The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Posted: 25 Dec 2011 05:32 AM PST TO commemorate The Star's 40th anniversary in 2011, Star Publications (M) Bhd compiled some of the best photos the paper's lensmen have taken over the years in a coffee table book. Hotshots, comprising over 200 glossy pages of arresting, intriguing and memorable images, retails for RM59.90 and is currently available at all major bookstores nationwide as well as online at magazine.mobile88.com/thestar/bookstore. Some of the images from the book will be shared in other ways, including: > As a creative window display at Kinokuniya Bookstores at Suria KLCC from Jan 4-Feb 12, 2012; > At the Hotshots photo exhibition at Galeri Petronas, Suria KLCC, for six weeks beginning on Jan 20, 2012. Hotshots' official partner is Canon Marketing Malaysia Sdn Bhd. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 24 Dec 2011 11:23 PM PST It is a love for the rare printed words rather than commerce that drives this man. WILLIAM Knox never set out to be a bookseller. A lawyer practising Britain for half his life, Knox devoted the last 15 years to community peace work in Sri Lanka during the conflict era. "It was the worst paid job in my life but it's the place where I could be perfectly honest about myself and what I was doing, and still be effective in my work," says the soft-spoken gentleman who is a Quaker (a movement with Christian roots that began in England in the 17th century). Known for their belief in non-violence and peace work, Quakers have been pivotal in founding international, non-religious relief agencies like Oxfam and the Save the Children Fund. Together with local Sri Lankans, Knox set up an NGO called Peace and Community Action. Towards the end of his stint in Sri Lanka, cupid struck. Knox met and fell in love with a Penangite while on transit in Singapore's Changi Airport. After he and Susan got married, they moved to her hometown in 2009 and looked forward to a peaceful retirement. Knox says that he's been a book lover all his life with a particular interest in books about the place where he lives. Not surprisingly, he comes from a rather bookish, literary background: his father was a journalist; his aunt, a Booker Prize winner; and his grandfather, a newspaper editor. Knox also spent a large part of his childhood in Asia when his father worked as a foreign correspondent in Singapore, Hong Kong and India for British newspapers like The Observer and The Telegraph. But after settling down here, Knox discovered to his dismay that it wasn't easy finding bookshops selling a wide range of literature, both newly published and old stuff about Malaysia and Asia. He scoured used bookshops, flea markets, online bookstores and eBay to no avail. "Personally, I like reading books on politics, history, anthropology, religion and fiction," says Knox, 63, adding that, "You'd be surprised how much you can learn about a place and its culture from fiction." "A fiction writer tends to look for more ways to engage the readers and give flavours and insights into the place compared with writers who target a limited market in academics, for example," he explains at a recent interview in Kuala Lumpur. Some of Knox's favourite titles on Penang and Malaysia include Tan Twan Eng's The Gift of Rain (2008, longlisted for the 2007 Booker Prize) and Tash Aw's The Harmony Silk Factory (2005, longlisted for the 2005 Booker Prize). As his stash of books piled up, Knox decided to set up a small bookstall at the once-a-month arts and culture-themed Little Penang Street Market so he could get rid of some books and acquire more to read. The online retail arm, penangbookshelf.com, set up in November 2010, was a natural progression for Knox. Once he went online and became more than an amateur collector, Knox began stocking a broad range of books and now constantly picks his customers' brains to get an idea what they want to read. "For example, I never realised British romantic novelist Barbara Cartland wrote a book called Paradise In Penang though she's probably never been within a million miles of Penang," he chuckles. "But I'm prepared to stock romantic novels – and surprisingly, it's selling quite well and I keep having to re-stock it!" One recent acquisition, in September, was a large collection of rare Malay language books in the Jawi and Rumi scripts. Sourcing for good titles or rare editions has turned out to be quite an adventure for Knox. "What surprises me is how quickly books disappear off the face of the map," says Knox. "For some titles, I'm selling the only ones available on the Internet." One of the rare books he bought over eBay was a book that teaches Malay that was anglicized and written by an anonymous writer in 1930s. Ironically, Knox finds it easier to find used books in tiptop condition overseas than in Malaysia. "I think it has to do with the weather and humidity. Books that have been taken back to the UK or left there are normally in better condition," he explains. To date, Knox's book collection has burgeoned to over 1,500 but only about 300 titles are posted online. He painstakingly describes each book in a few paragraphs in addition to the usual publishers' blurbs. Customers have bought books they had never even heard of because of what Knox had written. "Writing the blurbs is very time-consuming but satisfying," he smiles. "I spent most of my life as a book buyer and I understand how much the extra touches mean to a customer. So far, I've never had a book returned yet. "But one of the sad things about doing this business is I don't read as much as I used to," he laments. "I keep saying I must make time to read...." Knox isn't exactly raking in money from his book business. In fact, he takes in only an average RM500 a month, minus the overhead. But that doesn't matter, Knox explains. "About a year ago, I knew nothing about books about Malaysia or Asia. It's fascinating that now, I can actually speak quite authoritatively on the subject when someone comes into my bookstore," he says. "Coming to a new country, this (The Penang Bookshelf) has also given me an identity in the community and is a great way for me to meet new people and make new friends." One of the many Kodak moments that made it worthwhile for Knox? "Just recently, a couple of 12, 13-year-olds came into the shop and asked me, 'Can you sell us some history books that don't tell us the type of history we can get from our history textbooks?'" Knox happily sat down with the kids and started pulling out books like readable biographies. His customers aren't just old folks who grew up in colonial times. They are basically book lovers who are looking to broaden their interest or world views. "Besides, if the business winds up and people stop buying, at least I've got a library about Malaysia to read...." Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 24 Dec 2011 11:14 PM PST A book of news images taken over four decades says as much about the growth of the country as the versatility of the hotshots behind the lens. IN news writing, words alone are often not enough to tell the whole story, no matter how erudite or eloquent the reporter. Thus the photographer comes in, with pictures that zoom in on details that are best told visually. A good photograph immediately draws your eye to the heart of a story and adds another dimension to it, whether it's a close-up of a politician's tear-streaked face, an overhead view of a bare hill slope, the collective roar of euphoric sports fans, or a young boy's quiet courage. Hotshots – 40 Years Of Great News Images By The Star Photographers is a collection of pictures that captures the people, events and landmarks that have made the headlines in Malaysia, and neighbouring countries. In turn, this visual archive, selected from thousands of favourite shots by The Star's team of "hotshots" (or pixmen), "defines a nation through its growing years". You used to be able to spot the press photographer from the sophisticated equipment strapped round his neck and arms. Digital cameras may have lightened the load somewhat, but the challenge of capturing the precise moment that makes a newsworthy image remains unchanged. And what stories these images tell, about the progression From Film to Digital, the birth of "North Malaysia's Bright New Daily", Newsmakers, Conflicts & Disasters, Sports, and Society & Arts! Hotshots spreads out memorable award-winning photos and graphics, and many pictures that have never published, as a salute to The Star photographers' vision, skills and talent. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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