Making their mark
The lives of the extraordinary are highlighted in the nonfiction category of this year’s Popular-The Star Readers’ Choice Awards.
BE the best that you can be. Influential civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr once said: “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well’.”
Many of the nominees in this year’s nonfiction category of the Popular-The Star Readers’ Choice Awards (RCA) are certainly testament to that. Many of these titles chronicle the lives of men and women who rose above their ordinary circumstances to make an impact on the world.
Flying High, for example, has Tan Sri Dr Tony Fernandes explaining in his own words how he took over a struggling airline and turned it into one of the most successful travel carriers in the region. In the same vein, A Driver’s Son is the memoir of Tan Sri Shamsuddin Abdul Kadir, telling how he rose from humble beginnings to become one of the nation’s most prominent businessmen. And Tan Sri Robert Kuok relates the story of how he became successful in Robert Kuok: A Memoir, told with Andrew Tanzer.
In When The Chicken Dies, Everyone Cries, Boonsiri Somchit relates how lessons learnt in her humble childhood kampung helped her in the business world. And in TFor Teacher, Cheryl Ann Fernando shares the story of how she left her comfy job to make a difference in the lives of students as a teacher.
Many of the titles chronicle inspiring stories of people who became winners – and by voting for your favourite title nominated in the RCA this year, you too could become a winner, too.
Now in its 11th year, the RCA – which is organised by Popular Bookstores Malaysia – is held annually to reward and encourage local authors, and also to foster a love of reading in Malaysians. Its nominees are chosen from last year’s bestselling local fiction and nonfiction titles in Popular and Harris bookstores nationwide. And you, dear reader, get to choose the winners when you vote for your favourites among the 10 fiction and 10 nonfiction titles nominated.
The voting period began earlier this month and goes on until May 13 this year. Winning authors will be presented with their awards during a ceremony at the Main Stage in Hall 1 of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre at 10.30am on June 9.
How do you win? All you have to do is vote for your top three favourite titles in the fiction and nonfiction categories (that’s six choices all together) to be in the running for prizes: 100 selected RCA voters will receive a one-year-free-membership Popular Card, as well as a RM50 gift voucher.
There are several ways in which you can vote: You can fill up contest forms that you can get at Popular and Harris bookstore outlets nationwide or in The Star newspaper – today’s form is on the right on page 7. You can also vote online at popular.com. my, facebook.com/popularmalaysia, bookfestmalaysia.com or facebook.com/ bookfestmalaysia.
All nominated titles will be sold at a 20% discount at Popular and Harris outlets nationwide during the voting period.
Not sure who to vote for? Here is the complete list of all 10 titles nominated in the nonfiction category this year (arranged in no particular order).
Flying High By Tony Fernandes
FLYING High is the memoir of an exceptional business leader. Tony Fernandes is known as the man who created Asia’s first budget airline, democratising air travel in Asia and building AirAsia into a multi-billion-dollar company in the process. He’s also helped the Queen’s Park Rangers (QPR) football team reach the Premier League again after a 15-year absence.
Tan Sri Dr Tony Fernandes studied at Epsom College, UK, and the London School of Accountancy. He worked for Virgin Communications and Warner Music before acquiring AirAsia and relaunching it as Asia’s first low-cost carrier from 2001-2002. He is currently Group CEO of AirAsia, Chairman of QPR football club and owner of the Caterham F1 team.
Robert Kuok: A Memoir By Robert Kuok & Andrew Tanzer
IN these memoirs, the 94-year-old Kuok tells the remarkable story of how, starting in British colonial Malaya, he built a multiindustry, multinational business group. In reflecting on 75 years of conducting business, he offers management insights, discusses strategies and lessons learned, and relates his principles, philosophy, and moral code.
Tan Sri Robert Kuok is one of the most highly respected businessmen in Asia. His business interests include sugarcane plantations, sugar refineries, flour milling, animal feed, oil, mining, finance, hotels, properties, trading, freight and publishing. Andrew Tanzer worked as a correspondent in East Asia for 20 years for the Far Eastern Economic Review and Forbes magazines.
Letters To Home Edited by Ooi Kok Hin, Aish Kumar & Nik Mohamed Rashid Nik Zurin
Drawing from 24 universities spread over seven countries, the editors asked young Malaysians to pen down their dreams, fears, concerns, aspirations, and hopes for this nation.
Ooi Kok Hin graduated in Ohio, worked in Penang, and is now studying again in Japan. Nik Mohamed Rashid Nik Zurin graduated in Texas and can now speak German. Aish Kumar graduated from Pennsylvania and loves to travel.
Sky Tales By Lim Khoy Hing
SKY Tales is a fascinating collection of tips, advice, anecdotes and tales from Captain Lim’s distinguished flying career. In his frequently entertaining and always enlightening style, Captain Lim’s insight ranges from aviation safety and the rigorous training airline crew go through to details on aircraft technology and navigation in tricky weather conditions.
Captain Lim Khoy Hing is an ex-airline pilot who is passionate about flying. He finished his flying career with AirAsia X, retiring from flying in 2011. He is currently a flight simulator instructor with AirAsia X, and columnist for the carrier’s inflight magazine, Travel 3Sixty. His first book, Life In The Skies, was published in 2013.
Kuala Lumpur Undercover II By Ewe Paik Leong
FOLLOWING the success of his first book, Kuala Lumpur Undercover (2013) – the book was reportedly used by the authorities to shut down several red light districts – author Ewe Paik Leong digs even deeper into the city’s dark underbelly as he once again goes on the trail of KL’s ladies of the night.
Ewe Paik Leong is a novelist and member of the California-based International Thriller Writers group. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the nationally accredited Southwest University in Kenner, Los Angeles. Ewe lives in Kuala Lumpur with his wife and daughter.
When The Chicken Dies, Everyone Cries By Boomsiri Somchit
IN a corporate jungle obsessed with hype, office politics and the never-ending race for promotion, position and power, textbook leadership skills are failing to bridge the gap
between management and a company’s most precious commodity: people. Drawing on lessons learnt early in life as she grew up in a tiny Malaysian village, Boonsiri Somchit shows what it takes to truly engage and lead from the heart. Boonsiri Somchit-Ong is a highly accomplished finance and operations professional with over three decades of experience. She has held senior leadership positions in several multinational companies including Motorola, Komag and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
A Driver’s Son By Tan Sri Shamsuddin Abdul Kadir
A DRIVER’S Son is Tan Sri Shamsuddin Abdul Kadir’s first published autobiography. He reveals in his own words how he lived through poverty and navigated his way to the top of the business hierarchy. The memoir documents more than just a legacy of business, though; it is also a story of family, humility, loss, gratitude, and one man’s richness of spirit.
Tan Sri Shamsuddin Abdul Kadir isa founder of Sapura Holdings Sdn Bhd and one of Malaysia’s most successful Malay entrepreneurs.
The Tudung Anthology Edited by Azalia Zaharuddin
THE Tudung Anthology features essays, fiction and comics by women writers. This is a book about a seemingly simple piece of cloth, and how it is able to weave its way into the hearts and minds of people, causing multiple and different chains of reactions.
Azalia Zaharuddin is currently pursuing her doctorate in second language acquisition at Utsunomiya University, Japan. She enjoys journalling and writing poetry when not busy reading about new research and theories.
T For Teacher By Cheryl Ann Fernando
IN 2012, Cheryl Ann Fernando resigned from her corporate job and left Kuala Lumpur to teach in Sungai Petani, Kedah. T For Teacher chronicles her three years of mayhem, tears and tiny glimpses of success. She reflects on entering the classroom with no teaching experience and trying her very best to make a difference in the lives of her students.
Cheryl Ann Fernando is passionate about education and writing. Her experiences in school inspired the 2017 movie Adiwiraku, one of the few education-related films in Malaysia. She was a public relations consultant for four years before joining nonprofit organisation Teach for Malaysia to teach in Sungai Petani.
The Travels Of Marco Yolo By Marco Ferrarese
HITCHHIKING along Malaysia’s Federal Highway with one exponent of each of the nation’s ethnic groups. Hanging out with black metallers in Bangladesh. Getting lost on Nepal’s less popular hiking trail without a map .... It may all sound bonkers, but it’s all in a day’s work for travel writer Marco Ferrarese, a guru of the “You Only Live Once” life mantra.
Marco Ferrarese has lived in Penang since 2009 and is an expert on Malaysia and Borneo. He authored chapters on Malaysia and Brunei for the Rough Guides and published several books. He has written on travel, culture and extreme music in Asia for a variety of international publications and shares his Penang intelligence on the Penang Insider website, penang-insider.com.