Talk at Sekolah Sri Tenby with Diana

Finding your Voice Talk

Perdana Leadership Foundation invited Kenny Mah and I for a talk at MPH in conjunction with their essay competition. This is a write up by Alicia Loh which was published in The New Straits Times on 20 September 2012.

The first writing forum organized by PLF (Perdana Leadership Foundation) together with Maybank Foundation this year took place in MPH Megastore One Utama on August 11 2012, in conjunction with this year’s Maybank Foundation-Perdana Leadership Foundation Essay Competition. The special guests who spoke were Lydia Teh, author of six published books, including Honk! If You’re Malaysian, and Kenny Mah, whose blog Life For Beginners is one of the longest running blogs in the nation.

Lydia began the talk first, sharing some passages written by famous authors such as Bill Bryson, and showing what makes each of them unique, telling us that it is their style that makes their writing easy to pick out even before you know who the author is.

Besides style, another thing she stressed was the voice of the writer. “Voice is your thumbprint in writing,” said Lydia, who places great importance on having a unique identity in writing. For Kenny, the old adage on finding one’s voice doesn’t quite hold true. “Finding your voice, to me, doesn’t exist,” began Kenny. “There is no such thing… You cannot find your voice because it’s not lost. You have a voice right now, even if you’re writing little posts on Facebook… You have your style of writing. It’s not so much about finding your voice, but… appreciating the fact that your voice will change over time.” That alone, however, is not enough, and Kenny made sure to tell us that, “The thing you need to do before any of the tips… is to commit to writing.”

Both writers underscored the importance of both reading and writing, as it is through practice that one hones the skill. Lydia also gave a rather interesting piece of advice, and that is to emulate the style of other writers. “I’m not saying you should copy… That’s called plagiarism. What I’m saying is that you [should] copy the style, what sort of tone…” Next, she advised writers to keep their audiences in mind. People have different ways of talking to people of various ages, and this should translate onto paper, too. “Use the right words,” she added.

When a young girl in the audience asked what the right timeframe to become a good writer is, Lydia replied frankly that she didn’t know. “It’s all up to you; how fast you learn, how much you read,” she said, “And let nobody say that you can’t write. You can learn to write. It isn’t an inborn talent… It’s a talent that can be developed.” Kenny had a different approach, saying that, “I think the aim is just to be a good writer, because it’s very hard to define what is a good writer… Instead of asking that question, why not set a goal for yourself?”

As for why young people should write, “It’s a means of escape,” answered Lydia, “And when you write down things, it helps you analyze.” For Kenny, writing is important to record events in one’s life, and the things that shape a person.

If you’re interested in writing, or want to find out more about it, PLF has another writing forum scheduled on the September 30, in MPH Megastore. As for the Essay Competition, the Grand Prize winner will walk away with RM8,000, whilst the other winners will also receive attractive prizes. The deadline for the competition is October 31, 2012. You can read the details at www.perdanaessaycompetition.com.my.

For pictures of the event, hop over to PLF's Facebook page.

Of Books and Cooks

There were two parts to this programme. Mine was held on 7 March at MPH One Utama.

Inspiring Women to Share Their Talents (NST 22 March 2011)

PETALING JAYA: In conjunction with the recent International Women's Day, WEVents, a women-only social gathering, kick-started its Inspire series this month with two back-to-back events, themed "Of Books and Cooks".

Part One of the event on books and writing was held at MPH's Reader's Lounge at 1 Utama Shopping Centre, while the second on cooking was held at The Food Recipe's Cooking Club.

"We have just completed four instalments of our Desire Series events which focused on things that women desire such as shoes, hair and lingerie.

"We are now embarking on our Inspire Series which touch on themes that inspire women, to encourage them to use their natural talents such as cooking or writing to do great things," said Jeanisha Wan, founder of WEVents.

Speaking at the book event held recently was award-winning Malaysian author, Lydia Teh, who wrote Honk! If You're Malaysian.

Teh shared with the lady audience and aspiring authors, useful tips on writing and her personal journey in becoming a best-selling author. The event, supported by MPH Bookstores, ended with a book-signing session.....

Read more: Inspiring women to use their talents http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles
/10icw/Article/#ixzz1HRTdSUWQ

More at the WeVents website.

Talk at UCSI

Invited by Ken Choong of UCSI to give a talk in conjunction with International Women's Day 2011. The attendance was very good - the best so far in any of my talks. There is a reason for this but I'm not telling. If you're a student in a local college or university, you probably know what I'm talking about.

The students paid rapt attention (other than the odd two or three who were fiddling with their handphone). I suppose my Power Point presentation did its part to captivate them. I gave away some book vouchers as prizes to the quiz I conducted after the talk. When the event was over, several students asked me to pose for photos with them. Made me feel like a celebrity.

Perdana Leadership Foundation Talk

22 August 2010

PLF invited me to give a talk on personalizing your essays in conjunction with their essay writing contest with the theme of Nurturing The Minds of Future Leaders. The grand prize includes RM7,000 cash, a netbook, an e-book reader and RM500 MPH vouchers. If I were in the 18-25 age group, I will definitely enter the contest. Since I'm not, I will bug two of my kids to take a shot at it. The closing date is 30 September 2010.

My co-speaker is Professor Murad Merican, Universiti Petronas Professor and author of Media History: Worldviews and Communication Futures. He is a learned man and spoke very well indeed. I sound absolutely shallow compared with him.



Zarina of PLF has done a good job in recording the proceedings. Since it is posted at the PLF's essay website, I shall just point you there to read all about it. The earlier talk with Dina Zaman and Dr. Ong Kian Ming is up too.


Dr. Murad and his wife are on the left. Zarina (wearing headscarf) and the rest of the PLF gang.

The nice display of my books as the backdrop for the talk.

Post Script: A highlight for me was when a participant, Vidia, produced Honk! If You're Malaysian for me to autograph. It belongs to her friend, Kala who is a fan of my book but unfortunately couldn't attend the talk to get my prized signature. Nice.

This is from the Bernama website:

LYDIA TEH AND PROFESSOR DR AHMAD MURAD MERICAN SHARE ESSAY WRITING TIPS AT THE PERDANA LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION – MPH ESSAY COMPETITION 2010 PUBLIC TALK

Monday 23/08/2010

Kuala Lumpur, 23 August - The Art Of Personalising Essays And Infusing Writing With Passion Were Addressed By Ms. Lydia Teh And Professor Dr. Ahmad Murad Merican At A Public Talk Yesterday At MPH 1Utama On “Essay Writing Dos And Don’ts”. The Talk, Organised By The Perdana Leadership Foundation And MPH Group, Was Held In Conjunction With The Perdana Leadership Foundation-MPH Essay Competition 2010.

Ms Lydia Teh, the author of “Honk If You Are Malaysian” kicked off the public talk by sharing her writing secret, an acronym, “A SASH ICE” which stands for:
· Active (use the active rather passive voice),
· Simple (avoiding convoluted sentences and obscure words),
· Accurate (checking and double-checking your facts),
· Senses (appealing to the five senses),
· Hook (beginning with an irresistible situation or scene),
· Illustration (using anecdotes and stories to strengthen your points),
· Connection (laying out the connection between the anecdotes and your arguments) and Experience (being willing to share parts of your personal experience with your readers)”

Using this as a guide for her writing, Lydia recounted her experience as a writer and how she translated her personal experience into bestsellers.

Professor Dr. Ahmad Murad Merican, NST Learning Curve columnist and also the Perdana Leadership Honorary President Resident Fellow, described writing as an art, a form of self-expression. He urged everyone to “be present” in their writing and not to be too detached from the work they produce. “Writing is a jungle”, he said, and you often cannot see the path except by hacking through the noise (refining your arguments) and clearing your own way (deciding on your angle). He mentioned personal experience as a rich starting point for writing ideas and for further research.

This talk is the second instalment of a series of Public Talks that Perdana Leadership Foundation and MPH are organising to encourage young Malaysians between the ages of 18 and 25 to participate in the 2010 Essay Competition which is running until 30th September 2010. Themed “Malaysia in a Globalised World”, the competition invites young Malaysians to submit a 2,000 word essay on any one of the following topics: high income economy, Malaysia’s global competitiveness, and Vision 2020 in either Bahasa Malaysia or English.

The competition offers attractive prizes such as RM7,000 in cash for the Grand Prize winner, a Netbook, an E-Reader as well as MPH book vouchers. Additionally, the Grand Prize winner’s college or university will also be rewarded with a computer workstation and RM500 book voucher from MPH, as will the institution that sends in the most number of entries.

The third Public Talk will be held on 5 September 2010 at MPH One Utama and will feature three personalities; Ms Alexandra Wong, The Star columnist who will talk about selecting writing perspectives, Mr Daniel Chandranayagam, the author of “Fraser’s Hill Haunts” who will elaborate on opinion writing and Mr Amir Muhammad, movie-maker and author of several books including “Rojak” who will share writing tips with the audience.

Established in the year 2003, PLF is a non-profit organisation dedicated to Malaysia’s leadership history, highlighting in particular the policies, strategies and contributions of Malaysia’s past Prime Ministers. The Foundation preserves, documents and disseminates materials – including speeches, news clippings and magazine articles – related to the country’s rich intellectual heritage. Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s fourth Prime Minister, is the Foundation’s Honorary President.

Further details on the contest are available online at www.PerdanaEssayCompetition.com.my and http://www.mphclick.com .

SOURCE : PERDANA LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION