Students from the Malaysia, Culture and Life class, Mr Zaki, Academic Department Head, Department of General Studies, and Ms Shalini, Lecturer, Department of General Studies of UOW Malaysia KDU University College along with Dato’ Dr. M. Shanmughalingam, a prominent Malaysian author during his insightful Marriage & Mutton Curry book-reading session at The Malaysiana Forum 2019.

YM Tunku Halim, a Malaysian novelist, short story, non-fiction writer and lawyer, Mr E.S. Shankar and Ms Peggy Loh, a prominent Johor story-teller enlightening students on the art of storytelling at The Malaysiana Forum 2019.

YM Tunku Halim, Mr E.S. Shankar and Ms Peggy Loh with Mr Zaki and Ms Shalini along with students and lecturers of the Department of General Studies of UOW Malaysia KDU University College at The Malaysiana Forum 2019.

Ms Peggy with one of the students during her book-signing session, second book – My Johor Stories 2: Interesting Places and Inspirational People after successfully launching her first book last year under the same name series titled, My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage.

By Davin Dhanraj

Compelled to encourage creative expression through literature within the UOW Malaysia KDU University College community, the Department of General Studies organised The Malaysiana Forum 2019, an insightful two-day annual programme comprising prominent local authors from a wide representation of genres to not only highlight issues relating to Malaysia’s history, arts and culture but also to celebrate their notable work and share their epic journey of writing their respective novels with students and lecturers.

The first day of this event was graced by the Dato’ Dr. M. Shanmughalingam, award-winning author whose short stories and poems have appeared in 37 international and national anthologies and broadcasts in Australia, France, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Malaysia, Singapore and UK. With gentle wit and humour, Dato’ Dr Shan wooed the students by sharing excerpts from his first collection of short fiction, Marriage and Mutton Curry. The book denotes concerns and intrigues of the Jaffna Tamil community in Malaya with a tinge of humour.

The second day was graced by the presence of YM Tunku Halim, a Malaysian novelist, short story, non-fiction writer and lawyer, Mr E.S. Shankar and Ms Peggy Loh, a prominent Johor story-teller who successfully transformed her childhood hobby into a career. Ms Peggy shared memories of growing up in post-independence Johor Bahru along with exclusive stories about inspirational people and gastronomical adventures in various Johor towns.

These acute authors shared excerpts of their respective publications, bittersweet memories of their writing and self-publishing journeys and highlighted the importance of reading to further improve and enhance one’s writing skills. “Reading is one of the most fundamental skills children need to learn to be successful. Not only do good reading skills benefit students academically, they are also required skills for lifelong success. Hence, it is important for parents and educational institutions to cultivate reading in children and students to promote analytical skills and higher order thinking skills”, said Ms Peggy.

Students were also granted opportunities to interact privately with these authors and purchase their respective publications at an affordable rate. Present at the event, Mr Zaki, Academic Department Head, Department of General Studies, said “We are very honoured to have these prominent and writers here today to share their respective writing experiences. We believe that events like these should be organised regularly to inspire students to pursue creative endeavours, and connect lessons learned in the classroom with the wider world”. This commendable initiative provided students an invigorating experience that allowed them to further explore the different facets of creative writing and improve writing confidence.