By The Star, Malaysia’s Leading English Daily
A cute, nifty, handbag-friendly new book has hit the market in time for our 51st Merdeka. Smartly called 50+1.Malaysia, the book is an ode to the nation.
Just when we thought the dust had settled after our lavish coming-of-age party last year commemorating a half-century of independence, the year 2008 brings a tiny but charming tome exalting our beloved land.
The size of a large wallet, the feel-good 50+1.Malaysia is the brainchild of Quachee, who at 26, was just one year old when Malaysia was a quarter-century old.
The sometimes model and self-described “dreamer entrepreneur” describes the book as an “entertainment-travel guidebook”. But it is less Time Out Malaysia and more of a condensed and instant dose of Malaysiana.
The book is perfect as a present for foreign friends or Malaysian students who have stayed away too long.
Handy read: Author Quachee and his pocketsized book, 50+1. Malaysia.
Of course, it includes the inevitable, like Food, Places to Visit, Things to Do and Festivals, etc. These are rather run-of-the-mill but the saving grace is in the first and last two chapters.
The chapter Truly Malaysian deals with Malaysian English and explains the nuances of such words from the vernacular as lah, one, aiyoh, chin chai, yam seng, syiok, ta pao, belanja and alamak. Quachee, like Kit Leee, calls it “Manglish”, which gives it the impression of being mangled English, which it is in a sense.
There is also a discourse on Malaysian fabrics and fashion. This is not surprising, considering the fact that Quachee’s first publication was the lavish coffee-table book Batik Inspirations.
The opening gambit succeeds in grabbing our attention as it delves on all things Malaysian, from the way we speak, to the Malaysian car, to hibiscus, MyKad, gamelan and a mishmash of familiar and little-heard-of stuff.
Every chapter features exactly 51 items (now why are we not surprised?), which makes the book easy to read and refer to. One suspect, though, that occasionally Quachee had to stretch or shorten each description to accommodate the holy grail of 51.
Invariably, some of these overlap, like cave exploration, which is found in both Places to Visit and Things to Do.
Most entries deal with the things that any free tourist brochure will include, from satay to laksa, yong tau fu to buah keluak, Jonker Street in Malacca to Suria KLCC, all the major state museums, cultural villages, temples, caves, islands, forest reserves, beaches and you get the drift.
More interesting is the line-up of notable Malaysians. Badminton silver medallist Lee Chong Wei’s triumph at the recent Olympics came too late for him to be included in the list, but Lee is described as “one of Malaysia’s most promising badminton players”.
This shows Quachee to have his pulse on the who’s who of the sporting and entertainment world. More examples: he lists Maya Karin and Rosyam Nor,both of whom recently won Best Actress and Best Actor nods at the 21st Malaysian Film Festival.
The drawback is the lack of photos in the book. Not all of those honoured in 50+1.Malaysia have their mugshots included.
Of the 51 Malaysians, only 30 come with their photos attached, and these tend to be among the most photographed personalities, like angkasawan Datuk Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, Chef Wan, Erra Fazira, Mawi, Maya Karin, Jaclyn Victor, Fish Leong, Datuk Michelle Yeoh and Amber Chia.
Not that many know or have heard of Fasha Sandha, who limps in with a mere five sentences, Jazeman Jaafar, Penny Tai, Rynn Lim and Saiful Apek. Quachee also has a penchant for songwriters.
The last chapter, 50+1 Love Expressions, is postcard-perfect with tributes and pretty pictures by ordinary Malaysians showing, among other things, cascades of the Malaysian flags. The websites of contributors are listed should you get the urge to download what you see.
A few of the entries are deadly wishy-washy, like number 49 who croons “Malaysia is a sea of love ? a master of everything”. However, some have sent in gems worthy of your time.
At number 44, The Last Patriot is rather moving, focusing on a Proton crest held in the palm of a hand painted (or photo-shopped!) in the Malaysian flag colours.
Fazri Nuha writes: “We may have been hurt and have had misgivings but the future is in our hands. We can crush that little piece of plastic, drop it into a drain ? or hold on to it and do our best to keep it safe and secure for the sake of our future.”
The most irritating aspect that gets on my nerves?
The headings at the top of each page, which squeals “bookmarQC” with the QC highlighted to represent QuaChee. I should think readers would appreciate it more if one page actually lists the name of the chapter instead. As it is, there are 211 pages containing “bookmarQC”.
Well, this is Quachee’s party and he can do what he likes.
