my current favorite author

I am currently reading Tan Twan Eng's second novel The Garden of Evening Mists, which was short-listed for the Booker Prize and he continues to impress me with his evocative writings on colonial Malaysia. Based on the two novels that he has written, I sense that he truly understands Malaysian history and culture, which is rich, multi-faceted and often, complex, on a profound level that only a native possibly can. I have fallen off the reading bandwagon for a while now, having found no books that resonated deeply with me. Haruki Murakami who was previously my favorite author disappointed me with his last offering, IQ84 which was thick and massive in size, but surprisingly boring, unlike his other works (i.e. Kafka on The Shore, Sputnik Sweetheart, Norwegian Wood). I am glad Tan Twan Eng brought me back to reading books and I wish he would receive the attention and recognition that he highly deserves.

Apparently, the Managing Director for IMF, Christine Lagarde quoted him in her speech at the National Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara), "Just as in Europe, our interconnected world calls for new approaches in this region too. As the young Malaysian novelist Tan Twan Eng put it, “Moments in time when the world is changing bring out the best and the worst in people”. May we always choose the best!" 

This is what I call by having it made. Having your words quoted by prominent, significant, important global leaders in the international stage. This to me marks true and enduring success. 

But of course, Malaysians are severely shallow and superficial. While we may know names like Deborah Henry, Michelle Yeoh or Marion Rose Caunter, our Malaysian authors go largely unnoticed and ignored, which is ironic, because they are probably more popular overseas than in their own birth nation. Which is just a big bag of shame. We revere, reward and celebrate beauty queens simply for winning the genetic lottery but an author who spends 1-2 years of his life writing in oblivion, gets merely a byline or if they are lucky, a half page article in the newspaper. 

Anyway, the author will be in Penang on 24 November 2012 and I am so tempted to make a trip up north if it isn't for a tiny nuisance called work. I would probably behave like a bumbling idiot if I ever do meet him but there are so many burning questions that I am just dying to ask him.