One year
ago, on July 15, My Johor Stories: True
Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage was launched in a simple ceremony at the DoubleTree
by Hilton Johor Baru.
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| My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage among the books on a shelf at Think City Johor Baru |
It was
both significant and sentimental that my book, which contains some of my
favourite ‘grandfather’s stories’ was launched at this hotel which is located
on Jalan Ngee Heng, just across the road from where our grandfather’s house was
at No.154.
That
double-storey bungalow with an adjacent badminton court, is no longer there
because the land was acquired by the government to build Jalan Tun Abdul Razak.
[An
enterprising warung operator took up
the space which was our former driveway and over the years, he has expanded his
business and recently, even tiled the floor!]
One year on
and I still remember all that happened that Saturday morning of my book launch
– unforgettable for so many reasons.
I’m
deeply grateful for the friendship and support from readers, friends and
relatives who have bought my book, not only for themselves but also as gifts to
present to others.
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| My book at the Number One spot of the MPH Non-Fiction Bestsellers in July 2017 |
And in so
doing, they sent my book to the Number
One spot of the MPH Non-Fiction Bestsellers list on the first week of its
launch.
I’m
deeply humbled that we all agree that my book is a special piece of Johor to
present to friends and family, especially to those who were born here but have
moved away or lived abroad.
After
the book was launched, I would receive a weekly update from the General Manager
of MPH Publishing, Sze Mei.
A
week later, she sent a photo with a brief message that said, “Hi Peggy, Good
Morning. My Johor Stories still a
bestseller for two consecutive weeks.”
The
interest for my book continued in the following weeks and months and it stayed
on the Non-Fiction Bestsellers list for the rest of the year.
On
Christmas Day 2017, it was almost 10.15pm when my phone signaled
a message from Sze Mei.
She sent was a colourful poster designed with a line-up of books
and her message, superimposed on it said: “My
Johor Stories made it to the list of MPH Best Non-Fiction 2017.”
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| My book was among these titles in the MPH Best Non-Fiction 2017 list |
Before I could grasp what this means, my eyes widened in awe as
I read her next message headlined: MPH
is proud to present… The Best of 2017!
The small print on this announcement read: “Each title is
selected based on overall sales performance at all MPH Bookstores and
mphonline.com, international reviews and recommendation from a team of
professional buyers.”
As her message slowly sank in, I felt ever so grateful for the
publishing opportunity presented to me by Think City and MPH Publishing which led
to this book and its success through the support of readers, fans and friends.
I’m also
thankful for the support from my friends in the hotel and resort industry who
wanted to place a copy of my book in their rooms (boutique hotel) and suites (resort
hotel) because they are aware that having my book available for their guests’
in-room reading pleasure, will enhance their stay.
In fact,
they placed advance orders for the bulk quantities of my books and collected their
orders from the MPH book sale table at my launch event.
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| A section of the happy audience reacting to my presentation at my book launch event on 15 July 2017 |
Each hotel
or resort have their own experiences about my book with their guests but one
that they have in common is that some of my books has gone missing from the
rooms!
We
arrived at the conclusion that unless they chained my book to the room, there
was always a possibility that guests may inadvertently pack my book along when
they checked-out.
Another
reason was probably because the book is so un-put-down-able that they did not
have any alternative but to bring my book with them!
Since its
launch, I have introduced my book at Meet-the-Author sessions organized by MPH
held in their bookstores in Johor Baru and Kuala Lumpur, public events that
were attended by friends, family members and shoppers in the mall.
Thanks to Think City who supported me in my book project and which
led to yet another new experience – being featured in their corporate video.
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| I'm featured in the Think City JB corporate video [see screen behind!] I'm at their office with Faezah Ayub [Right] and Gan Yi Reng [Left] |
While I am used to being the one behind the camera, this time I
was in front of the camera for an interview plus live-action on the streets of
the JB heritage quarter for this video shoot!
Last
year, I have presented my book to various groups in separate events, including
the gentlemen in the oldest Rotary Club in Johor, the Rotary Club of Johor Baru
and to the expatriate ladies in JB who belong to the International Women’s
Association of JB.
In March this year, I was invited to be guest speaker at a Book
Talk event with student leaders of SMK Dato Jaafar Johor Baru.
The Teacher-in-Charge, Navinder Kaur d/o Dhiraj Singh, explained
that the Book Talk was with a group of 30 students who were student leaders
from Forms Two to Six.
It was such a pleasure for me to speak to local secondary school
students about my book. While most of them were born here, they are from
another generation and it was an eye-opener for them to hear about some of the
heritage stories in my book.
We shared an interactive time and had much fun as they gained more
confidence to speak to me in the English language.
Not long after that, I accepted an invitation to Crescendo
HELP International School in Taman Desa Cemerlang, Johor Baru, as guest speaker in an event with some 300 secondary school
students, to kick-off their annual Book Week.
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| Fancy that! My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage is displayed next to the biography of Tun Siti Hasmah in the MPH bookstore at JB City Square |
It was an eventful morning where students and
their teachers gathered in the assembly hall to get to know me and more of
Johor through my book. This was the largest audience I have addressed, thus
far.
In the latter part of this event, I had a reading
session with Year Six students, in the school library.
With the students seated comfortably on beanbags
in front of me, I read to them selected parts of various stories from my book
and enjoyed an interesting Question and Answer time with these lively 12-year
olds.
When
I received an invitation from Marlborough College Malaysia to speak
to some 100 fulltime boarders on a Sunday morning, I learnt
that these talks by Sunday Speakers aimed to broaden the students’ perspectives
while promoting soft skills within the college.
So on that
appointed Sunday morning, I was at the college to share my story to inspire the
youngsters, with the aim to encourage them to consider a career in writing and
open their eyes to life beyond college and university.
Besides
introducing the contents of my book, I also shared with them about my writing
assignments and discussed some on-the-job experiences, from interviews with
various personalities to hotel and food reviews as well as travel to
destinations both local and abroad.
Then
in June, I received an invitation to the University of Southampton Malaysia,
campus at Educity, Iskandar Puteri. This time, it was not to be a guest speaker
but to join a panel of judges in a Public Speaking competition for engineers.
It
made me wonder why I was being considered for the role of a judge in a national
level event, jointly organized by the Young Members Section and Student Chapter
of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Malaysia.
I
then discovered that ‘Speak Out For Engineering Malaysia 2018’ is a public
speaking competition for engineers to hone their skills in verbal and visual communication,
with the aim to convey engineering and technical ideas to a client with a
non-technical background.
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| My name tag for the 'Speak Out for Engineering' public speaking competition at the University of Southampton |
When
I accepted the invite to join the judging panel, I did not know that the other
three judges have an engineering background; two were involved in the industry
while the other was in education.
But
on hindsight, I was probably the most important person on the panel because I
was the only non-engineer and if the competitors could present their talks and
made me understand an engineering or technical idea, then they would have
achieved their aim!
So
in this event, I was judge instead of speaker and I must say that it was
interesting to be surrounded by an auditorium full of engineers, to judge the
presentations of seven competitors.
At
the judges’ deliberation, we tallied the scores based on the judging criteria
and as our opinions about the presentations were unanimous, the clear winners
emerged.
A
great deal has happened in the past 12 months since my book was launched.
But
apart from the many new experiences, nothing much has changed. I am still the
same, going about my work with interviews and writing assignments, doing food
and hotel reviews.
The
next exciting new happening that I’m happy to share, is that Think City and MPH
Publishing have presented me with yet another opportunity to work on my next
book project.
So
here I am working hard on my next book – the
sequel to My Johor Stories: True
Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage.
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| My book was a weekly Bestseller in MPH bookstores; Spot it on top shelf, Far Right. |
It’s
still a collection of My Johor Stories which has a section
of my ‘grandfather stories’ plus inspiring stories about ordinary people with
extraordinary lives, not just in JB but also in various Johor towns.
Writing
these exclusive stories involved travelling to meet these interesting people in
their hometowns. While this is both challenging and fun, I’m ever so blessed to
have the privilege to share their stories and document them as a written legacy
for their families.
As
I’m working on my sequel, I’ve been encouraged by small but significant
incidents.
Like
a friend who was leaving for Canada the next evening and she would be carrying
along a few copies of my book, already autographed, to present to her relatives
there.
While
packing, she realized that she was one book short for her distribution so she
rushed to the MPH bookstore in JB City Square to buy another copy of my book.
Meanwhile
she sent me a message to ask if I could please sign this book for her, but early
the next morning as she had much to do before her flight that evening.
“How
early is early?” I asked because I too had an early start the next morning to go
to Educity for the event at the University of Southampton, and planned to leave
by 7.45am.
She
replied, “At 7.45am can?”
And
there she was even before 7.45am, patiently waiting at my front gates, with a
copy of my book. I was ready with my signing pen and gladly autographed my book
for her – against her car bonnet.
So
everyone was happy and we went our separate ways. By now that book would already
be in Canada.
Speaking
of Canada, I just received an email from a reader in Montreal with such
encouraging and insightful words. In his message Robert Houde said:
“I came across your blog by chance during a search
on some Han Suyin material. I thoroughly commend your writing and creativity
and especially how you convey your attachment to your native city. Not to
mention those amazing details about Dr. Han.”
Words
cannot fully describe how grateful I am for all that has happened in the past
12 months since the birth my book. Praise God and thank you, all.
