Some announcements

Word’s Up, Eh Poh Nim is out in The Star today.  Sorry, no time to link it here.  I’m doing this at TM Point where 15 min free Internet time is allowed.  If there’s nobody waiting to use the computer, then that 15 min can be stretched My modem is still at the workshop after being gorenged by lightning.

TM Point has become my favourite hang out place.  I pay my mum’s tel bill here and pick up a free copy of Yellow Post, a weekly newspaper published by TM.  I’m a columnist (as is Yvonne Foong) for Yellow Post newspaper starting this week.  Check it out!  It’s available at TM Point, Focus Point, Delifrance, Popular, Fitness First, Coffee Bean and KL Monorail.  But not every outlet may stock this paper.

Kong-kong th’ng and beh leh ko

I thought I had seen the last of him.  But I was wrong.  The kong-kong th’ng man is well and alive today.

In my younger days, a lanky old man used to ride his bicycle through the villages and housing estates to ply his sweet ware.  He sells kong-kong th’ng and beh leh ko. 

And the winner is…

I had been hoping that Eh Poh Nim would appear today, but since it didn’t I won’t keep you guys in suspense anymore. I’m no Wicked Witch of the West or East. I know what it is like to enter contests and be kept on tenterhooks for the results.

Thank You from EPN

Thank you very much for the suggestions for Eh Poh Nim’s column title. Some of them were really apt and some made me laugh out loud. To those who have submitted your entries, I appreciate the time and effort you’ve taken to coin a suitable header for EPN.

Special thanks to Eternal Wanderer, Argus Lou and T.T. Oh for their long list of names. But this is not a most-entries-win contest, so I can only award the prize and bragging rights to the person whose title is selected by the MOE editor of The Star.

Please keep a look-out for the next Eh Poh Nim installment if you want to know what is the winning title. I do not know when it will appear (MOE is published on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays) but when it does, I will post the winner’s name here.

Patience is a virtue.

Win-a-book contest

I’m looking for a column title for Eh Poh Nim’s wordy tales in The Star’s Mind our English (MOE) column. I have suggested a few titles to the editor but he didn’t think they were suitable.

If you’d like to lend me a hand, please put on your thinking cap and send me your suggestions in the comment box. I will shortlist the titles and let the MOE editor have the final say.  So that you wouldn’t make the same mistake I did, I’m listing here the suggestions that have been shot down :

1. Eh Poh Nim

2. Eh Poh Nim’s Way with Words

3. Eh Poh Nim’s Witty Ways

4. Learning English with Eh Poh Nim

5. English with Eh Poh Nim

6. The Expressions of Eh Poh Nim

7. Eh Poh Nim’s Wordy Endeavours

8. The Endeavours of Eh Poh Nim

These titles are too wordy with the exception of no. 1. Eh Poh Nim is too bare and doesn’t say anything much as it’s just a person’s name.

Prize

An autographed copy of my new book, Honk! If You’re Malaysian and bragging rights : “I coined that title, you know!” each time Eh Poh Nim appears in MOE.

Conditions

1. The title must be short and catchy. It shouldn’t be more than 5 words.

2. The title need not have the name of Eh Poh Nim.

3. Please do not submit a name that has been suggested by another participant as the earlier submission will get the prize if it is the winning entry.

4. There is no limit to the number of submissions per person.

5. Anyone can enter the contest but the book prize will only be mailed to a Malaysian address.

Closing date

Tues, 14 November 2006

Coming : The Gift of Rain

Who is Tan Twan Eng?  He’s the author of The Gift of Rain, scheduled to be released in March 2007.  Like Tash Aw, he’s a lawyer.  (Why does novel inspiration seem to favour lawyers?)  Unlike Tash, he was born in Penang and now lives in South Africa.   An extract of the book is up at Myrmidon Books.  

Man, where in the world is Malaysia?

Sharon has been announcing the new Man Asian Literary prize in her blog. Being Asian, of course I am excited that there’s a literary award just for our part of the world. Maybe, a countryman may snare this prestigious award and put Malaysia on the literary map.