The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Posted: 07 May 2013 02:52 AM PDT By sharing his life, he hopes to create more understanding between Malaysia and the Arab world. THE Sea And The Hills tells the tale of a small town boy who had nothing, gained nearly everything, lost it all in a matter of days, and then climbed back out of the pit of despair. It is the story of Hussain Najadi, a Bahrain-born commoner who founded the Arab Malaysian Development Bank – yes, the bank with the camel mascot! – in 1975. In 1982, Najadi sold his stake in the bank to Tan Sri Azman Hashim, who subsequently renamed it AmBank. "My friends insisted that I write something as a record that I can leave behind. After all, we all grow old, and we need to leave something behind," says the soft-spoken Najadi, who speaks fluent French, German, Farsi, Arabic and English. We are in his office in Kuala Lumpur to talk about The Sea And The Hills, which was released last month by publish-on-demand agency Xlibris. Najadi, now 75, started putting his thoughts down on paper three years ago: "I wrote the book over weekends, and in the evenings, after work," he says. And he has much to share in the 289-page book, beginning with how his parents met in Iran, and how his father, Ahmad, in defiance of tradition that was still practised back in the 1930s, chose his own bride and broke off the engagement arrangement that had been made by his parents. Hussain was born in 1938 in Bahrain's capital, Manama. As Ahmad's only child, Hussain displayed the same rebellious streak and, in his youth, joined the increasing number of people agitating for more personal freedom and liberties in then Britain-ruled Bahrain, resulting in repeated detentions. After being caught leading several demonstrations, he was told to leave the country when he was 18 years old (in 1956), and he opted to go to Germany, where his training and career in business began. Young Najadi's adventures in life included selling encyclopaedias to US servicemen in military bases in the Middle East and gaining a foothold in selling mutual funds, then a novel product in the Middle East, before ending up in banking and corporate advisory services. Amazingly, at just 26, Najadi became an advisor to what was then the biggest financial services client in the Middle East, Kuwait's Ministry of Finance and Oil. He soon went on to advise many other Middle Eastern countries, as well as Asian countries, on financial matters, and facilitated much trade between South-East Asia (Malaysia and Singapore, in particular) and the Middle East. He was in his early 30s when he led a Kuwaiti delegation to Malaysia in the early 1970s; Najadi recalls the day vividly: "Malaysia was the last stop on our South-East Asian tour, and we met Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein Al-Haj as well as Tun Ismail Mohd Ali, first Malaysian governor of Bank Negara. With a simple nod from Tun Razak, the Arab Malaysian Bank was born in April 1975." After founding the bank, Najadi moved Arab Investments for Asia Kuwait Ltd (AIAK) to KL. He had formed the company in Kuwait some 40 years ago; since moving it to KL and, now, with more than 30 years of investment banking history in Malaysia, the Middle East, Europe and the Asia-Pacific, the AIAK Group is a specialist in cross-border corporate finance, and acts as a bridge between the oil-producing countries of the Middle East and Asean countries. And then, at the height of his professional success, the boy who came from nothing to gain so much was thrown into jail. He had had the temerity to ask that a loan, nine years overdue, be paid back – the problem was, the loan had been made to very senior Bahraini minister. Knowing the political situation in Bahrain – it had gained independence from the British in 1971 but remains a strongly controlled Constitutional monarchy – why did Najadi make his demand? Perhaps it had something do with his formative years when, unlike his peers, he was a voracious reader, and he had the good fortune of reading not just capitalist tomes, but also works by socialists and communists and other characters that are considered radical for capitalist-leaning Bahrain. "My dad did say that one day, those books are going to get me into trouble. And he was right," Najadi says with a laugh. It was no laughing matter at the time, though: He lost his freedom for nearly eight years, and only continuous pressure from the international community finally saw him freed. By a stroke of luck, he was able to obtain an Iranian passport and fled as soon as he was let out of jail. Until today, Najadi remains persona non grata in his homeland and cannot re-enter Bahrain. He does not shy away from talking at length about the rise of citizen movements like the Arab Spring demanding more democratic space in the Middle East. "Bahrain is in turmoil now, and it is also running out of oil. It has had the same prime minister for the last 42 years. In a way, you could say that the Arab Spring started from Bahrain, and spread onwards from there, though the tsunami has yet to reach its conclusion." Neither does he think highly of Europe at the moment. "I am worried that we have not yet seen the bottom of the European problem yet. The difference between them and the United States is that the US can still print dollars, and people still buy them." Najadi remains rather bullish when it comes to Asia, though. "I am very much a believer in Asia, which I feel is the future in the world economic scene. If you developed the Asian market, you are looking at a population of 550 million, which is practically twice the size of the European market. And Africa is the last frontier. Many multinationals, and even China, are going into Africa." How about Malaysia? "It is a small country that doesn't have the problems of large countries like India, Indonesia, and China. Things are still manageable, and it still has elasticity in the economic basket. I foresee that Malaysia, despite problems in Europe, is not going to have its prosperity affected much." While Najadi's life has centred on finance, The Sea And The Hills is not about making money. "I have a zero ROI (return on investment) target for this book, which is purely about fostering better understanding between countries and civilisations. Malaysians still misunderstand the Arab world, and whatever they know about it usually comes from Hollywood movies and other Western perspectives of the Middle East." On his part, Najadi's insatiable thirst for knowledge has not dimmed a bit. A typical day would entail reading at least 20 international, regional and local publications, including The Star. And despite having a personal assistant, he still writes his own e-mails. Off and on, he also flies to the Middle East to meet clients. As such, this book is a tasty distillation of his adventures, the hard lessons of life, and more importantly, his philosophy. Reading it is like getting a crash course on the Middle East, Islam, colonialism, oppressive dictatorial rule, banking, and finance, all at one go. It was an extremely engaging read for me, and I can't remember the last time I finished a book in a mere two days. > The Sea And The Hills is available at major bookstores nationwide as well as at online retailers. |
| Posted: 07 May 2013 02:57 AM PDT IF you have children in your life, the place for them to be this coming weekend is the cosy premises of Silverfish Books, Kuala Lumpur. With the support of the indie bookstore, the Yusof Gajah Lingard Literary Agency and Oyez!Books for Children are organising a children's book week there from this Saturday to the next (May 11 to 18) with all sorts of goodies for young minds. Selected Malaysian children's books will be available at special promotional prices throughout the week. And there will be storytelling and activity sessions for children on both Saturdays. If you're a grown-up with an interest in perhaps creating your own children's book one day, you'll definitely want to meet the children's book writers and illustrators who will be making appearances. Emila Yusof – a self-taught artist who is not only a children's book author but also designs covers and makes artwork, knitwork and handicrafts – will be at Silverfish this Saturday (May 11). Among the books she has published is the lovely My Mother's Garden (One Red Flower Press, 2010) as well as the Malay-language Kraf Bersama Kak Emila series with five titles (2010) that teach children various art forms and projects, such as origami, making greeting cards and recycling. The Saturday after (May 18), storyteller and publisher Linda Tan will share books by another storyteller, the award-winning Mama Tok, who has published two books, The Greedy Eagle and Nyam-Nyam Nyit. Also on that day, artist, illustrator, author and publisher Yusof Gajah (who's real name is Mohd Yusof Ismail) will talk about his new book, Dill The Little Elephant. Yusof, who is well-known for his elephant-inspired works, has held exhibitions around the world in addition to winning several prestigious awards for his picture book illustrations, including the 1997 Grand Prix award at the UN-organised Noma Concours for Children's Picture Book Illustrations. Yusof also began to publish his own books, beginning with Elephabet and Mother & Child in 2009. > Silverfish Books is located at No. 28-1 Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, KL. For more information, call the store at 03-2284 4837, send an e-mail to info@silverfish.com or go to its website at silverfishbooks.com. |
| Posted: 04 May 2013 11:43 PM PDT No, we're not talking about dry academic tomes. These are powerful fictional tales that make telling political points. DESPITE being fictional, novels can often make as strong a statement about life as their non-fiction counterparts. As our nation goes to the polls today for our 13th general election, we look at some defining works of fiction that deal with politics, governance and society (arranged in no particular order) 1984 by George Orwell (1949): This classic dystopian novel talks about a society where compliant citizens are subjected to omnipresent government surveillance and mind control, and independent thought is criminalised. Though penned in 1949, Orwell's story feels ever-more plausible in our age of social media, electronic surveillance and online personal data collection. All The King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (1946): Often touted as one of the best novels ever written on American politics, this Pulitzer Prize-winning work traces the dramatic political career of Willie Stark, who is said to resemble the real-life Huey "Kingfish" Long of Louisiana. An unvarnished look at how politics can alter one's convictions, Stark starts off as an idealistic "man of the people", but soon becomes corrupted by success. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (1981): An allegorical novel that uses the story of its protagonist, Saleem Sinai, to examine India's transition from British colonialism to independence and the subsequent Partition of the country into India and Pakistan, this book was awarded the Booker Of Bookers Prize in 1993. Born at the stroke of midnight at the very moment of India's independence, Saleem finds that his life is mirrored in events that happen to his country, and remarkably, that he is linked with all the other children born in India at that same time. Wag The Dog by Larry Beinhart (originally published as American Hero, 1993): This conspiracy novel uses satire to examine the role media propaganda can play in aiding the political process. Suggesting that Operation Desert Storm, the 1991 US invasion of Iraq, was scripted and engineered in order to get George H.W. Bush re-elected to a second term as US president, the book makes what initially seems like an improbable premise increasingly likely. Blindness by Jose Saramago (1995): In this story by the Nobel Prize-winning Portuguese author, a mysterious mass epidemic of blindness strikes the citizens of an unnamed city, creating a rapid breakdown of social order. The fractured government responds by quarantining more and more people. Mirroring the horror of many real-world events, this is a searing look at oppressive governing systems. V For Vendetta by Alan Moore & David Lloyd (comic book series, 1982-1989): This celebrated graphic novel depicts a post-nuclear Britain, where a fascist party called Norsefire rules the country as a police state. Working to bring down this totalitarian government is a masked revolutionary known as V, who starts a violent yet highly theatrical campaign. Widely regarded as one of the best comic books ever written, this is an excellent examination of anarchy and freedom. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726): The book recounts the voyages of ship surgeon Lemuel Gulliver, who lands on four fantastical lands, each with its own races of people with unique systems of government and societies. This political parody uses fantasy and humour to examine themes that continue to be relevant today, such as government systems, corruption, discrimination and religious divides. Big Breasts And Wide Hips by Mo Yan (2012): Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his stories that use magical realism to reflect on very real issues, Mo Yan traces China in the 20th century through the story of one person in this book. This tale of an ineffectual man who cannot wean himself from his mother's milk, is faced with constant bad luck and poverty, finds himself incarcerated, and then finally in the midst of a capitalistic society, is highly symbolic yet painful in its realities. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961): Set during World War II, this satirical historical novel follows a US army captain as he and his squadron struggle to keep their sanity amidst war and fulfil their duty so that they can return home. A darkly funny critique of bureaucratic reasoning and spurious legal processes, the book has also made "Catch-22" an oft-used phrase in the English language. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960): This Pulitzer Prize-winning classic is renowned for its themes of racial injustice set against the backdrop of a small town in the American Deep South during the Great Depression. Seen through the eyes of the six-year-old Scout, the story examines the trial of a black man accused of raping a white woman, and Scout's father Atticus who defends him. Besides laying bare issues of prejudice, the book also gives us, in Atticus Finch, one of the most famous fictional heroes ever written. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan