New on the shelf

The Allah Controversy & other essays on Malaysian hypermodernity RM 35.00	Tipu Pilihanraya, Turun Jalanraya RM 35.00	Rhetoric and Realities RM 35.00	The Prisoners' Diary RM 20.00	Dill the Little Elephant RM 24.00
Sino-Malay Trade and Diplomacy RM 100.00	Internationalizing Higher Education in Malaysia RM 50.00	The Quest for the Great Pearl RM 25.00	Timmy Tapir Learns to Do What's Right (set) RM 25.00	The Epic of Hang Tuah RM 50.00
Rumah Kaca RM 38.00	Anak Semua Bangsa RM 38.00	1000 Wajah Pram dalam Kata dan Sketsa RM 36.00	Arok Dedes RM 42.00	Sekali Peristiwa di Banten Selatan RM 12.00

Books
Terence Gomez: It ain't over till the fat lady sings
May 02, 2013

That was the gist of Dr Terence Gomez's talk at Silverfish Books last Saturday: Malaysia's 13th General Elections: Policies, Institutions and Social Change. The turnout was not huge, but good, and, best of all, intelligent. (This is the first in a series of (hopefully) monthly public talks we have planned to cover literature, performing arts, history, philosophy, politics and so on, at Silverfish Books.) It was not a talk for those (on either side of the divide) who'd prefer to keep their prejudices intact, unencumbered by facts or logic. For those of you who'd have liked to be present, Dr Terence Gomez started by handing out two printed spreadsheets (five pages) showing Differences in BN support in Electoral Trends in (i) Malay Majority constituencies, and (ii) Non-Malay Majority constituencies, from 1990 to 2008. (We still have some copies left at Silverfish Books.) Briefly, the main ten points (there were many more) were:

1. There is no material difference in the public policies as announced in the manifestos of BN or PR.

2. Generally, percentage Malay support for the BN has been on the decline since 1990 (including the Mahathir era) except in 2004 (Abdullah Badawi's first GE)

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Opinion
Why I don't own a mobile phone
May 02, 2013

I hope this clarifies the question once and for all, though it probably will not. I'm the one without the mobile phone, but my friends, for some reason, are the ones who feel the pain. Some have been on a virtual crusade, with the evangelical zeal of Jehovah Witnesses, to 'save' the recalcitrant non-believer. Others take delight in saying, "I told you so," at the slightest inconvenience arising from my 'stubbornness'.

Truth is, stubbornness has nothing to do with it. I simply value my time and sanity more than others do, I guess. I did own a mobile phone some twelve years ago, but then someone did me a favour by stealing it. I have never been more thankful since.

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News
Online retail
May 02, 2013

A recent US Census Bureau News indicates that online retail accounts for only 5.2% of all retail in the US. That is, 95% of all purchases are done in brick-and-mortar stores. A story in Wired says, "Forrester Research surveyed 4,500 U.S. adults online and found that in every major consumer category other than travel, shoppers said visiting a store served as the most important source of research before buying." The research suggest that no one in the selling business can afford to ignore the primal satisfaction of touching and holding something in your hand before you buy. "Human toolmaking and trade both started as hands-on endeavors; as much as we now love Amazon Prime, we as a species aren’t likely to give up in-person consumption anytime soon."

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Events
Silverfish Public Talk by Jothi Ratnam
May 02, 2013

Topic: What Darwin did
Time and place: Saturday, May 25, 2013, at Silverfish Books, 28-1, Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03- 228448 37

Who's Jothi?

A quick visit to the website, Jothi's World, will indicate a man inordinately curious about all manner of things, and has been trying to understand the way the world works, in all its myriad facets, works, as well as to convey his understanding of this to all and sundry for most of his life. Originally trained as a scientist, he has explored the world of knowledge widely, and has tertiary-level academic qualifications in a variety of different fields, ranging from the hard sciences, through the social and behavioural sciences, to the humanities. He's studied, lived, and worked in several countries, and as a result speaks several languages.

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Events
Children's Book Week
May 02, 2013

Update on Children's Book Week, 11-18 May 2013 at Silverfish Books, 28-1 Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03-228 448 37
Children's Book Week is here again. Selected Malaysian children's books will be available at special promotional prices throughout the week. There will be storytelling and activity sessions for children on Saturday, 11th May and 18th May, in addition to meetings with children's book writers and illustrators. And lots of balloons will be given away! The Children's Book Week is organised by Yusof Gajah Lingard Literary Agency and Oyez!Books for Children, with the support of Silverfish Books.

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Opinion
Censorship in Malaysia
April 01, 2013

A news report in FMT on March 23 said that Berjaya Books Sdn Bhd, which owns the Borders bookstores in Malaysia, and two others today succeeded in their attempt to quash the decision by the Federal Territory Islamic Department (Jawi) over the seizure of Irshad Manji’s Allah, Kebebasan dan Cinta in May last year.

Justice Zaleha Yusof said at the time of Jawi’s action, the book was not subjected to the prohibitory order that was only issued three weeks later.

So is that the end of another sordid episode in the annals of book publishing in the country? Not by a mile, no!

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News
Chinua Achebe passes on
April 01, 2013

Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, 82, died in a hospital in Boston after a brief illness, on March 22, 2013. He was widely regarded as the father of modern African literature, and lived and worked as a professor in the United States in recent years, most recently at Brown University in Rhode Island. Nobel prize winner, Wole Soyinka; poet, John Pepper Clark; fellow Nigerian who died in the Biafrah war of the 70s, Christopher Okigbo; and Chinua Achebe were the 'brother' African writers of the 50s and 60s.

There was a minor 'literary' furore in Malaysia in 2006 about Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, the news of which took a trip around the world. Malaysia had banned Things Fall Apart. This is what happened: we had ordered copies of the books, which we had kept in stock since we opened in 1999, but were told by our distributors that they could not supply us because the book had been 'banned' by the government.

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News
Walmart technology
April 01, 2013

A Reuters report in September last year (which we reported in this column) said, "Wal-Mart Stores Inc will no longer sell Amazon.com Inc's Kindle eReaders and tablets, severing its relationship with a major competitor." We predicted Walmart would introduce their own gadget and give it away free to replace that trojan horse. What's happening now is that they have developed an app for the iPhone as a free download.

While Walmart is almost a half-trillion dollar company with annual revenues of $466 billion for its fiscal year 2013, which ended January 31, its online sales revenue is only 9 billion dollars compared to 61 billion for Amazon. Walmart want's to compete and win.

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News
History of Book Vending Machines
April 01, 2013

Did you know, "The first book-dispensing vending machine was built by Richard Carlile in England in 1822. Carlile was a bookseller who wanted to sell seditious works like Paine's Age of Reason without being thrown in jail. His answer was a self service machine that allowed customers to buy questionable books without ever coming into contact with Carlile. The customer turned a dial on the devise to the publication he wanted, deposited his money, and the material dropped down in front of him ... but that didn't stop ... from convicting one of Carlile's employees for selling "blasphemous material."

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Events
Children's Book Week 11-18 May 2013
April 01, 2013

Children's Book Week is here again at Silverfish Books, 28-1 Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, 59100KL. Selected Malaysian children's books will be available at special promotional prices throughout the week. There will be story telling and activity sessions for children on Saturday 11th May and 18th May, in addition to meetings with children's book writers and illustrators. And lots of balloons will be given away! The Children's Book Week is organised by Yusof Gajah Lingard Literary Agency and Oyez!Books for Children, with the support of Silverfish Books.

Author appearance
Author and illustrator Emila Yusof will be at Silverfish Books to talk about her new book, My Mother's Kitchen.

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Opinion
Local Heroes
04 March, 2013

Tash Aw was here in Silverfish Books to read from his latest (and third) book on February 23. Interestingly, Silverfish Books was the only bookshop he read at, although his KL tour was organised by MPH. Something like this would have been unthinkable just a year ago: an independent taking precedence over a mega-store. (But then, there are far fewer of those in the city now.) We believe Tash himself prefers to read in a cosy setting than in a 'supermarket aisle' of a big store, and he (apparently) told the organisers that. Still. Thank you, MPH, for giving us the privilege.

About 60 guests turned up to see and hear Tash Aw, and to get their books signed. We had received 30 RSVPs. (Many who said they were coming, didn't; and many who didn't say, came). It was a good session, and Tash e-mailed to say he enjoyed it. He wished he had more time, though.

Tash Aw and Tan Twan Eng (who was also present) are Malaysia's two leading writers on the international stage at the moment (they are having a pretty good run), both self-made, and both living overseas much of their time. Tash Aw won the 2005 Whitbread First Novel Award, as well as the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Novel (Asia Pacific region). Tan Twan Eng was short-listed for the Booker and the Man Asian Literary Prize 2012.

It's tempting to think that only Malaysians who live and get published overseas are successful.

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News
Digital round-up
04 March, 2013

1. Apple's iPad helped students score 23% higher on exams
2. New Jersey firefighters sworn in on iPad Bible app
3. Why Japanese readers don't like e-books

Apple's iPad helped students score 23% higher on exams

A report by Daniel Eran Dilger in AppleInsider say, "After launching a new iMedEd initiative built around Apple's iPad, the University of California at Irvine reports that students in the program have now scored "an average of 23 percent higher on their national exams" than previous classes, "despite having similar incoming GPAs and MCAT scores."

Wow! This is better than those useless 'brain enhancements tablets' parents spend so much money on.

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