Some KL short shorts

I was asked to write for A City of Shared Stories: Kuala Lumpur a few weeks ago by someone at the British Council. "I don't do fiction," I sneered, and didn't think about it again.

But for some odd reason, starting yesterday, I have been posting short fiction pieces there. Hope you like, and join in the fun! The only rule (as far as I know) is that each story needs to be less than 1,600 characters long. Oh yes, and they need to relate to some part of KL, which you need to identify on the map (although I didn't do this properly in the first story. Oh well.)

Dorm Horror
1988: Sheila Majid's Niece
1980: Mosque Slippers
Alternate Merdeka Day Commercial
2008: Speed
Kumpulan Pantun (Edisi Pelajar)
Key to the City
Lipstik Babi
1997: My life as an artis
A Tale of Two Cars

What Your History Teacher Would Tell You, to Screw With Your Mind
2010: A God's Eye View
Sesudah Subuh (After the Dawn)
The Subversive Sign-Language Switch of 1998
The Mutant Panda
Banana
City Fantasy
The IC Code
Contempt
Election Candidate

One-Night Stand
Cempedak
Sodomy
The Prefect
Superstar Singh
Six Dates, Seven Nights
Muhammad Ali and the Golden Girl
The Jihadist
I Didn't Know
Our Grandmother's Shah Rukh Khan Remedy

The Sex Thing with the Tempoyak
KL Vice
Taxi Tale on a Rainy Bridge
The Breakup
A Woman's Work
Suicide Blond (Part 1)
Persuasion
Alhamdulillah
The Newly Discovered Audio Recording of the Final Encounter between Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat
Feng Shui

The Convert
Money (version 1)
Money (version 2)
Money (version 3)
Money (version 4)
Perfume
Correspondence
Correspondence (Alternate Take)
The Beef
Honesty

DVD

The first #1 bestseller for Matahari Books in over two years :-)

MPH Best-Sellers List for Week Ending Dec 20, 2009

Local Authors

1. What Your Teacher Didn’t Tell You: The Annexe Lectures (Vol. 1) by Farish A. Noor (Matahari Books) distributed by Horizon

2. Indahnya Hidup Bersyariat – Panduan Fardu Ain Lengkap Bergambar by Dato’ Ismail Kamus & Mohd. Azrul Azlen Ab. Hamid

3. Membongkar Misteri Dajjal: Berdasarkan Al-Quran & Hadith, Juga Penemuan Saintifik & Artifak-Artifak Misteri Dunia Yang Menggemparkan! by Muhammad Nuraini Maarif

4. You Can Become Rich in Property by Peter Yee

5. Diari Sufi by Siti Munazakiah

6. From Asian to Global Financial Crisis. An Asian Regulator’s View of Unfettered Finance in the 1990s and 2000s by Andrew Sheng

7. Dr Mahathir’s Selected Letters To World Leaders by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad

8. Malaysia at Random by Editions Didier Millet

9. Ajaibnya Sedekah: Semakin Bersedekah Semakin Kaya by Muhammad Muhyidin

10. The Budget: How the Government is Spending Our Money by Teh Chi-Chang

* List supplied by MPH MidValley. The last #1 was back in November 2007.

The other censored line from MUALLAF

Two lines of dialogue from the film have been muted. I posted the first one earlier. Now this is the second.


You won't get to hear the line or read the subtitle. Other that that, all the dialogue is intact! Yasmin had agreed to both mutes months ago, because she wanted the film to finally be seen by Malaysians.

So do watch Muallaf, which starts on Thursday! Try to watch it by Sunday, because the box-office takings for the first four days are crucial to determine whether the film goes into its second week. So many people say they are here fans, so what better way to demonstrate this than by watching her final film to be released in Malaysia, on the big screen as intended?

The film is rated 18PL; in fact, it's the only Yasmin film to get this restrictive rating, putting it in the exalted company of Bohsia: Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam and Jalang.

Pre-Malaysian novels in English set in Malaysia & Singapore

Presented in alphabetical order of author. Cut-off date is 1963
a) How many have you read?
b) How many sound like something you'd like to read?
c) Any mistakes/omissions?
This is for an upcoming book I am planning ;-)

Herman C AHRENS:
Give and Take, 1956

Archibald ALLISON
The Real Pirates of Borneo, 1898

William ALLISTER
A Handful of Rice, 1961

Eric AMBLER
Nightcomers, 1956
Passage of Arms, 1959

Liz ANAUGHTA
Blondes Prefer Tuans, 1934

Patrick ANDERSON
Snake Wine, a Singapore Episode, 1955

Sonia ANDERSON
Affair in Malaya, 1958
Malayan Interlude, 1961

O. ASHWELL
John Martin: Miner, 1914

H.C. ASTERLEY
Jungle Leech, 1935
Land of Short Shadows, 1932

K.E. Savage BAILEY
Squ-ee-umph, 1934

Hunter S. BANNER
The Clean Wind, 1931
Flamboyante, 1932
Hell's Harvest, 1934
The Mountain of Terror, 1928
Red Cobra, 1929
Terror Wave, 1935
Thus My Orient, 1947

C. BEATON-JONES
The Adventures of So Hi, 1950

David BINGLEY
Malayan Adventure, 1962

Gavin BLACK (pseudonym for Oswald Wynd)
Moon of the Tiger, 1958
The Gentle Pirate, 1951
Red Sun South, 1948
Suddenly at Singapore, 1961
A Walk in the Long Dark Night, 1962

Peter BLUNDELL (pseudonym for FN Butterworth)
The Banja Pirates, 1924
The Confessions of a Seaman, 1924
The Finger of Mr. Blee, 1913
The Little Brown Baby, 1925
Love Birds in the Coconuts, 1915
Princess of the Yellow Moon, 1922
The Sin of Godfrey Neil, 1920
Wanted: A Tortoise Shell, 1920

Pierre BOULLE
The Other Side of the Coin, 1958
Sacrilege in Malaya, 1959
The Test, 1957 (also published as White Man's Test)

FS BRERETON
With the Dyaks of Borneo, 1905

Lady Margaret BROOKE
Cauldron, 1926
Lost Property, 1930
Toys, 1923

Anthony BURGESS
The Malayan Trilogy (1964, but published individually from 1956-59).

Ellen BURGESS
Miss Hawkins: the Ocean Boarder, 1933

Alan CAILLOU (pseud. for Alan Lyle-Smythe)
Rampage, 1961

Sacha CARNEGIE
Sunset in the East, 1955

A. CATHERALL
Jackals of the Sea, 1955

D.B. CHIDSEY
Singapore Passage, 1957

CHIN Kee Oon
The Grand Illusion, 1961
Ma-Rai-Ee (later titled The Silent Enemy), 1952

James CLAVELL
King Rat, 1961

Valentine CLEMOW
My Candle Burns at Both Ends, 1947

Hugh CLIFFORD
A Freelance of Today, 1903
Saleh: A Prince of Malaya, 1926
Saleh: a Sequel, 1908 (I am not sure why this sequel appears several years before)
Since the Beginning: A Tale of an Eastern Land, 1898

R. COLLIER
The Lovely & The Damned, 1944

Norman COLLINS
Penang Appointment, 1934

(Mrs.) R.M. CONNOLLY
Bermadu: a Tale of Modern Malaya, 1911

Joan CONQUEST (Mrs Leonard Cook)
The Sale, 1930

Joseph CONRAD
Almayer's Folly, 1895
Lord Jim, 1900
An Outcast of the Islands, 1896
The Rescue, 1920

Arthur Owens COOKE
The Rajah's Ruby, 1929

Chester CORNISH (pseudonym for Alleyne Ireland)
Beating 'em to It; or. The Sultan and the Sausages, 1917

Mark CORRIGAN (pseud. for Norman Lee)
Singapore Downbeat, 1959

F. CRISP
The Chandu Men, 1955

F. de CROISSET
Lady in Malacca. 1936 (translated from La Dame De Malacca)

Clive DALTON (pseud. for F.S. Clark)
Always Afternoon, 1933
Island Spell, 1934
The Jesting Fates, 1938
Malay Boy, 1961
Malay Cause, 1962
Malay Island, 1962
Once to Every Man, 1935
The Spacious Days, 1939
Valiant Journey, 1935
White Pagan, 1932

Jessie A DAVIDSON
Dawn: a Romance of Malaya, 1926
Echo of a Bomb, 1957
Eyes of the Moon, 1927
The Fetters of Love, 1928
The Return of Gloria, 1926

Mark DERBY (pseud. for Harry Wilcox)
The Big Water, 1953
Echo of a Bomb, 1957
Five Nights in Singapore, 1961
Malayan Rose, 1951
Out of Asia Alive, 1954
Sun in the Hunter's Eyes, 1955
The Sunlit Ambush, 1955
The Tigress, 1959
Trail of Treasure, 1953

G.W. DE SILVA
Lupa, 1939
Only a Taxi Driver: a Romance of Singapore, 1939
The Princess of Malacca, 1938
Sulaiman goes to London: A Romance of the East, 1938

Michael EAST (pseud. for Morris L. West)
McCreary Moves in London, 1958

(Mrs) Egerton EASTWICK
The Governor's Wife, 1900
The Resident Councillor, 1898

Nina EPTON
The Golden Sword, 1957

Henri FAUCONNIER
The Soul of Malaya, 1931 (translated from Malaisie, 1930)

G. Manville FENN
Rajah of Dah, 1891
Middy and Ensign: or, a Tale of the Malay Peninsula, 1917
Trapped by Malays: a Tale of Bayonet and Kris, 1907 (PDF)

A.S. FLEISCHMAN
Malay Woman, 1954

W. Roberts FORAN
The Land of Fear, 1938

Gilbert FRANKAU
"Tid Apa" What Does it Matter?, 1915

William GARDINER
The Story of Pigou, a Malay Boy, 1922

SC GEORGE
The Bamboo Rod, 1951
Bright Moon in the Forest, 1946
Planter's Wife, 1946
The Wiles of Lim Quong, 1943

John GILBERT (pseud. for JB Harrison)
The Buff Envelope, 1958

(Major) Charles GILSON
The Cunning of Quang, 1935

G.M. GLASKIN
The Beach of Passionate Love, 1961

D. GODFREY
A Tale that is Told: a Romance, 1949

Louis GOLDING
No News from Helen, 1943

Leslie GREENER
No Time to Look Back, 1950

Ian GRIEG
The Tragedy of the Chinese Mine, 1930

Olive J. GROOM
Jungle Escape, 1957

Pelham GROOM (pseud.)
Latiff Investigates, 1960

HAN Su Yin
And the Rain My Drink..., 1956

Nourma HANFORD
Blood on the Leaves, 1953

HARUN Aminurrashid
A Malay Among the Portuguese, 1961 (translated from Panglima Awang, 1958)
The Kedayan Blood: A Borneo Story, 1960 (translated from Darah Kedayan, 1947)

Harry HARVEST
The Gay Sarong, 1926

Simon HARVESTER (pseud. for Henry Gibs)
The Golden Fear, 1957
An Hour Before Zero, 1959
The Yesterday Walkers, 1958

Michael HASTINGS
Coast of No Return, 1953
Death in Deep Green, 1952
The Man Who Came Back, 1957

Eric HAZELTON
Cocktail Alley, 1933
Exit Mrs Banks, 1935
Runaway Rascal, 1938
A Touch of the Sun, 1933

G.A. HENTY
Among Malay Pirates, 1899
In the Hands of the Malays, 1906

Hugh HICKLING
Festival of the Hungry Ghosts, 1957

A. HILLMAN & WW. Skeat
Salam the Mouse-Deer, 1938

David HORSLEY
The Time of the Locust, 1960

Mary HOWARD
The Men from Singapore: A Romance, 1946

Mingmeo HSU
Five Years in Love, 1959

Stanley Portal HYATT
The Black Pearl of Pieloo, a Tale of the Malay Seas, 1914

Nancy Ford INMAN
To the Ends of the Earth, 1952

Guy IRWIN
The Magician's Daughter, 1922

Edgar JEDSON
The Knight Errant, 1936

W.E. JOHNS
Biggles Delivers the Goods, 1946

Ray F KAUFFMAN
Coconut Wireless, 1948

Tom KAYE (pseud. for Barrington Kaye)
David, From Where He was Lying, 1962

Agnes Newton KEITH
Land Below the Wind, 1939
Three Come Home, 1948
White Man Returns, 1947

Mack KENTON
Ordeal of the Damned, 1951

Michael KEON
The Durian Tree, 1960

Frances Parkinson KEYES
Fielding's Folly, 1940

Guat-Hoom KHAN
The Jade is Green, 1960

James KINROSS
Eastern Gate, 1952

Eric LAMBERT
The Dark Backward, 1958

Rosalind LE FLEMING
Tomorrow to Fresh Woods, 1936

Peter LECKIE (pseud. for Peter Martin)
Eastern Slave, 1927
Malayan Nights, 1927

Norah LOFTS
Silver Nutmeg, 1947

Laurie E. LONG
Ernest Abaft Admidships, 1949

James MACDONALD
My Two Jungles, 1957

Alastair MACLEAN
South by Java Head, 1958

Mary MCMINNIES
The Flying Fox, 1956

F. Van Wyck MASON
Singapore Exile Murders, 1939

Joseph W.T. MASON
War Without Mercy

W.Somerset MAUGHAM
The Narrow Corner, 1932

Dorothy MEADE
Fatal Shadows, 1933

Violet Mary METHLEY
Spectre Jungle, 1961

Nicholas MONSARRAT
The White Rajah, 1961

Donald MOORE
The Sumatra, 1959

Isabel MOUNTAIN
A Maiden in Malaya, 1919

D. NABARRO
North from Singapore, 1956

M.P. O'CONNOR
Vile Repose, 1950

Jiro OSARAGI
Homecoming, 1955 (translated from Japanese)

Dorothy OSBORNE
Kanoka of the Pirates, 1958

Marion OSMOND
The Chinese Bungalow, 1923
Jungle Wallah, 1931
The Owl and the Moon, 1922
The Planter's Wife, 1927

Pierre Steplon Robert PAYNE
David and Anna, 1947
Singapore River, 1942

M. PEREIRA
River Grown Deep, 1959

W.D. PEREIRA
Serene Retreat, 1957

J.S. PHILLIPS
Malay Adventure, 1937

J. PLAYFAIR
The Nettlebed, 1952

Hal PORTER
A Handful of Pennies, 1958

C.C. REID
The Greatest Game, 1930

Eileen Arnott ROBERTSON
Four Frightened People, 1931
Three Came Unarmed, 1929

Own RUTTER
Chandu, 1913
The Pirate Wind, 1920
Sepia, 1926 (reprinted as Passion Fruit, 1934)

Denis & Claude SANTRY
Salubrious Singapore, 1920

Paul SCOTT
The Chinese Love Pavilion, 1960

Pabitra K. SEN-GUPTA
Rainbow Over Malaya, 1945

George SHEEN
Malayan Story, 1957

John SHERWOOD
Two Died in Singapore, 1954

Nevil SHUTE
Round the Bend, 1951
A Town Like Alice, 1950 (also published as The Legacy)

Alan SILLITOE
Key to the Door, 1961

Katherine SIM
Black Rice, 1959
The Jungle Ends Here, 1961
Malacca Boy, 1957
The Moon at My Feet, 1959

John SLIMMING
In Fear of Silence, 1959

Homer W. SMITH
End of an Illusion, 1935

Anna SOFTLY
The White Garland, 1958

Robert STANDISH (pseud. for D.G. Gerahty)
Follow the Seventh Man, 1950
Storm Centre, 1951

Clarence STRATTON
In Singapore. The Story of a Strange Search, 1932

John SYKES
The Colonial, 1962

Malcom TANNACK
Uneasy Money, 1957

Alan THOMAS
The Death of Lawrence Viving, 1929

E.P. THORNE
Red Bamboo, 1954

H.M. TOMLINSON
Galleon's Reach, 1927

Elleston TREVOR (pseud. for Trevor Dudley-Smith)
The Burning Shore, 1961

James R. ULLMAN
Windom's Way, 1952

E.C. VIVIAN
The Tale of Fleur, 1930

W. Melville WACE
Yolande of Johore, 1929

H. WEALE
Winter is Past, 1955 (Mills & Boon!!)

C. WHITE
Seven Tickets to Singapore, 1941

R. WILDMAN
The Panglima Muda, a Romance of Malaya, 1894

G.P. WILLIS and M.P. O'connor
It Began in Singapore, 1958
Escape at Dawn, 1961

Roswell WILLIAMS (pseud. for Frank Owen)
Loves of Loh Fah, 1936

Dale WILMER (pseud.)
Jungle Heat, 1954

D.C. WILSON
Blue Jungle, 1928

Hector WINTLE
The Final Victory, `1935

John Vectic Carew WYLLIE
Goodly Seed, 1953

Susan YORKE
Agency House, 1962
Captain China, 1961 (this is the British title; listed in the US as Capitan China)

Norma YOUNGBERG
Tiger of Bitter Valley, 1957


List edited from a much longer piece by William R. Roff in JMBRAS Vol. 55. Special thanks to Guat!!

This is how I spent the morning of my birthday

At 11:45am today, the first 200 copies of What Your Teacher Didn't Tell You rolled off the printer and were cut and packaged. The launch is tonight! But we in Matahari Books believe in living dangerously ;-)

I think it's the most gorgeous book we have produced! Full credit to Liza Manshoor (the designer) as well Mr & Mrs Heng (the printer) and Fallon (who provided the difficult-to-get, thick 100% recycled paper that we used).

See you tonight, Insya-Allah. Phew!

In my speech, I will reveal how I first met Farish. (Some ulama from north of the country were involved!)

All the Malaysian films that will screen in Paris from Dec - Feb.

These are the modern Malaysian films that will screen at the Singapore-Malaysian Film focus in Paris which runs from mid-December to the end of February. In addition to these, modern Singapore films and classic films of the studio era (made in Singapore, but usually in Malay) will be shown, aussi.

Click to enlarge:









All events take place at the Pompidou Centre. (Site not updated yet, methinks.) More on the venue here.

I will be there to blab about my very own The Big Durian and Malaysian Gods.

Plus, my talk on Yasmin Ahmad's Films is there on Saturday, 23 January 5:30pm. Entrance is free but space is limited. Oh yes, the French price for the book has been set at 15 Euros and it will be stocked at the Pompidou Bookshop, one of the largest film-related bookshops in France.

My Top 10 films of the decade, to be published in Film Comment magazine

In memory of Alexis Tioseco (1981-2009), for Film Comment, this is my Top 10 Southeast Asian feature films of the decade, listed alphabetically:

Batang West Side (Lav Diaz, The Philippines, 2001)

Call if you Need Me (James Lee, Malaysia, 2009)

Demons (Pangarap ng Puso) (Mario O' Hara, The Philippines, 2000)

Eliana, Eliana (Riri Riza, Indonesia, 2002)

Mendadak Dangdut (Rudi Soedjarwo, Indonesia, 2006)

Mukhsin (Yasmin Ahmad, Malaysia, 2006)

A Poet (Puisi Tak Terkuburkan) (Garin Nugroho, Indonesia, 2000)

Shutter (Banjong Pisanthanakun & Parkpoom Wongpoom, Thailand, 2004)

Squatterpunk (Iskwaterpangk) (*with live musical accompaniment by Khavn and friends) (Khavn, The Philippines, 2007)

Tropical Malady (Sud Pralad) (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand, 2004)