‘Punched' Lines hits Kuala Lumpur

By Helena Hon

The human comedy book.

MC Jeffrey Ong, TV personality, holds talk session with writers.

The crowd at the MPH Mid Valley Megamall launch.

L-R: Brunei's Adrina Agus Din, a teacher and one of the youngest writers in the book, talks about her first day of teaching; Brunei's Syed Rory Malai Hassan , who wrote 'Sox' and 'My Little Green Pillow'; writer Helena Hon; Malaysia's Yasmin Yaacob, a well-known script writer, tells how she got her husband to marry her; and Malaysia's M Zulkifli, an ex-magistrate, recalls his funny experiences when he was sitting on the bench.
A mid a crowd of expectant faces, five of the writers of Brunei Press' 'Punched' Lines: Sit-down comedy from Southeast Asia' converged at MPH Mid Valley Megamall in the late afternoon of August 4. It was a moment of reckoning for Brunei Press as its book had now come to Malaysian shores to make itself known to a brand new crowd.

'Punched' Lines, a short story book of human comedy written by writers in Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore, was first launched in Brunei Darussalam two months ago. Response from the public was tremendous and sales so far has shown that for a local book, it has placed itself firmly in the Bruneian bestseller list. The Malaysian launch was therefore its first foray into a foreign market.

Two Bruneian writers, Syed Rory Malai Hassan and Adrina Agus Din, plus one Malaysian writer based in the Sultanate, flew in specially for the occasion, meeting for the first time, their counterparts in Kuala Lumpur, M Zulkifli Jalil and Yasmin Yaacob. For all of them, it was a getting together that was especially significant as the writers had met only in cyberspace. The whole publication was, in fact, compiled through the Internet. The writers were found via e-mail and stories were sent through the same medium. Even the Malaysian writers didn't know one another until that day. 'Punched' Lines was therefore an archetype of 21st century technology - a whole book had become reality through virtual reality.

On that day, the guests comprising reporters and photographers from the Star, NST, The Sun, The Edge and the various Malaysian press, advertising agency representatives, publishers, friends and relatives, thronged at MPH Mid Valley Megamall. Ready for a good time, they were receptive to the mood of the occasion. There was an easy banter arising from the sea of faces where many asked questions about personal insights, taking photographs in between, and generally mingled and gave their whole hearted support Jeffrey Ong, a well-known TV personality and one-time swimmer-of-the-year for Malaysia was the MC for that day. He led and held the show and kept the crowd in stitches as he held an 'Oprah Winfrey' style talk session with the writers, inviting the 60-strong crowd to participate in the quiz session. Those who answered correctly received instant prizes.

Jeffrey as the host asked a lot of clever questions, inviting quick wit from the writers. Like the one where he asked M Zulkifli about his ability to manage his time.

"So how do you manage to write your stories and do so much work in between your real work?"

To which Zul replied, "Oh, I always make sure I do my personal work during office hours."

MPH resounded with so much laughter that the public milling around craned their necks over shoulders of the invited guests to attempt to join in. After all, no one was excluded from winning a prize as anyone who had paid attention and answered Jeffrey's questions correctly, walked home that much rewarded.

As with the Brunei launch, the audience rushed forward for an autograph session with the writers after the show. Some bought as many as three copies for friends and relatives.

'Punched' Lines was launched in MPH, Sunway Pyramid the following day for the convenience of the Petaling Jaya residents.

The face-to-face events in the bookstores were the second promotional agenda for the book. Prior to this, the writers had gone on a one and a half-hour radio show with Paula Malai Ali on Rediffussion's Paula's Power Lunch Programme, two days before. Coupled with the publicity created by several netzine reviews, the Malaysian reading circle was aware of 'Punched' Lines, well before its launch.

The publicity blitz is not yet over for the book. After the launch, the five writers went on to record a TV talkshow with Anita Pandian of Moving On Two, TV2. It will be aired sometime in September. Before that, they will be appearing for a short clip during a TV2 Merdeka Day Show on 31st August. So do keep your eyes peeled on how Brunei and 'Punched' Lines, are making waves in West Malaysia.
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