’s a janitor at my school.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “A
dead janitor,” Mrs. Koh says.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Dead? Don’t talk about <i>dead</i>. No joke-<i>lah</i>!”
Ramli gazes from face to face as if he missed the punch line to a sick joke,
though hoping someone will explain it to him.
“So, who’s dead? Huh?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Johnny,
but he’s not quite dead—at least not yet,” Koh says. “But he did try to kill himself by drinking Paraquat.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Paraquat? <i>Ya
Allah</i>!” Ramli’s dark brown eyes roll
upwards toward heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Koh
heard him groaning around noon,” Mrs. Koh says.
“One hour after Veronica took Lily gambling.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Wasn’t
it Tan who heard the groaning?” Miss
Chee glances at Tan for confirmation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Koh
nods. “That’s right. If it wasn’t for Tan, Johnny might already be
dead.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “It
has to be about money-<i>lah</i>,” Ramli says
to no one in particular.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Everyone
looks at him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Why
else would he sell his motorcycle?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “He’s
right-<i>lah</i>,” Koh says. “Why else?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “I
bet it’s because he’s involved with another woman!” Mrs. Koh says. “Wouldn’t surprise me! He might even have a second family! Imagine that!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Tan
and Ramli glance doubtfully at one another.
They shrug, suggesting that it’s possible.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Gambling,
drinking, womanizing—what a family! And
broke!” Mrs. Koh says.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Now
I’ll never get that root canal bill paid,” Nathan says, and grimaces.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “I’m
sure Johnny has some insurance somewhere,” Tan says, trying to be helpful. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Koh
frowns as if he just discovered dog poop stuck to the bottom of his shoe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Well
if he does, he didn’t buy it from me,” Koh says. “I must’ve asked him a half dozen
times. What good did it do me? And I’m his neighbor!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “My
elder son offered to buy Johnny’s motorcycle for its license plate number for
good money, too,” Ramli says. “Now look at
what he did, sold it to a stranger!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Miss
Chee watches her dog go back and forth across the street. She sighs in exasperation. “It’s a good thing Veronica has that catering
business to fall back on, if worst comes to worst.” She catches Tan’s gaze. “Are you buying from her?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Well,
no, not yet,” Tan replies, “but I was thinking about it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “It
must be difficult living on your own like that.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “I’ve
been living on my own for <i>fifteen</i> years,” Nathan says, “and I can cook,
too.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Miss
Chee smiles politely. “Now if Johnny
doesn’t make it—” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “He
won’t if he drank Paraquat,” Ramli says.
“That one’s a sure killer.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Either
way,” Miss Chee says, “I’m sure the good Lord will look after Veronica and
Lily.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Tan
asks, “Are they Christian?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “He
has a Christian name, doesn’t he!” Mrs. Koh says, pointing out the obvious. “So does Veronica and Lily!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Come
to think of it,” Koh says, scratching his head, “I don’t think they are. In fact, I think they’re Buddhists. Or used to be. With Johnny, you can never tell. Besides, back in school many of us added
Christian names but we weren’t Christian.
Even you did, long before you converted.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “That
doesn’t make it right,” Mrs. Koh says. “It’s
misleading!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 1.0cm;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US">Tan says, “Unless I’m mistaken, Johnny once told me
he was a free-thinker.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Koh
chuckles. “That’s Johnny for you. Since he works at Penang <i>Free</i> School,
he likes everything <i>free</i>.” He
laughs at his own joke.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “You
should know,” Mrs. Koh says, “you’re always there drinking his <i>free</i> beer.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “You’re
just jealous that Johnny never invites you over.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “I
wouldn’t go even if Johnny <i>and</i> Veronica begged me.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Tan
gazes at the round concrete table and stools not far from Johnny’s gate. He clears his voice and says to Miss Chee,
“We used to sit there and talk. The very
night I moved in—even though I was a total stranger—Johnny invited me
over. We must’ve sat up half the night
philosophizing about everything under the sun.”
Guilt creeps into his eyes. “Just
last night I was over there.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “I
saw you.” Miss Chee blushes as Tan looks
at her with surprise. “I happened to glance
down from my bedroom window.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Tan
gazes at the window, then at Miss Chee. “I
think Johnny was just lonely.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “You
think he’s lonely?” Nathan says. “My
wife has been dead fifteen years. <i>Fifteen years</i>! Johnny can’t be lonely, not with a wife and
daughter at home. And his son comes
visiting often enough.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Johnny
has a son?” Ramli ponders this. “I thought he only has a daughter.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Danny’s
his name,” Miss Chee says. “He was one
of my first students. A bright student
at that.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Yes,
we had a long talk at that New Year party,” Nathan says. “Danny’s a good boy with a good job.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Good
boy, ha!” Mrs. Koh says. “Ever since he
became a big shot at the bank, he certainly acts like one—living in town and
wasting money paying extra rent. What
for? A good boy would stay at home and
help his father pay the bills, especially the way Veronica gambles and throws
away money on Lily. Always buying her
the latest styles.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “At
least Veronica works,” Koh says.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Mrs.
Koh twitches her nose. “Her food isn’t
much to talk about. So bland! And she’s always asking for advance
money. Why can’t her son give her some
of <i>his</i> money? Huh?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “I
wish my elder two sons would settle down and find good jobs like that,” Ramli says. “Before I was twenty, I had a job, a house
and a wife! Back in those days, boys had
more responsibilities.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “It
sure would be nice if your sons stopped racing up and down the street,” Mrs.
Koh says. “The noise is deafening!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “See! See!
That’s what happens when grown boys stay at home!” Ramli says, raising his
arms in surrender. “They get
restless! Only a wife will settle them
down. A wife and a job will teach them
some responsibilities. If you ask me,
Johnny had it too easy. Too easy. He has a working wife and only two
children. One living on his own at
that. Look at me, six of them, and a
mother-in law at home! You don’t see me
committing suicide, do you?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Mrs.
Koh stares past Nathan’s shoulder to one of the houses further up the street. “Who’s
playing that—that thing, anyway?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “It’s
a saxophone,” Koh says. He fingers his
mole hair and listens more closely.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Mrs.
Koh says, “People shouldn’t play those things unless they already know how!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “If
he doesn’t practice,” Koh says, “how can he know how? When I was a boy, I had an old trumpet and would
practice <i>all day</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Koh
smiles to himself and closes his eyes, remembering.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Ramli
strains his neck to see around the others.
“Look, here comes Veronica.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> All
of them turn to look.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Veronica
and Lily are walking side by side, each carrying several plastic bags.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Koh
turns to his wife. “Looks like they
didn’t go gambling, only shopping.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Mrs.
Koh twitches her nose in defiance and peers around their car to get a better
look.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Miss
Chee asks, “Think she knows about Johnny?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Mrs.
Koh shakes her head. “I bet she was too
busy spending all her money on that daughter of hers to know anything.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “If
you ask me,” Ramli says, “Johnny had it too easy. Too easy.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “I
hope they don’t move,” Miss Chee says.
“Lily is my best student.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Don’t
even mention it,” Nathan says, “or I’ll lose two more patients.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Of
course they’ll move,” Mrs. Koh says.
“Wouldn’t <i>you</i> move if your husband commits suicide in your <i>own</i>
home?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “I’m
not married,” Miss Chee replies, glancing at Tan.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Hey,
what time is it?” Koh asks. “There’s a
football match I want to watch!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Oh
my, it’s going on one,” Nathan says, glancing at the time. “I haven’t had my lunch yet. No wonder I feel hungry.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “I
got to run-<i>lah</i>,” Koh says, and
hurries next door.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Tan
asks, “Who’s going to tell Veronica?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> Miss
Chee looks down at her dog, and Ramli and Nathan both shrug as they return to
their respective terrace houses.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> “Not
me,” Mrs. Koh says, anxious to leave before Veronica and Lily arrive at their
gate. “It’s none of <i>my</i> business.”</span></p>
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<span lang="EN-US"># # #</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">*</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Here is link to a recent Google Meet with students at UiTM-Penang during</span><a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2020/05/neighbours-google-meet-with-uitmpenang.html" style="font-size: 12pt;"> a Q-and-A session about "Neighbours"</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> and the motivation of the various characters and why I ended the story where I did. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">**<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2008/08/story-behind-story-lovers-and-strangers.html">“Neighbours:The Story Behind the Story</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
***<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/01/neighbors-suicide-and-making-choices-or.html"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Neighbors:</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/01/neighbors-suicide-and-making-choices-or.html">A Suicide and Making Choices or How to Turn Your Story into the Right Story</a> </span><br />
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Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-30138674552427039222019-01-09T05:26:00.001-08:002020-04-16T01:44:52.977-07:00My interview with Chuah Guat Eng is in Blue Lotus 16<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t-bcG2VNrRg/XDX0A_lTAmI/AAAAAAAABQI/kLRfgKo0eUMWF2MrS_kvQF-64SXAHq-pwCLcBGAs/s1600/49726473_325962388012843_3430368814284406784_n.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="960" height="282" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t-bcG2VNrRg/XDX0A_lTAmI/AAAAAAAABQI/kLRfgKo0eUMWF2MrS_kvQF-64SXAHq-pwCLcBGAs/s400/49726473_325962388012843_3430368814284406784_n.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">My interview with Chuah Guat Eng, author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Echoes of Silence</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Days
of Change</i>, is in <a href="https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/62313886/the-blue-lotus-16">Blue Lotus 16,</a> 2019, pages 8-25. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Originally I had blogged about <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/10/interview-chuah-guat-eng-robert-raymer.html">our interview</a> in October 2018. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_PHg0VU8QIY/XDX01seFXrI/AAAAAAAABQQ/4IRLflxKRwAVI_R2ibMESrvlMGSYhP5YgCLcBGAs/s1600/49739297_774623729543871_3876037130840965120_n.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="678" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_PHg0VU8QIY/XDX01seFXrI/AAAAAAAABQQ/4IRLflxKRwAVI_R2ibMESrvlMGSYhP5YgCLcBGAs/s320/49739297_774623729543871_3876037130840965120_n.png" width="225" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">My
other interviews with Preeta Samarasan, author of <i>Evening is the Whole
Day</i>, was published in <a href="https://issuu.com/martinabradley/docs/the_blue_lotus_12">Blue Lotus 12</a>, Ivy Ngeow, <i>Cry of the Flying Rhino</i>, in </span><a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/04/"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Blue Lotus 13</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> and Golda Mowe, author of <i>Iban Dream</i> and <i>Iban Journey, </i>in<i> <a href="https://issuu.com/martinabradley/docs/the_blue_lotus_15">Blue Lotus 15</a> </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Links to the other blog interviews </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">with first novelists: </span></div>
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<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-ivy-ngeow-robert-raymer-chats.html"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ivy Ngeow</span></a><span lang="EN-MY" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> author of <i>Cry of the Flying Rhino,</i></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-golda-mowe-robert-raymer.html"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Golda Mowe</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> author
of <i>Iban Dream</i> and <i>Iban Journey</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/01/interview-preeta-samarasan-robert.html"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Preeta Samarasan</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> author
of <i>Evening is the Whole Day</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Also, </span><b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/interview-malachi-edwin-vethamani.html">Malachi Edwin Vethamani</a>, author of <i>Complicated Lives</i> and <i>Life Happens</i>.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Five
part </span><a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefilmed-for.html"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Maugham and Me
series</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">—Borneo
Expat Writer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-68561808516020137392019-01-03T05:59:00.000-08:002019-07-18T05:35:12.761-07:00My interview with Golda Mowe is in Blue Lotus 15<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4VBBXpKcaNY/XC4NfX8YJVI/AAAAAAAABP0/LAeoJuBGJNcjuxl9nzuo_5aoheoh9JGowCLcBGAs/s1600/49338680_305981353363164_7399285278621302784_n.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="960" height="282" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4VBBXpKcaNY/XC4NfX8YJVI/AAAAAAAABP0/LAeoJuBGJNcjuxl9nzuo_5aoheoh9JGowCLcBGAs/s400/49338680_305981353363164_7399285278621302784_n.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br />
My interview with Golda Mowe, author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Iban
Dreams </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Iban Journey</i>, and the new sequel <i>Iban Woman,</i> is in
<a href="https://issuu.com/martinabradley/docs/the_blue_lotus_15">Blue Lotus 15</a>, 2018, pages 8-21.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Originally I had blogged about <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/11/interview-golda-mowe-robert-raymer.html">our interview </a>in 2017.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e0_hWw7fwPA/XC4LE_OmT4I/AAAAAAAABPo/vE5pPzo2aukKikPUdBxstgujzs9smd-_gCLcBGAs/s1600/49325791_229047921309157_5422795235136634880_n.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="675" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e0_hWw7fwPA/XC4LE_OmT4I/AAAAAAAABPo/vE5pPzo2aukKikPUdBxstgujzs9smd-_gCLcBGAs/s320/49325791_229047921309157_5422795235136634880_n.png" width="225" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">My
other interviews with Preeta Samarasan, author of <i>Evening is the Whole
Day</i>, was published in <a href="https://issuu.com/martinabradley/docs/the_blue_lotus_12">Blue Lotus 12</a>
and Ivy Ngeow, <i>Cry of the Flying Rhino</i>, in <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/04/">Blue Lotus 13</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Other interviews with first novelists include:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/10/interview-chuah-guat-eng-robert-raymer.html">Chuah Guat Eng</a>, author of <i>Echoes of Silence</i> and <i>Days of Change. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Along with<i>: </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-ivy-ngeow-robert-raymer-chats.html">Ivy
Ngeow</a></span><span lang="EN-MY" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> author of <i>Cry
of the Flying Rhino,</i></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-golda-mowe-robert-raymer.html">Golda
Mowe</a> author of <i>Iban Dream</i> and <i>Iban Journey</i>.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/01/interview-preeta-samarasan-robert.html">Preeta Samarasan</a> author
of <i>Evening is the Whole Day</i>. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Also, </span><b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/interview-malachi-edwin-vethamani.html">Malachi Edwin Vethamani</a>, author of <i>Complicated Lives</i> and <i>Life Happens</i>.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Five part <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefilmed-for.html">Maugham
and Me series</a></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">—Borneo Expat Writer</span></div>
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Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-30846147372135096552018-10-17T01:04:00.001-07:002019-07-18T03:25:46.755-07:00INTERVIEW CHUAH GUAT ENG: Robert Raymer Chats with Malaysian Author Chuah Guat Eng on Writing and Publishing her Novels<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
first met Chuah Guat Eng, if I’m not mistaken, when Sharon Bakar invited both
of us to read our respective work at a Reading@Seksan event in Kuala Lumpur in
2009. I had also picked up a signed copy
of her first novel, <i>Echoes of Silence</i>
(1994, 2008), which has the distinction of being the first novel written in
English by a Malaysian woman. Her </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">second novel, <i>Days of Change</i>
(2010), a sequel, made the long list for </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">International Dublin Literary Award in
2012. She is currently working on <i>Whispers of Truth</i>, her third novel that
continues the series.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guat Eng read English Literature at University
of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, German Literature at Ludwig-Maximilian University
Munich, Germany, and received a Ph.D. in 2008 from the Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia for her thesis, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">From Conflict to
Insight: A Zen-based Reading Procedure for the Analysis of Fiction</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at
Universiti Putra Malaysia from January 2011 to March 2013, focusing on
Malaysian novels in English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Currently
she teaches part-time at University of Nottingham Malaysia and at the Faculty
of Cinematic Arts, Multimedia University Johor on subjects related to
literature and creative writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">She has also published three collections of
short stories, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tales from the Baram River</i>
(2001), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Old House and Other Stories</i>
(2008), and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dream Stuff</i> (2014). </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Praise for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Echoes of Silence…<o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">‘…an
intellectual as well as a tender novel about
love…entertaining...intelligent…well-crafted…’ – T. Dorall, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New Straits Times</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">‘…more
postmodern than at first appears…the most accomplished Malaysian novel to date,
a new and cultured voice…’ – Jun Mo, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Far
Eastern Economic Review</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“In
March 1970, as a direct result of the May 1969 racial riots, I left
Malaysia.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus begins <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Echoes of Silence</i>, the story of Lim Ai
Lian, a Chinese Malaysian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
studying in Germany, she falls in love with Michael Templeton, an English
gentleman brought up in the district of Ulu Banir, where his father, Jonathan
Templeton, owns a plantation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
trying to solve a murder, Ai Lian, learns about racial prejudice, truth and
deception, womanhood and love, and how past silences can echo into the present.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your self-published novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Echoes of Silence</i> is often cited as the
first novel written in English by a Malaysian woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since then there have been several others,
including Preeta Samarasan’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Evening is
the Whole Day</i> and Bernice Chauly’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Once
We Were There</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Self-publishing
a novel nowadays, even via e-book, often makes financial sense for a number of
writers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some have even landed a traditional
publisher because of their self-publishing success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What made you decide to self-publish your
first novel in 1994?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And your second
novel in 2010?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What have you gained and
what had you lost, if anything, in choosing to self-publish your work? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guat Eng</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1994, I couldn’t find a single publisher
based in Malaysia interested in publishing novels; all major publishers (e.g.
Heinemann) had either shut down or severely curtailed their Malaysian
operations, perhaps because of political unrest as well as the extremely
restrictive Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of the UK and US publishers I approached,
only two responded, one from each country. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both wrote glowingly about the parts that have
to do with the colonial past but couldn’t see the point of the parts about
contemporary Malaysia. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both suggested I
rewrite the novel focusing only on the colonial past, the Japanese Occupation,
and the Emergency. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since I saw no point
in writing that kind of novel, I chose to self-publish – not because I wanted
to see my name in print, but because I already knew I was going to write a
sequel and feared that if I didn’t have the first one printed and out of the
way, I would be fiddling with it until Doomsday – like Mr. Casaubon in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Middlemarch</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
2001, I accepted an offer by a local, well-established publishing house to
publish my collection of retold Sarawak animal stories, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tales from the Baram River</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was such a bad experience – they gave me 10 complimentary copies and thereafter
never responded to my queries about sales and royalties – that I’ve
self-published all my fiction ever since.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What
have I gained? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mainly peace of mind. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But also the joy of working on the production
– discussing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fonts, layout, type of
paper, and so on – with my choice of desktop artists and printers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the sense of achievement from
successfully promoting and selling my books. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
don’t feel I’ve lost out on anything – at least, not anything that I care
about, since I don’t write and publish for fame and fortune. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My books have generally received favourable
reviews. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Several of them have been used
as texts in universities, and my novels have been the subjects of academic
papers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2015, the National Library of
Malaysia bought 500 copies of<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Dream Stuff</i>
for distribution to their district libraries. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Echoes
of Silence</i> is currently being translated by an Italian publisher for
publication as an e-book to reach the Italian-speaking world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Earlier this year, I’ve had to reprint <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Echoes of Silence</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Old House and Other Stories</i> because
they had sold out and people kept asking for them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am content.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR: Yes, having that control can be rather ideal,
especially when your book goes out of print and the publisher is reluctant to
print another edition or they get taken over by another publisher. Heinemann Asia (Singapore), which had
originally published my collection of short stories <i>Lovers and Strangers</i>, had been bought out twice in fairly short
order and dropped their entire fiction line to concentrate on business-related
books.</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
both of your books did you work with an outside editor or rely on your own
editing skills?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guat Eng</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">: I’ve always
edited and proof-read my books myself. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Professor
Quayum of the International Islamic University Malaysia offered to edit <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Old House</i> when it was first
published; his only complaint was that I had left him nothing to do. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t say I’ve ever wished I had used the
services of an editor. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It sounds like
arrogance, but it isn’t. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just feel
strongly that if the book gets a bad review or is universally disliked, I want
to be able to hold myself – and no one else – accountable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hired an American editor to rip apart my
first book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lovers and Strangers</i>, long
after it had been successfully published, when I had an opportunity to revisit
the stories for another publisher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like
most writers, I have blind spots; also what may seem clear to a Malaysian
reader, might be confusing to someone who has never visited Malaysia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A detailed critique made me reconsider adding
another scene or a flashback or a back story or extending the story beyond the
original ending – some stories doubled in length, </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-MY" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">which I blogged
about in the series <a href="http://thestorybehindthestoryoflsr.blogspot.com/2009/06/on-fridays-story-behind-story-of-lovers.html">The Story Behind the Story</a>. </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My efforts
were rewarded when it won the Popular Reader’s Choice Award and was translated
into French.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Setting aside your ego to
have someone critique your published work, let alone your first or second or
third draft, is a humbling process.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Do
you recommend that young Malaysian writers or writers no matter their age
consider self-publishing their fiction today, which seems more acceptable and
common place than in the past?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A common
lament is that most self-published books tend to lack rigorous (let alone)
basic editing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other than, perhaps, working
with an editor (ideally one with suitable publishing experience, especially
if you’re writing fiction), what else would you advise those wishing to
self-publish in today’s market?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guat Eng</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wouldn’t recommend self-publishing to just
anyone, least of all young writers. Self-publishing is essentially a business
enterprise, and those who want to take that route should have some
entrepreneurial experience, inclination and/or skills. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone can get a book printed. The hard part
is planning and managing its distribution, marketing, promotion, and sales – as
every publisher knows.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My advice for seeking a <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/11/publishing-books-in-malaysia-and.html">local publisher in Malaysia or Singapore</a> is to make sure you know what you are getting into.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Google the publisher and also look for
complaints; far too many writers think they have signed with a legitimate
publisher but failed to read the fine print and had to fork over hefty fees and
the editing was non-existent. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole
experience was horrible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you can’t
find their books in a bookstore, that’s often a big clue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also make sure you understand the royalty
structure, or you might end up with a handful of copies and nothing else other
than excuses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ideally contact some of
their published writers and ask, off the record, their experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they’re getting a raw deal, they will tell
you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They may even recommend another
publisher, one you hadn’t even considered, based on the experience of their
own writing friends, which led me to <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2007/12/networking-to-new-book.html">MPH and a two book deal</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">How
did you end up studying German Literature at Ludwig-Maximilian University in
Munich?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How has that experience of
studying literature and living in another culture, one quite different from
Malaysia, benefited you as a writer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How
long were you away?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guat Eng</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I learned German as an undergraduate in
University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur and at the Goethe Institute (GI) in my
postgraduate years. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1970, I was given
a GI scholarship to study for the Major Diploma in German Language and Culture in
Germany, first in Murnau and then in Munich. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few months after the sessions in Munich began,
I got so bored that I (rather cheekily) asked the Director if I could attend
lectures at the nearby university instead, but still sit for my GI diploma exam
at the same time as my classmates. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To my
surprise and undying gratitude, he arranged for me to get a DAAD (German
Academic Exchange) scholarship. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the
rest of my three years in Germany, I attended lectures, seminars and tutorials
on German literature as a regular student of the prestigious Ludwig-Maximilian
University, but was allowed to sit for and obtain the GI Major Diploma in
German Language and Culture. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
a writer, the most obvious benefit of my stay in Germany is that I could use
Munich as the setting for the beginning of the romance between Lim Ai Lian and
Michael Templeton in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Echoes of Silence</i>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was, for me, the perfect setting. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only because I had firsthand knowledge of
the places I mentioned; but, more importantly, because </span><span lang="EN-MY" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Munich is vital to </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">a major theme</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span lang="EN-MY">embedded in the narration of their relationship; namely, the post-1969
non-Malay Malaysian’s feeling of disempowerment due to no longer being able to
claim any place on earth as their homeland. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In Munich, where they are both strangers
but where Ai Lian feels slightly superior because she has been there longer, her
self-confidence allows her to be </span><span lang="EN-MY" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">confident of
Michael’s love for her. However, in London and Ulu Banir, where Michael is at
home but where she feels like an outsider, her loss of self-confidence causes
her to question the sincerity of his love, his morals, and his trustworthiness
as a human being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">My
immersion in German language, literature, literary traditions, art and music has
benefited me as a writer in other, subtler and more profound, ways; as have my
travels both within Germany and to other European countries. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps the most significant benefit is that I
liberated myself from the Anglo-American influences that had coloured so much
of my upbringing and earlier education. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
left Europe with a clearer, surer awareness of my historical and cultural
identity as a Malaysian – an awareness that has influenced all my writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All writers, ideally, should live overseas
for an extended stay—a year or two, at least; you gain so much more perspective
about the world at large and about your own country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You view it differently, for better or
worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More importantly, you no longer
take things for granted, and you often come away with a deeper understanding and
better appreciation for your own roots. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You referenced ‘May
1969’….Your opening line in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Echoes of
Silence </i>states matter-of-factly, “In March 1970, as a direct result of the
May 1969 racial riots, I left Malaysia.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yet it seemed to me that you wrote very little about it or how it had
affected the main character or her family directly or indirectly other than her
“leaving Malaysia”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a watershed
moment, so even her returning to Malaysia should have been emotionally difficult,
so I was expecting a flashback scene or a long reflection about what had
actually happened to her or her family (or even a distant relative)… <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guat Eng</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> about the psychological impact of the May 1969 racial riots and
its repercussions all the way down to 1994, when the main narrator begins her
story….Those who have no memory or experience of life in Malaysia during and
after May 1969 tend to imagine there was violence all over the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The truth – based on personal experience,
various official accounts written after the event, as well as unofficial
accounts gathered from friends and acquaintances who had personally witnessed the
violence, or whose friends and acquaintances had fallen victim to it – is that
the riots were concentrated in a few places, mainly in KL. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the majority who lived outside the
immediately affected areas (and even those who, like me, lived in KL at that
time) the reality was first the shock of a total media blackout, and then the
slow seepage of news about a curfew. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
short, we saw no violence, not even on TV. We learned about the violence and
its inter-ethnic nature from hearsay. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
we were mainly concerned with how to overcome the everyday problems caused by
the curfews, making sure we stored up enough food and never got caught out of
doors during curfew hours. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
may ask why, since I was writing in 1994, I didn’t do the necessary research so
that I could satisfy readers who want to see their imagined reality confirmed
by fiction. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The simple answer is that I
wasn’t interested in creating more imagined realities. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was interested in recreating the “felt”
reality of the psychological violence done to us by the “blanket of silence”
(to use my main character’s phrase) cast over all of us: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not just the tightly controlled media but also
the laws prohibiting gatherings of more than five people, the spreading of
rumours, and the raising of “sensitive issues”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last prohibition was the most devastating;
the term “sensitive issues” was never properly defined, which meant that no one
could find closure because no one dared to speak about anything to do with the
riots, race relations, and the fact that those responsible for the violence
were never identified and brought to justice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR: During
Operation Lalang in 1987, my ex-wife was a reporter for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New Straits Times</i>, so we were very aware of those restrictions, and
how vague they were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anything could be
misconstrued as racial bias or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sensitive</i>,
even when writing about something as innocent as hawker food in Penang.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you happen to mention “Malay” and the word
“pork” too close together, there you go…</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guat Eng</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As you
may know, the post-1969 emergency laws were never repealed even after we
returned to parliamentary rule and, starting with the curtailing of the
autonomy of institutions of higher learning (Universities and Colleges Act
1974), the ensuing two decades saw a progressive tightening of pre-existing
laws prohibiting and inhibiting freedom of speech and information, increasing
episodes of repressive police action (e.g. Operation Lalang in 1987) against
political opponents and the media, Constitutional amendments diminishing the check-and-balance
power of the traditional rulers, and – to top it all – executive interventions
in the justice processes that undermined the independence of the judiciary, all
of which enabled the ruling party’s rampant acts of corruption to be hushed up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Writing</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Echoes of Silence</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">in
1994, </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">the main questions I found myself asking were: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why have we, the citizens of the country, accepted
these further assaults on truth, justice, and rule of law since May 1969? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Is it because we have been
psychologically impaired by the post-riot blanket of silence that denied us the
means to find closure? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it because of </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">the perceptions of authority we have inherited from
our pre-colonial and colonial past? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or
is it our various cultures and our individual psychology that make us willing
to accept and even actively contribute to the silences – the misinformation,
disinformation, and the withholding of information – that frustrate the quest
for truth and justice? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what are the
psychological effects of being party, voluntary or otherwise, to this </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">stifling of
truth and this extinguishing of the healing light of justice</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Given the multiplicity of punitive laws (e.g. the
Sedition Act and the Internal Security Act) against freedom of thought, speech,
and publications in 1994, I couldn’t have written openly and directly about
such issues. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I made use of the murder
mystery form for my exploration. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks for clarifying that….I read in a book
review about your interest of narratology – the study of narratives and
narrative structures and how they affect our perception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to Jonathan Culler (2001) “narrative
theory requires a distinction between ‘story’, a sequence of actions or events
conceived as independent of their manifestation in discourse, and ‘discourse’,
the discursive presentation or narration of events.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can you elaborate on how your interest in
narratology affects you as a writer or even as a reader? (No doubt very similar
to how someone’s interest in cinematography affects how they view films.)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guat Eng</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-MY" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I define narratology
as a study of anything that has to do with narration, or creating a narrative. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not a fixed “Literary Theory” but an
ongoing discourse on the theorization and systematization of critical terms for
the analysis of narratives. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
narratologists do, essentially, is they identify, describe, define, and give
names to the various narrative techniques authors use – “point-of-view”,
“focalisation”, “free indirect discourse” – so that literary scholars have a
vocabulary that can be used as a tool for analysis as well as a common language
for discourse. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vocabulary is
constantly evolving and expanding because as narratologists encounter new
writers, especially non-Western ones who have their own literary traditions,
whose narrative techniques do not find a perfect fit in existing concepts and
terms (e.g. “magic realism”), they may find a need to describe, define, and
give names to these uncommon narrative techniques. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-MY" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I first came across the term “narratology” while I was
working on my PhD in the early 2000s, but soon realized its value: it makes me
more knowledgeable about the techniques I had been vaguely aware of as a reader
and had been applying intuitively as a writer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For instance, I discovered the difference
between “story” and “plot” between the ages of 10 and 11. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first attempt at writing a story fizzled
out because I got bored with having to think up one episode after another. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A year later, I spontaneously told a story in
class that had a beginning, middle and end centred on a single issue. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Proof that I was on the right track came some
years later: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I rewrote it as a radio
play, sent it to the Education section of (then) Radio Malaya, and received 30
dollars for it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that intuition-led
experience did not crystallize into knowledge until I read E. M. Forster’s
definitions of “story” and “plot” in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aspects
of the Novel</i>, and that crystal of knowledge did not become refined until I
read what narratologists have to say on the subject. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-MY" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As a reader, I’ve always seen patterns, structures,
and underlying meanings in books. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
can’t explain why. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may have something
to do with my childhood obsession with deciphering codes and solving puzzles,
and the fact that I learned Latin in secondary school. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These analytical tendencies were enhanced at
university by my study of English Literature, fine-tuned by my study of German
Literature, and given new spaces to play in through my research on Asian narratology
and theories of fiction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I too studied Latin in high school for two
years and it had a tremendous impact on my English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I enjoyed the logic of the language and its
grammar and wished I had studied it for four years, but switched to French,
something I’m terrible at; I was too embarrassed to even attempt it when
visiting France while backpacking around Europe.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Do you think
some writers try too hard to be clever at the expense of the story; therefore,
their writing or the story suffers?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is
there a perfect balance between story and structure?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or can structure, in fact, make or define the
story, if not elevate it to something truly special?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guat Eng</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-MY" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As a
critic and teacher of fiction-writing, I do often encounter</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> writers who try
too hard to be clever at the expense of the story. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I also find that their stories suffer
not because they use structure but because they either use it badly or neglect
it altogether. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Speaking generally, I
find that when writers try too hard, it’s usually because their ego gets in the
way of the story. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some try to show how
clever they are with words, allowing their infatuation with the sounds of words
to master them when they should be exerting mastery over the precise meanings
of words to tell a story. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others try to
show how clever they are by aiming only to end their stories with a witty, unexpected,
or sensational twist – nearly always at the expense of structure and plot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always hated that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why ruin a good story with a horrible ending?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would tell my creative writing students,
you had an “A” going until you wrote that final paragraph or that final line –
which had nothing to do with the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They just pulled it out of hat to trick you!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The internal logic of the story (and
structure) must hold up until the end!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guat Eng</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a writer, I find (as I did when I was 10
years old) that </span><span lang="EN-MY" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I can’t make headway with a
narrative unless I have a structure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
not saying it’s the only way to write; I’m saying that it’s the only way <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I</i> can write. Structure (i.e. the way I
organise the different parts of my “story”) helps me to clarify and define my
discourses (i.e. the issues I’m problematizing). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ever since I read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Northanger Abbey</i> at age 14, I have been intrigued by the potential
of novels to poke fun at humanity’s willingness to confuse the imagined and the
real. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From my (much later) study of Zen,
I learned that a similar intent underlies the tongue-in-cheek narrative
techniques of much of Asian “wisdom” literature (which is what gives them the
“postmodern” flavour noted by many Western contemporary scholars). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is natural for me to want to write fiction
that tends towards the deconstructive and the metafictional, and to look to
Asian wisdom literature for the scaffoldings I need for my structures. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my novels, these Asian frameworks allow me
to work historical breadth, cultural depth, and additional layers of meaning into
my metafictional discourses with an economy that I find aesthetically pleasing –
simply because they make my creative/writing process so exhilaratingly
challenging.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-MY" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My own introduction to Asian
writing came from a course in Japanese and Chinese studies and from reading the
required novels before I traveled to both countries in 1980.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another text that I found enlightening was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Literature of the Eastern World</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just being aware that there are many ways to
tell a story (and stories that can be told about almost anything, including
gourds and silkworms) and to experiment in structure and viewpoint (as I did in
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lovers and Strangers Revisited</i>) to
find the most effective way to tell your story or to get to a deeper story is a
great way to grow as a writer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It forces
you out of your comfort zone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have
to read widely, though, just to be aware what is out there – Western and
Eastern!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes you have to write the
story/novel chronologically first before you can restructure the scenes, so it
would all make sense, even in reverse order as Preeta Samarasan did quite
successfully in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Evening is the Whole Day,
</i>which was discussed during <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/01/interview-preeta-samarasan-robert.html">a recent interview</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Guat Eng</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">:
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-MY" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY;">Read at
one level, </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Echoes of Silence</span></i><span lang="EN-MY" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY;"> is simply
a murder mystery. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But by </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">using a structure based on an
adaptation of the Mahabharata structure, </span><span lang="EN-MY" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY;">I was
able to </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">plot my
story as an interiorized dialectical discourse spanning three time zones
(present, recent past, and distant past). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The narration, while taking the reader back
and forth between present and pasts, reveals the occurrence of parallel
episodes of violence, silencing of truth, and miscarriages of justice in each
time zone; and these parallels </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: windowtext; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">indirectly comment on one another
through their thematic resonances and dissonances. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">The experiment in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Days of Change</i> was somewhat different. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this memoir-like narrative, my amnesiac
narrator uses the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Ching</i> to trigger the
recovery of lost memories. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within the
seemingly neat 64-day framework of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I
Ching</i>, the memories are not recalled and recorded in chronological order –
deliberately so, because on one level (the fiction-as-mimesis level), the
intention is to simulate the messy and capricious way memory works. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But on another level (the metafictional level),
the smooth-flowing and even polished prose style of the narration shines a
light on the “fiction-making” way the narrator attempts to clean up confusions,
re-order events, and fill gaps left by that most unreliable of narrators,
memory. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus structured and written as a
proto-memoir, the novel serves to subvert the faithful-to-memory truth claims of
historians and autobiographers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">I will be
the first to acknowledge that most (or all) of my readers will never perceive
the crafting that is so much a part of my writing process, and therefore never
fully appreciate what I’m trying to do and say. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some may find the narratives confusing and
think I’m trying to be too clever by half. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But not being understood is the nature of the
literary beast, and as long as my readers find my works enjoyable at the
“story” level, I’m not going to worry about being fully understood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s always the risk...of not being
understood, or being misunderstood, or being accused of purposely muddying
your own story to make it opaque or overly literary, thus losing your readers
in the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many so called “great”
books are said to be unreadable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Finnegans
Wake, </span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">anyone?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gravity's
Rainbow<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">I once read<i> Moby-Dick</i></span> until 50 pages from the end
and just gave up – I just didn’t care anymore if Captain Ahab got the whale or
not! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great, epic story, but tedious to a
fault, </span>bogged down with endless mundane details about the whaling
industry.<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Years later, I finally went back and finished
it – I won’t spoil the ending.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In a recent interview
you said, “Wisdom, for me, means the understanding that every individual has
his or her own concept of truth, his or her own story to tell; and we must somehow
make space in our hearts and minds for all these concepts and stories without,
however, getting caught up in them.” Could you elaborate, especially in this
era of Trump, Fake News, and ‘alternative facts’ about how to avoid “getting
caught up in them”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We (at least in the
US) seem to be drowning in everyone’s concept of truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or is it even possible to keep straight all
of the shifting narratives, let alone all of the political or personal spins
upon spins with the so-called truth as to what really happened. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or the actual truth or even the agreed-upon
truth as to what, in fact, did take place?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Or should we even bother in the realistic fear that it will, sooner or
later, drive us all crazy – even for us expats living in Borneo?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe what we need to do is pick up a good
novel so we can lose ourselves in the narrative truth of the story...or just
keep working on the inherent truth of our own creation and let it speak for
itself…<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guat Eng</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zen philosophers have many ways to deal with
the issues you mention. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would take
too long to go into the various methods they recommend as means of
distinguishing the imagined from the real. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But one doesn’t have to be a Zen philosopher
to ask the many kinds of questions offered in everyday discourse as means to
distinguish real from fake news: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does
this make sense? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who’s saying this? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which news media is responsible for this
report? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s their agenda? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s the other side of the story? What are
the political and geopolitical circumstances that might give rise to such an
action or statement? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ah, Kipling’s six honest serving men will
always get you to the truth!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guat Eng</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems to me there is no lack of probing questions
that one may ask. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is lacking is
usually the will to ask those questions and the determination to find the
answers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most people just find it easier
to believe whatever their favourite politician or news media says, and close
their minds to the idea that there is always another side to the story and another
way of looking at things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Looking for the truth with an open mind
is hard work; here’s how Gautama Buddha describes the hard work one has to do before
one accepts even <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">his</i> teachings: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As the wise test gold by burning,
cutting and examining by means of a touchstone, so should you accept my words
after examining them and not merely out of regard and reverence for me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Most of your professional life was spent in
the corporate world as both a writer and as a creative and communications
consultant, specialising in the development of strategies for advertising and
promotional campaigns, corporate brand building programmes….How has this
benefited you as a writer or in developing your own brand as a writer?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guat Eng</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The corporate world taught me many things
that were and remain valuable to me as a fiction writer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably the most important is
self-discipline: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>meeting deadlines, managing
time, and the sheer teeth-gritting doggedness of writing even when I don’t feel
like writing instead of waiting for inspiration. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most enduring lessons relate to the art
and craft of ego-less writing: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to take
myself out of the narrative, to draw my readers in and engage them, to make
every word count, to communicate and inform, and never to show off. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most useful for me as a self-published
writer are the technical aspects of producing a printed text: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>reader-friendly fonts and spacing, page
layouts, paper choices, different types of binding and so on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Apart
from the fact that I am conscious of my Malaysian identity and am not prepared
to exoticize myself or my stories simply to appeal to Western and Westernized
readers, I am not conscious of developing my own brand as a writer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly, before I worked on my first novel,
I studied the market. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did research on
the types of novel being written by other Malaysian writers (there were only a
handful at that time), their subject matter, and their writing styles. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I checked out what kind of novels most
English-literate readers were willing to buy and read. Based on the research, I
decided what genre I should write in and who my primary target readers would
be. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But apart from the times when I am
launching a new book, I don’t spend a lot of time promoting myself or my
writings. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I only give readings and/or
talk about my books when I’m invited to do so. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I depend mostly on the goodwill and
word-of-mouth recommendations of friends and acquaintances to sell my books. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">You
were once a guest speaker at the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival in
Bali.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tell us about your experience and
why you feel writers must make an attempt to attend these literary festivals (or
not).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are the drawbacks, if
any?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any plans to return to Ubud in the
future or to any other upcoming literary events?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guat Eng</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was invited to the 2014 Ubud Writers & Readers
Festival….If there were any drawbacks, I no longer remember….All I remember
now is that I had a great time, made some new friends, and sold some books. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found the whole event very well organized,
loved my accommodations, and apart from some confusion over transport on the
first day, really have nothing to complain about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s
a good festival to go to for book launches, networking, and self-promotion,
which is what such festivals are designed for, and I would certainly recommend
it to anyone who has such intentions and aims. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But even if one didn’t have such intentions,
or, like me, were not much good at networking and socializing, Ubud is
definitely worth going to. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
programme allowed time for my own explorations, which I took as much advantage
of as I could. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The highlights of my
visit were the connections I made with the locals and Indonesians from other
islands, who took me to the art and craft museums. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The local people are very friendly; the most
memorable parts of my stay there are the chats I had with the taxi drivers,
especially the one who drove me to the airport for my return flight, who, as an
artist in his own right, gave me an insider view of the life of local artists
and the state of the local art. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
never attend literary festivals and similar events unless I’m invited, but always
accept invitations when my schedule permits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RR: For me, attending a conference is just a
great experience all the way around, whether it’s speaking on a panel at a
conference in Kuala Lumpur or attending a major conference on my own dime in
Hawaii – just to be around other writers.
It was definitely worth the investment when I attended the Maui Writers
Conference in 2006, which had about a thousand people from all over the US and then
me coming from Malaysia. You’re from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">where</i>? Meeting Pulitzer-Prize-winning writers, Oscar-winning
screenwriters, award-winning novelists, plus editors from major publishing
houses and literary agents from New York (I attended several pitching
sessions) and then listening to their experience, their advice, and picking up
signed copies of their books….Quite heady experience. <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2010/04/maui-inner-circle-graham-brown-author.html">Graham Brown</a>, one of the unpublished </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">writers that I hung
out with, met his agent at another conference and sold two novels and then
co-wrote some books with Clive Cussler, proving making-face-face-contact can be
invaluable, so long as you have the goods to back it up. </span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Attending a
conference overseas can be expensive, but if you book low cost flights early, take
advantage of early-bird specials, split accommodation and car rental (if necessary)
with other writers (I contacted the organizer in Maui and they found me someone
with the same idea), or tie it to a planned vacation or a business trip or stay
with a relative or friend living in the area...it can be done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you do this too often, you can also go
broke, so choose your conferences wisely, or find a way to get yourself invited
as a guest speaker!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What
advice would you give writers who are struggling to finish (or even seriously
start) their first novel?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Guat Eng</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here are 5 tips:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> 1. Don’t
talk about it, do it.</span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> 2. </span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Set
a time-table for the completion of first draft of the novel, and organize the
rest of your life around it.</span></div>
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3. Keep
your project a secret. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t keep
showing people bits of your work-in-progress and asking for opinions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You don’t want to be distracted by too many
opinions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen to what your heart (your
innermost self) tells you.</div>
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4. If
you get stuck, it’s probably because you haven’t been listening to your
innermost urgings. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen to what you heart wants you to write. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then write what it tells you to write. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No more. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And no less.</div>
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5. When
the first draft of the whole novel is near completion, start a search for a
good <u>reader</u> (not an editor; that should come later). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If anyone is recommended, check with other
writers who have used their services. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Settle
on the one you can trust to be sensitive to and supportive of what you are doing, willing to give honest and constructive criticism, and able to make reconstructive
suggestions while giving you the leeway to reject the suggestions if you don’t
agree. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yes, be prepared to pay them
in cash for time spent and services rendered.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fuLfydGWntw/XDrzKnK9gkI/AAAAAAAABQ4/Y-NTYi5lnh4lGra331YKe97sdWL3AHr2gCLcBGAs/s1600/49726473_325962388012843_3430368814284406784_n.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="960" height="282" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fuLfydGWntw/XDrzKnK9gkI/AAAAAAAABQ4/Y-NTYi5lnh4lGra331YKe97sdWL3AHr2gCLcBGAs/s400/49726473_325962388012843_3430368814284406784_n.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">*Update:
My interview with Guat Eng has been
published in <a href="https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/62313886/the-blue-lotus-16">Blue Lotus 16</a>, pages 18-25. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Other Interviews with First Novelists:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-ivy-ngeow-robert-raymer-chats.html">Ivy
Ngeow</a></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-MY" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> author of <i>Cry of the Flying Rhino,</i></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> winner of
the 2016 Proverse Prize.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-golda-mowe-robert-raymer.html">Golda
Mowe</a> author of <i>Iban Dream</i> and <i>Iban Journey</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/01/interview-preeta-samarasan-robert.html">PreetaSamarasan</a> author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Evening is the Whole
Day</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Five
part <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefilmed-for.html">Maugham
and Me series</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br />Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-81735653367152511772018-10-12T08:25:00.000-07:002019-07-24T16:05:17.023-07:00Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—Trailers<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SyY5UpryHF0/W8Cr_5rEecI/AAAAAAAABNg/iwS6Ru_NUigowE-m1ZqWeXaVv5WML0CrgCLcBGAs/s1600/D-Road%2Bto%2Bnationhood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1063" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SyY5UpryHF0/W8Cr_5rEecI/AAAAAAAABNg/iwS6Ru_NUigowE-m1ZqWeXaVv5WML0CrgCLcBGAs/s320/D-Road%2Bto%2Bnationhood.jpg" width="314" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
trailers are out for the documentary <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Road
to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed</i> parts I & II that I recently took part
in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recently I had <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/09/beheaded-on-road-to-nationhood-sarawak.html">blogged about being beheaded </a>at the hands of Rentap’s warriors and then portraying the <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/09/getting-killed-on-road-to-nationhood.html">younger Captain Keppel</a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rCeHwRMpNQQ/W5HsH0X1UHI/AAAAAAAABFY/rmB2Sm486QoeViYFYV7BsUuxFupBlxEqACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/2018-08-30%2B20.56.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rCeHwRMpNQQ/W5HsH0X1UHI/AAAAAAAABFY/rmB2Sm486QoeViYFYV7BsUuxFupBlxEqACPcBGAYYCw/s320/2018-08-30%2B20.56.56.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;">Here is the trailer to Part 1</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy7Kc_4G7TwOX8M4gXYcf7vImABkk6n3t_CNb38Eo5X-hTyKD5w1Sf41QLqYMKzgJqaA4z2rsrJF7gSnFBtjA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The
documentary, a Rack Focus Films production, is the Third Season in the highly
successful <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Road
to Nationhood </i>series, and was originally scheduled to be aired 16
September 2018—on Malaysia National Day—on the National Geographic channel,
Astro. Because of some unexpected delays, it was pushed back
until October.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Here are
the times and Astro channels for Part I & II<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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On NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<u>Part 1</u>: 13 October at 8:00 p.m.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Part 2</u>: 14 October at 8:00 p.m.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Repeat
Part I:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>16 October at 10:00 a.m.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part 2: 16 October at 11:00 a.m.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Repeat
Part 1:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>20 October at 4:00 p.m. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part 2:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>21 October at<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>4:00 p.m.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
ASTRO’S PRIMA & MAYA HD<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Part
1</span></u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">:
13 October at 11:00 p.m.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Part 2</u>: 14 October at 9:00 p.m. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
ASTRO’S AWANI<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Part
1</span></u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">:
13 October at 9:00 p.m.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Part 2</u>: 14 October at 9:00 p.m. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
ASTRO’S HELLO<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Part
1</span></u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">:
15 October at 9:00 p.m.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Part 2</u>: 16 October at 9:00 p.m. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Repeat
<u>Part 1</u>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>17 October at 9:00 p.m. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Part 2</u>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>18 October at<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>9:00 p.m.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Repeat
<u>Part 1</u>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>19 October at 4:00 p.m. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Part 2</u>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>19 October at<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>10:00 p.m.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Here is the trailer to part 2:</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dybZuzV_rSsZdR7TojIi4MgrjEwB1golv5jwWm-vF_KRS8ODk8oUfCefwCe8bxmE8zB1bx8x8gjSkZKmGUQUA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WTj-zdckMws/W5HnCnx4Q8I/AAAAAAAABD4/JqazuclPtW0r03n1qJMky2Bac3g5HHY2QCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/2018-08-30%2B20.45.32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WTj-zdckMws/W5HnCnx4Q8I/AAAAAAAABD4/JqazuclPtW0r03n1qJMky2Bac3g5HHY2QCPcBGAYYCw/s320/2018-08-30%2B20.45.32.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ncTVQKs7KLo/W5StZTbt8cI/AAAAAAAABMM/32TaITD8VhEm_-z5yKNAoU8xBjHdRzs_gCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/2018-09-01%2B09.04.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ncTVQKs7KLo/W5StZTbt8cI/AAAAAAAABMM/32TaITD8VhEm_-z5yKNAoU8xBjHdRzs_gCPcBGAYYCw/s320/2018-09-01%2B09.04.52.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Joseph <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/arte-joseph-conrad-and-mesarawaks.html">Conrad and Me</a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 17.12px;">Somerset Maugham and Me</span>—<a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefilmed-for.html">Part I-V</a><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 17.12px;">Beheaded on the Road to Nationhood—<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/09/beheaded-on-road-to-nationhood-sarawak.html">Part I </a></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 17.12px;">Beheaded on the Road to Nationhood—<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/09/getting-killed-on-road-to-nationhood.html">Part II</a> </span></div>
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Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-12557826631615856812018-09-08T23:23:00.000-07:002019-07-24T16:07:44.570-07:00Beheaded on the Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—Part II<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rCeHwRMpNQQ/W5HsH0X1UHI/AAAAAAAABFY/rmB2Sm486QoeViYFYV7BsUuxFupBlxEqACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/2018-08-30%2B20.56.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rCeHwRMpNQQ/W5HsH0X1UHI/AAAAAAAABFY/rmB2Sm486QoeViYFYV7BsUuxFupBlxEqACPcBGAYYCw/s400/2018-08-30%2B20.56.56.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Raymer with Ernesto Kalum as Retap and Iban war party</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">After <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/09/beheaded-on-road-to-nationhood-sarawak.html">being
beheaded as Alan Lee</a> <span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12pt;"> in the
documentary <i>Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed</i> by Rentap
and his war party, my head didn’t hurt, nor was there any swelling, but I
could really feel the pain in my ribs that night—I must’ve bruised
or cracked one when I fell several times while being killed—which made it
difficult for me to sleep.</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /> </span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Back in my twenties, I cracked a couple of ribs after getting kicked in taekwondo,
so I knew there wasn’t a whole lot a doctor could do except X-ray it for
confirmation and give you something for the pain. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They used to wrap your chest but they stopped
doing that decades ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pain was
manageable; it only hurt when I laughed or slept or rose from sitting, so I
opted not to see a doctor, but I did need to repair my black leather
shoes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe from all of the falling or
banging it on the short steps at the Iban Longhouse, the sole in front started
to come off.<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Since I was not needed until Saturday, my big day where I was to play
several characters—the Governor of Singapore; John Brooke, who had been passed
over in favour of Charles Brooke as the second White Rajah; and the younger
version of Captain Henry Keppel, </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">a British
naval officer who had served in the Opium War and assisted the first White
Rajah James Brooke’s campaign against the Borneo pirates and Iban warriors</span><span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">—I had plenty of time to find a shoe cobbler to fix the problem.<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h3>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vSMrPYAs6G0/W5SrONgTsaI/AAAAAAAABKY/BsWq68YyCyQiNEyjtLh_waGqNt75jCykACEwYBhgL/s1600/D-Fendi%2Bans%2Bcrew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vSMrPYAs6G0/W5SrONgTsaI/AAAAAAAABKY/BsWq68YyCyQiNEyjtLh_waGqNt75jCykACEwYBhgL/s400/D-Fendi%2Bans%2Bcrew.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Throughout the day, I kept receiving photos of the shoot being posted on
the WhatsApp Group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some made me pause
and wonder because they looked like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my</i>
scenes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew there had been some
changes on the shooting schedule, so I double checked Friday’s call sheet to make sure my name was not on it.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">I thought, perhaps, I had overlooked it.</span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Late that afternoon, I got a message from Mark to confirm that I needed
transportation for Saturday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then two
hours later, Prisca contacted me and asked if I could drive out to the Sarawak Cultural
Village on my own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seems there was a
problem with the tide for the boat scene and they needed to start shooting a
lot sooner than planned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I needed to be
there by 6:30 am, which meant I had to get up at 4:30 am if I wanted to make
the 50 km journey from my house on time.</span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">My wife told me to
take a new shortcut to Damai, via Pending, the opposite way we normally took,
via Satok; both would head north on the other side of the Sarawak
River. <span style="font-size: 12pt;">Last night it had rained and was still drizzling when I arrived at the
Bidayuh Longhouse, the new base of operations at exactly 6:30 am</span></span>—<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">without getting lost, surprising my wife.</span></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YY4rDZhbtZE/W5SrkblvEVI/AAAAAAAABK0/7Hrtz8OQSmM-qGfGT3yTR4mtTodfymBhwCEwYBhgL/s1600/D-Fort%2Bguards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="809" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YY4rDZhbtZE/W5SrkblvEVI/AAAAAAAABK0/7Hrtz8OQSmM-qGfGT3yTR4mtTodfymBhwCEwYBhgL/s400/D-Fort%2Bguards.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alex and Charles Rentap (real name!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lVj8J6os7cQ/W5Sq9CYUhaI/AAAAAAAABKE/XEfv7mIg3gYhlUP9-ajrNnnDt5SptEupwCEwYBhgL/s1600/D-%2BJohn%2Bmeeting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lVj8J6os7cQ/W5Sq9CYUhaI/AAAAAAAABKE/XEfv7mIg3gYhlUP9-ajrNnnDt5SptEupwCEwYBhgL/s320/D-%2BJohn%2Bmeeting.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I was told that all of the afternoon shoots had
been cancelled, confirming my suspicions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Since</span> yesterday, Friday, was a public holiday, the staff would not be
around at the Bishop’s House, so they decided to create the shots they needed at
the Sarawak Cultural Village using two other Caucasians, the Fort Guards, Alex
and Charles for the Governor of Singapore and John Brooke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h3>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u4D8cWl5P6g/W5Srd-dot2I/AAAAAAAABKw/6s1oYYuGXRco4x9qI--ue-BXZpPwvsg7gCEwYBhgL/s1600/D-Jimmy%2Band%2BUlu%2Blady.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="1080" height="223" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u4D8cWl5P6g/W5Srd-dot2I/AAAAAAAABKw/6s1oYYuGXRco4x9qI--ue-BXZpPwvsg7gCEwYBhgL/s400/D-Jimmy%2Band%2BUlu%2Blady.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hoAHOEOBGss/W5Sr4TYKmbI/AAAAAAAABLE/1UQTx97spKsJ23qjSSNX7bfZaxYy89nHwCEwYBhgL/s1600/D-Gio%2Band%2BMalays.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hoAHOEOBGss/W5Sr4TYKmbI/AAAAAAAABLE/1UQTx97spKsJ23qjSSNX7bfZaxYy89nHwCEwYBhgL/s400/D-Gio%2Band%2BMalays.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DpnegxdzrmM/W5SsNw7c6tI/AAAAAAAABLc/BDPgi8ZCq4Yf5CVxcjYdluJ_EiPO7GksACEwYBhgL/s1600/D-Malays%2Band%2BSwords%2Binside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1008" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DpnegxdzrmM/W5SsNw7c6tI/AAAAAAAABLc/BDPgi8ZCq4Yf5CVxcjYdluJ_EiPO7GksACEwYBhgL/s400/D-Malays%2Band%2BSwords%2Binside.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tjLw-SUoCJs/W5Sr9Kx734I/AAAAAAAABLQ/BGO1ibqZR1MvmvTrcuairWQkWZdQ8r3FQCEwYBhgL/s1600/D-Iban%2Band%2Btwo%2Bflags.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tjLw-SUoCJs/W5Sr9Kx734I/AAAAAAAABLQ/BGO1ibqZR1MvmvTrcuairWQkWZdQ8r3FQCEwYBhgL/s320/D-Iban%2Band%2Btwo%2Bflags.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Malaysia and Sarawak flags</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Swapping roles at the last minute was quite common.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes, someone couldn’t make it for the
shoot, so they would grab whoever else was handy; others, as requested, sent a
replacement for themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jimmy,
one of the extras, told me that he played nine roles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A little makeup, a change of costume, and he
could pass for one race or another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Others played at least five or six roles, one or two primary, up-close
shots, and the rest secondary to fill out the numbers.<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h3>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NrD2lTimkg0/W5Sri-Fa3RI/AAAAAAAABKw/v7S1vKm1yV8Dn2KMg-Ugw6OFNy8ZRWJIQCEwYBhgL/s1600/D-fight%2Bscene.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NrD2lTimkg0/W5Sri-Fa3RI/AAAAAAAABKw/v7S1vKm1yV8Dn2KMg-Ugw6OFNy8ZRWJIQCEwYBhgL/s400/D-fight%2Bscene.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">For the battle scenes, which took place last night, they made about a
dozen people look like a hundred, taking multiple close-up shots from different
angles, catching various parts of their bodies. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those working on the actual footage reported how
impressed they were seeing it on film.<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h3>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ncTVQKs7KLo/W5StZTbt8cI/AAAAAAAABMM/nZlAfXJsAfIs1OrcikWbosnTMdTaUOOIwCEwYBhgL/s1600/2018-09-01%2B09.04.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ncTVQKs7KLo/W5StZTbt8cI/AAAAAAAABMM/nZlAfXJsAfIs1OrcikWbosnTMdTaUOOIwCEwYBhgL/s400/2018-09-01%2B09.04.52.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">After we were dressed in our costumes, they drove Alex, who was to
portray the 14-year-old Charles Brooke, and me, as the younger Captain Henry Keppel,
to a nearby jetty in Santubong where we boarded a fishing boat with a trimmed
down crew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Altogether, including the
director, Fendi, and Rob, there might have been eight or nine of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since it looked like it was going to pour
anytime soon, we were all in a rush to get set up and to start filming. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rAvplAW5aOM/W5Sul-VVzpI/AAAAAAAABNI/1JXx1xucNksKqBDkFZqEzcwxRxs8J-YHQCEwYBhgL/s1600/2018-09-01%2B07.54.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rAvplAW5aOM/W5Sul-VVzpI/AAAAAAAABNI/1JXx1xucNksKqBDkFZqEzcwxRxs8J-YHQCEwYBhgL/s400/2018-09-01%2B07.54.29.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fendi, the Director</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wx7eCXkUdk4/W5St54eVNqI/AAAAAAAABMw/ESNBStUMD8c2MBF0quEjgU2kS6D08c-gwCEwYBhgL/s1600/2018-09-01%2B08.10.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wx7eCXkUdk4/W5St54eVNqI/AAAAAAAABMw/ESNBStUMD8c2MBF0quEjgU2kS6D08c-gwCEwYBhgL/s400/2018-09-01%2B08.10.15.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">They had Alex and me stand at the bow, looking off toward our left, with
the camera positioned behind us, shooting us, the sea and the blackening sky
assuring us that a storm was approaching.</span></h3>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LQsmQXZuo0I/W5StHFy-KtI/AAAAAAAABL8/xpeJgrrVg1cBbmF_6F7xFjVVFk6MhuunwCEwYBhgL/s1600/D-video%2Bon%2Bboat.mp4" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="640" height="220" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LQsmQXZuo0I/W5StHFy-KtI/AAAAAAAABL8/xpeJgrrVg1cBbmF_6F7xFjVVFk6MhuunwCEwYBhgL/s400/D-video%2Bon%2Bboat.mp4" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">While filming, I explained to the young Charles Brooke, the future second
White Rajah of Sarawak that someday, all of this would be his….It was Charles
Brooke who greatly expanded the territory of Sarawak beyond the original city of
Kuching to its present borders. <o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Luckily for me, I wore a hat when it began to drizzle; unluckily, the
British flag that they had mounted kept pushing at the back of my head nearly
knocking the hat off before they tied the flag down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">To get the angle they were looking for, we had to kneel on the deck, with
our backs erect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The position was
uncomfortable, so we were glad when the director suggested that we remove our
shoes, which helped.<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FjRhKCGsQ98/W5StmA23OvI/AAAAAAAABMc/yFyH2Mo9BM8nPfIg_WipjJ3RheIBvgE3QCEwYBhgL/s1600/2018-09-01%2B08.37.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FjRhKCGsQ98/W5StmA23OvI/AAAAAAAABMc/yFyH2Mo9BM8nPfIg_WipjJ3RheIBvgE3QCEwYBhgL/s400/2018-09-01%2B08.37.15.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Later, when it began to rain heavily after the shooting, as I was rushing for cover, the hat flew
off my head, but I somehow managed to catch it midair before it was lost forever at sea.<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PN2cmvPMF4U/W5SsRJh8ixI/AAAAAAAABLg/oDV4av3s42Uv8EYKd9fCQREQnYtx7Gc5wCEwYBhgL/s1600/D-Me%2Band%2BRob.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PN2cmvPMF4U/W5SsRJh8ixI/AAAAAAAABLg/oDV4av3s42Uv8EYKd9fCQREQnYtx7Gc5wCEwYBhgL/s400/D-Me%2Band%2BRob.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Robert Raymer and Rob Nevis, Executive Producer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br />I had planned to get some shots of the fishing boat that we had used but
the heavy rain prevented me from doing so; I wished I had taken the shots <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before</i> boarding but we were in a rush to
beat the rain....Alex and I returned to the Bidayuh Longhouse, while the others
stayed behind to shoot more river footage.</span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">They then spend the rest of the day and
the following day taking B-roll shots—outtakes without actors—at
notable sites such as <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefort.html">Fort
Margherita</a>, </span><span lang="EN-SG" style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">the Istana, the
Courthouse, and other historical buildings, and the surrounding environs to
work into the documentary.</span><span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o7QwCN_vmk8/W5Srn1fU5_I/AAAAAAAABK0/mcI40yCXdDcGy4DeEoeuBrhulgDuJk_JgCEwYBhgL/s1600/D-Fort%2BMargherita.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o7QwCN_vmk8/W5Srn1fU5_I/AAAAAAAABK0/mcI40yCXdDcGy4DeEoeuBrhulgDuJk_JgCEwYBhgL/s400/D-Fort%2BMargherita.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The A-roll shots are the
main scenes with the actors and extras, the most costly part of the filming,
which is why they try to cram it all into several long days for documentaries
or a few intense weeks for feature films.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q-eZuAXOydY/W5SsblNPOwI/AAAAAAAABLs/h0HEDsDQHQE8R8xG0TPdrtBLH-gWyraaQCEwYBhgL/s1600/D-Rob%2Band%2BJason%2BBrooke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q-eZuAXOydY/W5SsblNPOwI/AAAAAAAABLs/h0HEDsDQHQE8R8xG0TPdrtBLH-gWyraaQCEwYBhgL/s400/D-Rob%2Band%2BJason%2BBrooke.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rob Nevis and Jason Brooke</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br />Before leaving Kuching, Rob
managed to have tea with Jason Brooke, grandson of the last Rajah Muda of Sarawak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Even though the rescheduling
of the shoot made me miss out on some important scenes, including having a
private tea with James Brooke as the Governor of Singapore, no doubt suggesting
that he seek his fortune in Borneo, I was quite happy to keep my head about me
at all times, just in case someone decided to, well, you know, this is land of
the headhunters, and that Iban war party did kill me in that <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/09/beheaded-on-road-to-nationhood-sarawak.html">other scene</a>…</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It was also quite an honor
to be a part of recreating history—an honor for all of us involved from the
cast, the crew and production—in the </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Road to Nationhood<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">:
</b>Sarawak Reclaimed</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">—Borneo Expat Writer<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">#<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>#<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>#<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Beheaded on Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/09/beheaded-on-road-to-nationhood-sarawak.html">Part I</a> <o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div>
<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: small;">Beheaded on the Road to Nationhood—</span><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/09/getting-killed-on-road-to-nationhood.html" style="font-size: medium;">Part II</a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div>
<div>
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<div>
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</div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext;">Joseph <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/arte-joseph-conrad-and-mesarawaks.html">Conrad and Me</a> </span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="font-size: medium;">
<span style="line-height: 17.12px;">Somerset Maugham and Me</span>—<a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefilmed-for.html">Part I-V</a><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"> </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">See the trailers: https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/10/road-to-nationhood-sarawak.html</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwmPDKh7D6wA7VMaree1uH2ja3-OUS87p3B2B9Oa92hrnRcYts-GzXpXiBDP09GsW0_P_ELolIuROleHHyYkQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Road to Nationhood</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Journey to Independence </i><a href="https://vimeo.com/238887157">part I (1945-1957)</a> </span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Road to Nationhood</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Journey to Independence </i><a href="https://vimeo.com/239957899">part II (1957-1965)</a></span><span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-16991877239261144452018-09-07T01:58:00.000-07:002019-07-24T16:13:04.106-07:00Beheaded on the Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—Part I<br />
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</h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WTj-zdckMws/W5HnCnx4Q8I/AAAAAAAABDw/Xr4P0lfsHDkQ_frHaOT0JTsbR6vR5r_rACLcBGAs/s1600/2018-08-30%2B20.45.32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WTj-zdckMws/W5HnCnx4Q8I/AAAAAAAABDw/Xr4P0lfsHDkQ_frHaOT0JTsbR6vR5r_rACLcBGAs/s400/2018-08-30%2B20.45.32.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Raymer and actors, <i>Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed</i> </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Last year I was in a <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefilmed-for.html">French documentary</a> discussing Somerset Maugham in Sarawak, but this year I found myself getting beheaded in the Malaysian documentary <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The documentary, a Rack Focus Films
production, is the Third Season in the highly successful <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Road to Nationhood </i>series, and originally scheduled to be aired 16 September
2018—on Malaysia National Day—on the National Geographic channel, Astro</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 1cm;">.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 1cm;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 1cm;">Because of some unexpected delays, it would more
likely be aired sometime in October.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 1cm;"><br /></span>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Malaysia was formed when Singapore, North
Borneo (Sabah) and the Sarawak Crown Colonies joined the Federation of Malaya on
16 September, 1963; however, two years later, Singapore separated to become an independent
republic.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Thirty years later</span>, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I was an extra in several notable <a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2011/03/four-films-writer-as-film-extra-while.html">Hollywood films</a>, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">such an <i>Anna and the King</i>, <i>Paradise Road</i>, <i>Beyond Rangoon</i>, and the French film <i>Indochine</i>. It was on the set of <i>Indochine</i>—Oscar winner in 1993 for Best Foreign Language Film plus an Oscar nomination for Catherine Deneuve for Best Actress—where I met Rob Nevis</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PFVh6bk4jy4/SwYcLGv96kI/AAAAAAAAAM0/5JdRwLh7oZE4DhtpAeBDihUrg72k6pdNACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Indochine-%2BChristmas%2Bparty%2Bscene%252C%2BRobert%2Bat%2Bcenter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1074" data-original-width="1600" height="267" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PFVh6bk4jy4/SwYcLGv96kI/AAAAAAAAAM0/5JdRwLh7oZE4DhtpAeBDihUrg72k6pdNACPcBGAYYCw/s400/Indochine-%2BChristmas%2Bparty%2Bscene%252C%2BRobert%2Bat%2Bcenter.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christmas Party scene, <i style="font-size: 12.8px;">Indochine </i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nkKQdBy8cBk/SwYiXDqoyRI/AAAAAAAAANE/rPm3lM3Hi981A9gKhhVjCWiBJ9LTFNOLQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Indochine%252C%2BCatherine%2BDeneuve%2Bdancing%2Bwith%2BLinh%2BDan%2BPham.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1074" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nkKQdBy8cBk/SwYiXDqoyRI/AAAAAAAAANE/rPm3lM3Hi981A9gKhhVjCWiBJ9LTFNOLQCPcBGAYYCw/s400/Indochine%252C%2BCatherine%2BDeneuve%2Bdancing%2Bwith%2BLinh%2BDan%2BPham.JPG" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Catherine Deneuve and Linh Dan Pham, <i>Indochine </i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jtD1Jvm9Qr8/W5IXk9BBIwI/AAAAAAAABFk/Jy45kFah19gOh5WozPDiliGlJc_ivD_aACLcBGAs/s1600/D-Ron%2BNevis%2BParadise%2BRoad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jtD1Jvm9Qr8/W5IXk9BBIwI/AAAAAAAABFk/Jy45kFah19gOh5WozPDiliGlJc_ivD_aACLcBGAs/s400/D-Ron%2BNevis%2BParadise%2BRoad.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rob Nevis, center, on the set of <i>Paradise Road</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br />Back then, Rob worked with Film Location Services,
but now he was a producer with Rack Focus Films.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few months ago, Rob and I met
in Kuching where he told me about the project and asked if I would be
interested to take on a role, possibly Charles Brooke, the second of three White
Rajahs—who ruled Sarawak for one hundred years from 1841 to 1946.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-adVpKjA84bY/WTTvrp64oUI/AAAAAAAAA7g/bg_FF6QkXWM6gnKtNflwOt6mDJXsu_BhwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Camera-May30%252717%2B255.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-adVpKjA84bY/WTTvrp64oUI/AAAAAAAAA7g/bg_FF6QkXWM6gnKtNflwOt6mDJXsu_BhwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Camera-May30%252717%2B255.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charles Brooke and author</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LrP6xX9suf8/WS42aH-A4iI/AAAAAAAAAz4/BGygFevJ_aoZTss3DuV8kDELIFqR6ZowgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Camera-May30%252717%2B297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LrP6xX9suf8/WS42aH-A4iI/AAAAAAAAAz4/BGygFevJ_aoZTss3DuV8kDELIFqR6ZowgCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Camera-May30%252717%2B297.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James Brooke</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The first White Rajah was an Englishman James
Brooke. After helping the Sultanate of Brunei fight piracy and an insurgency
among the Dayaks, he was rewarded the city of Kuching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The third and last
White Rajah, Charles Vyner Brooke, was mostly an absentee ruler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Following the Japanese Occupation, he controversially
ceded Sarawak to Great Britain at a time when they were shedding their British
Empire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nhreosZ2vss/W5Ide5M3UZI/AAAAAAAABGI/514EdlPSmcUHP-au1qN2Xbd0HmzwuJvfwCEwYBhgL/s1600/D-B-W%2BJames%2Band%2BCharles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="640" height="241" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nhreosZ2vss/W5Ide5M3UZI/AAAAAAAABGI/514EdlPSmcUHP-au1qN2Xbd0HmzwuJvfwCEwYBhgL/s320/D-B-W%2BJames%2Band%2BCharles.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giovanni and Ivan at center</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HrOxhLojOb8/W5Ieat7hPCI/AAAAAAAABHI/aIZvWacc5R4SQSeqJx81MX07PRLny0jdQCEwYBhgL/s1600/D-Gio%2Bon%2Brock%2Band%2Bcamera.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HrOxhLojOb8/W5Ieat7hPCI/AAAAAAAABHI/aIZvWacc5R4SQSeqJx81MX07PRLny0jdQCEwYBhgL/s320/D-Gio%2Bon%2Brock%2Band%2Bcamera.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giovanni as James Brooke</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br />After finding Ivan, a Hungarian
friend who is more muscular and younger, to play Charles Brooke, and Giovanni, an
Italian who is taller and younger to play James Brooke, I was asked to portray various
colonial officers and officials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
first role would be Alan Lee, a colonial officer, who unfortunately was
killed during a battle with Rentap’s Iban warriors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Alan Lee’s beheading proved
to be a turning point in the Rajah Brooke’s determination to capture or kill
Rentap (which he never did—his famous translated quote was “still alive, still fighting”) </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and defeat the Saribas and
Skrang Ibans, notorious headhunters who routinely attacked Bidayuh
settlements throughout Sarawak including Quop, where my wife is from—decimating
the population.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Several days before filming began the cast were called to Kayu Malam Productions, opposite of Crown Square, for wardrobe fitting and briefing by the director, Fendi, and Rob, our executive producer.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This was the first time that the Kuching group would be meeting the Kuala Lumpur group (Rack Focus Production) and those they brought in from KL to assist them, like Johnny Goh, Prop Master.</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2x6mMU8GKSc/W5Hp7-C1vgI/AAAAAAAABEc/C7YfRRqxSHsj7im99epuwqJcruxp8-yLgCEwYBhgL/s1600/2018-08-25%2B16.38.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2x6mMU8GKSc/W5Hp7-C1vgI/AAAAAAAABEc/C7YfRRqxSHsj7im99epuwqJcruxp8-yLgCEwYBhgL/s400/2018-08-25%2B16.38.40.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--74w8I2cl7M/W5HqLHd_KVI/AAAAAAAABEg/Pzopt2XJ7KsrHS__D0MXR4Mtdx8dck27wCEwYBhgL/s1600/2018-08-25%2B17.02.22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--74w8I2cl7M/W5HqLHd_KVI/AAAAAAAABEg/Pzopt2XJ7KsrHS__D0MXR4Mtdx8dck27wCEwYBhgL/s400/2018-08-25%2B17.02.22.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bani making adjustments</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YwBLQfQZHDs/W5IfwnCf2eI/AAAAAAAABI8/izwL9QEBwckoFULNpe-i4UV0fiYQTZg4wCEwYBhgL/s1600/D-Rob%2Band%2BJohnny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="608" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YwBLQfQZHDs/W5IfwnCf2eI/AAAAAAAABI8/izwL9QEBwckoFULNpe-i4UV0fiYQTZg4wCEwYBhgL/s400/D-Rob%2Band%2BJohnny.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Johnny Goh and Rob Nevis</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oCIxWo1J9lg/W5ItVYWhkgI/AAAAAAAABJc/Vz-XHB4aqms0UQ8gMO9m6MovN-vxOTgbACLcBGAs/s1600/D-Bani%2Bin%2Bhat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="576" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oCIxWo1J9lg/W5ItVYWhkgI/AAAAAAAABJc/Vz-XHB4aqms0UQ8gMO9m6MovN-vxOTgbACLcBGAs/s400/D-Bani%2Bin%2Bhat.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bani, Wardrobe</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br />Bani, in charge of Wardrobe,
separated us by groups: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Iban warriors,
Chinese miners, Istana people, Malay extras, and a handful of Caucasians
portraying Colonial Officers, Captains and Fort Guards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We took photos of one
another in various costumes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The heavy
wool coat that I tried on looked good; however, it was a little long in the
sleeve and rather impractical for the tropical Sarawak climate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OBL9ybGdyCM/W5IfJLp93fI/AAAAAAAABIA/q27BunL16Cch9NU2DSM3I_RIKM80fDq9wCEwYBhgL/s1600/D-Long%2Bcoat%2Band%2BGio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="973" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OBL9ybGdyCM/W5IfJLp93fI/AAAAAAAABIA/q27BunL16Cch9NU2DSM3I_RIKM80fDq9wCEwYBhgL/s320/D-Long%2Bcoat%2Band%2BGio.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert and Giovanni</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">During the briefing we were
told that, unlike feature films, the budget for documentaries was minuscule, so
compromises had to be made—there wouldn’t be endless takes from all angles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also Season Three of the series would be the most
difficult to film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Road to Nationhood: Journey to Independence </i> Part I (1945-1957) and Part II (1957-1965) in Season One were largely made from historical archives, but since there were very little
archives for early Sarawak, scenes had to be re-enacted, hence the need for
actors and extras. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was told we would
not be speaking (only perceived to be speaking or having a discussion) while a
narrator pointed out the historical significance of what was being viewed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Filming was originally scheduled
to begin near the end of July but had to be pushed back a month because the production
permits for filming in Sarawak were held up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The French crew had the same problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For this project, it would be a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">big</i>
problem, which meant the time for post-production was being compressed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The moment all of the footage was shot for a particular
scene, it had to be sent, without delay, to post production to work on and be pieced
into the documentary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, films
or documentaries were rarely, if ever, shot sequentially.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Jimmy, one of the extras,
set up a WhatsApp Group so we would all be in the loop, which made it easier
for Prisca, Unit Production Manager, to find someone, or for Mark, Transport
Manager, to clarify who needed transportation to Sarawak Cultural Village,
where most of the shooting would take place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JgvmOBCKRdQ/W5Ie415OhRI/AAAAAAAABHs/5exSL54jsNQfA9uEugVa-XmUWux1FAVVQCEwYBhgL/s1600/D-Jimmy%2Balone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="607" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JgvmOBCKRdQ/W5Ie415OhRI/AAAAAAAABHs/5exSL54jsNQfA9uEugVa-XmUWux1FAVVQCEwYBhgL/s400/D-Jimmy%2Balone.jpg" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jimmy</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wMthLaZ3bgA/W5Ifhq7CHkI/AAAAAAAABIg/aiuNSsNMrlgYpbT8ZAgeR3M7aVNn8n8bwCEwYBhgL/s1600/D-Prisca%2Bin%2Bcenter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="576" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wMthLaZ3bgA/W5Ifhq7CHkI/AAAAAAAABIg/aiuNSsNMrlgYpbT8ZAgeR3M7aVNn8n8bwCEwYBhgL/s400/D-Prisca%2Bin%2Bcenter.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Although shooting began on
28 August 2018, I wasn’t called in until two days later on Thursday, 30
August, for my first scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks to
all of the photos from the shooting posted on the WhatsApp Group by </span><span style="font-size: 16px;">Jimmy, Prisca and others</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, I could keep
up with the filming.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Since it was a relatively
small cast, about 30 of us, with everyone playing multiple roles, I
recognized many of the faces from our previous meeting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We were told to be at Kayu
Malam Productions by 7 am, so I was up at 5 am to avoid all of the school
traffic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>En route to Damai, three otters
ran across the road in front of our van, which I took as a good sign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not long after we arrived at the Iban
Longhouse in the Sarawak Cultural Village, our base of operations, Bani and Sheila
from Wardrobe outfitted the Iban Warriors and then the makeup crew and the
tattoo specialist led by Dedek, got to work, creating some elaborate Borneo tattoo
patterns all over their bodies including the exposed parts on their upper
thighs and buttocks. Others tried on wigs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">As we sat there waiting for
our turn, extras in their respective native outfits would walk by carrying
shields and spears and swords or rifles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All of the Chinese characters, I noticed from the photos taken on the
first two days, had the front half of their heads shaved and a long queue added to
their hair, fitting the Manchu style back in the 1840’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the Ibans had their hair cut as if someone
had used a bowl; more likely they were wearing wigs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Johnny showed me my head that
he made and asked, “Does this look familiar?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">At the briefing we were told
to expect a lot of waiting, something I had experienced on previous productions.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had brought a book; however, I mostly talked with others in the cast and the crew, getting to know them. We
were also free to roam around the set and watch other scenes being shot, which
I gladly did. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j7UAhQDPMOo/W5IesS6pI_I/AAAAAAAABHg/YO8EPlRAgRAnM44aiOa_RE9ugVS5oz7lACEwYBhgL/s1600/D-Ivan%2Band%2Bwarriors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j7UAhQDPMOo/W5IesS6pI_I/AAAAAAAABHg/YO8EPlRAgRAnM44aiOa_RE9ugVS5oz7lACEwYBhgL/s400/D-Ivan%2Band%2Bwarriors.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ivan Evetovics as Charles Brooke</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Can you see the camera?”
the director called out to Ivan, who was portraying Charles Brooke, surrounded
by extras.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If you can see the camera,
then the camera can <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">see </i>you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">During the previous meeting,
I met the actor who would portray Rentap, the leader of the Skrang Ibans, who was
quite large like the real Rentap, but then he was replaced by Ernesto Kalum, a
world-renown tattoo specialist with a London law degree, who looked a whole lot
more fierce….Later, when I was introduced to Ernesto on the set, I was told,
“This is the man who is going to behead you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DSXsxhZECyM/W5IfqbgKvBI/AAAAAAAABIo/Lg8I5QW06zIt_IMFkNU5qrQjh3JCHChrACEwYBhgL/s1600/D-Rentap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="529" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DSXsxhZECyM/W5IfqbgKvBI/AAAAAAAABIo/Lg8I5QW06zIt_IMFkNU5qrQjh3JCHChrACEwYBhgL/s400/D-Rentap.jpg" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ernesto Kalum as Rentap</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I was unaware that my
scene was a night shoot, so I could’ve come a lot later.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Several others like me had to wait all day
long, not that we minded….Twelve hours would pass before I was finally asked to
get into my costume—white shirt, blue trousers, gray cap.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I was asked to bring my own black leather
shoes, which I did.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Giovanni forgot, so
they had to cut a new pair of shoes in back for his size 13 feet.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kDTgA_BqTHg/W5HnZPijB_I/AAAAAAAABEE/IMMxFI3n_KU045l5Z3eYIIwsWx24irxZgCEwYBhgL/s1600/2018-08-30%2B20.44.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kDTgA_BqTHg/W5HnZPijB_I/AAAAAAAABEE/IMMxFI3n_KU045l5Z3eYIIwsWx24irxZgCEwYBhgL/s320/2018-08-30%2B20.44.03.jpg" width="180" /></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Although we were
supposed to finish the day at 9:00 pm we didn’t finish shooting until 10:30
pm. </span>While waiting for the other
scenes to finish, I posed for a few shots with Rentap and his Iban war party before
they had a chance to behead me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;">I could see the fort area where I would be killed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;">Then I heard Fendi, our director, call out, “Bring the dying man.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">He was referring to me, but it
sounded like I had some incurable disease….In position, we watched the Iban war
party approach the makeshift fort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of
the Fort Guards, Alex appeared, but then he went one way while the war party, who had
been hiding, went the other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before I
was called in to be killed, they gave one of the warriors, Watt, a real Iban
sword, and they had him swing down hard on what appeared to be a coconut, as if
he were chopping off my head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once that
segment was completed, they switched out the real sword for one made of
plastic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2-zUyR-c0y8/W5IgDJWzhBI/AAAAAAAABJE/4_Kw2GlSAmodpGo9TKV6thrsT4XNTLsxQCEwYBhgL/s1600/D-Watt%2Band%2Bwife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2-zUyR-c0y8/W5IgDJWzhBI/AAAAAAAABJE/4_Kw2GlSAmodpGo9TKV6thrsT4XNTLsxQCEwYBhgL/s320/D-Watt%2Band%2Bwife.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watt and wife (real)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">When it was my turn to come
on, I removed my glasses, which made it difficult to see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Previously, I wore contacts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The director told me to ditch my hat, so I
tossed it aside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile someone marked
my position in front of the camera with an upturned leaf that I could not see
without my glasses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the leaves
seemed to blend in together, plus it was dark outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An assistant and the cameraman kept telling
me to stop “here” at a particular leaf for a close up shot of my being
killed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without my glasses I couldn’t
quite see which particular leaf they were pointing to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a close-up shot, an inch here or there
made a huge difference.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“What seems to be the
problem?” asked the director, and someone explained that I couldn’t see the
leaf without my glasses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Finally someone set down a
white folder just out of camera range and told me to stop just before the folder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No problem, I could see that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The director then asked me to breathe heavily
as if I feared for my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was to stop
at my spot, pivot, look right and then left….We ran through the sequence several times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I turned to look right, and
then left, the Iban warrior would come up from behind me and bring down his
sword.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Before the actual filming
began, I approached Watt and felt the sword to make sure he did in fact switch
them, prompting laughs from everyone watching, about twenty-five people including
the extras and technicians. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I definitely
didn’t want any untoward mishaps involving my head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The first run through, Watt
clipped my ear with his sword and it stung a little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He duly apologized.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Fendi asked me to fall to
the ground the moment I got hit, which I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I thought I was pretty convincing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe too convincing because it suddenly hurt around the ribs; I must’ve
landed on my elbow while trying to protect my glasses secured in a pouch inside
my shirt, not wanting to crush it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
did two or three more takes and the last one, Watt got me pretty good on the
side of the head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It sounded <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really</i> loud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was this startled hush when I collapsed
as if I really had been killed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
stayed down a long time for dramatic effect, thinking perhaps Watt was a little
too realistic on that last one, hoping there would be no more takes, not sure how
many more blows my head could take.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">This is not me, but you get the idea.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">When the director called,
“Cut!” everyone, no doubt, thought I really did get cut by that sword.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all heard the impact on my head and saw
me drop dead, again rather convincing if I don’t say so myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watt kept apologizing profusely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told me he couldn’t stop the momentum of
his swing in time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily he was not
using a real sword or I would not be writing this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Several people rushed over to
make sure I was in fact okay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kept
assuring them I was fine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“See, no blood,” I said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The blood would come
next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not mine, but the blood mixture meant
for my substitute head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The director
took a closer look at that head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although
the face did look like me, they got the hair wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to point it out earlier to Johnny
before they attached the hair, but he assured me that the thick black hair
didn’t matter because it would soon be covered with blood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, I thought, it looked way too thick—blood
or no blood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The director didn’t like the
way-too-thick black hair either and asked if it could be cut from the head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then they decided not to use the head in that
scene, since it was pretty obvious when Watt got me the last time, he had
severed my head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not wanting to waste
the head and the blood that they were applying, someone suggested it could be used
for a scene with a crocodile at a nearby swamp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So they carried away my former head and covered it with more blood and filmed
it by the swamp.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oE4KJqFbnPY/W5IiMZ_ZiII/AAAAAAAABJM/C0OrIIyqyqsD_kPJ9WeOafjbUo1evxwbACLcBGAs/s1600/2018-09-01%2B11.04.44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oE4KJqFbnPY/W5IiMZ_ZiII/AAAAAAAABJM/C0OrIIyqyqsD_kPJ9WeOafjbUo1evxwbACLcBGAs/s400/2018-09-01%2B11.04.44.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In a later scene, Iban
warriors were seen carrying away their heads in makeshift rattan holders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">As for me, as I walked off
the set, I carried my own head exactly where it belonged—on top of my shoulders.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="text-indent: 37.7953px;"> —Borneo Expat Writer</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="text-align: center; text-indent: 37.7953px;"> #</span><span style="text-align: center; text-indent: 37.7953px;"> </span><span style="text-align: center; text-indent: 37.7953px;">#</span><span style="text-align: center; text-indent: 37.7953px;"> </span><span style="text-align: center; text-indent: 37.7953px;">#</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></h3>
<h3 style="line-height: 28.08px; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 24px;">Beheaded on Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/09/getting-killed-on-road-to-nationhood.html">Part II</a> </span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12pt;"><div style="font-size: medium;">
</div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext;"> Joseph <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/arte-joseph-conrad-and-mesarawaks.html">Conrad and Me</a> </span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="font-size: medium;">
<span style="line-height: 17.12px;"> Somerset Maugham and Me</span>—<a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefilmed-for.html">Part I-V</a><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"> </span></div>
</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 24px;"></span><br />
<div style="font-size: medium;">
<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 24px;"><span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12pt;">See the trailers: https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/10/road-to-nationhood-sarawak.html</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 24px;"><span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Road to Nationhood</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">: <i>Journey to Independence </i><a href="https://vimeo.com/238887157">part I(1945-1957)</a></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Road to Nationhood</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">: <i>Journey to Independence </i><a href="https://vimeo.com/239957899">part II (1957-1965)</a></span><span lang="EN-SG" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Borneo Expat Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15657806224924444058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7010953641145956608.post-12799041530091139192018-08-07T02:05:00.004-07:002019-07-18T05:36:41.684-07:00My Interview with Ivy Ngeow is in Blue Lotus 13<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V_BunQ2xImc/W2lidpjVgLI/AAAAAAAABC0/K8-1XCK4X7cRrmnI-p65u5LZMkqTG4gsgCEwYBhgL/s1600/Interview%2Bwith%2Bivy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="764" data-original-width="1080" height="282" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V_BunQ2xImc/W2lidpjVgLI/AAAAAAAABC0/K8-1XCK4X7cRrmnI-p65u5LZMkqTG4gsgCEwYBhgL/s400/Interview%2Bwith%2Bivy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;">My <a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2017/11/interview-ivy-ngeow-robert-raymer-chats.html">interview</a> with Ivy Ngeow, author of <i>Cry of the Flying Rhino, </i>winner of<i> </i>Proverse Prize<i> </i>and <i>Heart of Glass</i>, has been published in </span><a href="https://issuu.com/martinabradley/docs/the_blue_lotus_13">Blue Lotus 13</a>, <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;">pages 8-17</span>.<br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;">Also appearing in the issue: </span><a ajaxify="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2205388556349862&set=a.1413446262210766.1073741833.100006362167424&type=3&size=2019%2C1431&source=13&player_origin=unknown" class="_4-eo _2t9n" data-ploi="https://scontent.fkul13-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/38392014_2205388559683195_914732269162201088_o.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=314d33f0136c216ea151f1486307b821&oe=5C1111CF" data-plsi="https://scontent.fkul13-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/38405474_2205388563016528_2558655513084559360_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=915672b79ac36de36dac21432feeef36&oe=5BCE08A1" data-render-location="timeline" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2205388556349862&set=a.1413446262210766.1073741833.100006362167424&type=3" rel="theater" style="width: 516px;"></a><br />
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<img alt="Image may contain: 2 people" class="_46-i img" height="372" src="https://scontent.fkul13-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p526x296/38405474_2205388563016528_2558655513084559360_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=57d5af8b780ebcb612a82ab30491ed15&oe=5C03507F" style="left: -5px; top: 0px;" width="526" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My
<a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/01/interview-preeta-samarasan-robert.html">interview</a> with Preeta Samarasan, author of <i>Evening
is the Whole Day</i>, was published in <a href="https://issuu.com/martinabradley/docs/the_blue_lotus_12">Blue Lotus 12</a>, pages 8-21.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Five part </span><span style="color: #993322; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/05/arte-somerset-maugham-and-mefilmed-for.html">Maugham and Me
series</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">—</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Borneo Expat Writer</span></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">My other interviews with First Novelists</span></span><br />
<br /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.my/2017/11/interview-golda-mowe-robert-raymer.html" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif;"><span style="color: #993322; text-decoration-line: none;">Golda Mowe</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> author of </span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif;">Iban Dream</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> and </span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif;">Iban Journey</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif;"><br /></i></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2018/10/interview-chuah-guat-eng-robert-raymer.html" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">Chuah Guat Eng</a><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small; font-style: normal;">, author of </span><i style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;">Echoes of Silence</i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small; font-style: normal;"> and </span><i style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;">Days of Change. </i></i></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif;"><i style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><br /></i></i></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif;"><i style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal;">Also, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2019/07/interview-malachi-edwin-vethamani.html">Malachi Edwin Vethamani</a>, author of <i>Complicated Lives</i> and <i>Life Happens</i>.</span></span></i></i></span><br />
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