Tag Archives: author

I’m a huge reader. I carry a book with me virtually all the time. I get excited about trips to bookstores. I’m obsessed about keeping my books in pristine condition. I look forward to signing & dating each book that I buy. I have a library at home.

That about sums me up as a book worm person :)

So imagine my excitement when I heard that Tim Harford (he’s the guy who wrote The Undercover Economist and The Logic Of Life) was going to be in town for the Sime Darby Lecture Series! It is incredibly rare for Malaysia to be graced by best-selling authors, let alone one that will be in town to give a lecture on a topic of social relevance. I rang up the hotline a month back, only to be told that it’s ALREADY fully booked out.

Meh.

But as luck would have it (and with some alignment of stars :) ), 2 hours before the lecture series began I got a phone call from my dad that he’s got extra tickets! After all the scrambling & dashing back home to grab his books (for him to autograph, hopefully), we finally got meet & listen to the man in person.

The lecture was on Adapt: Solving Complex Problems in a (Really) Complex World; and I must say it cannot be anymore relevant to our world than it is now. With all the complexity & complications of modern life, we often lose the building blocks (read: mistakes via trials & errors) that got us to where we are today.

Anyway, in short I got to meet the person who wrote the books I’ve thoroughly enjoyed & got totally flabbergasted when I finally met him in person. So much so that I spelt the name wrongly for him to autograph on the books! *shy*

I honestly wish that more distinguished authors would grace our shores, as we hardly get the priviledged ritual of having book signings/readings at bookstores here… unlike in the States/western countries. It’s just one of those things to meet the person who has penned down their thoughts & evoked yours along the way, much much more rewarding (IMHO) than meeting popstars or celebrities.

This reminds me of the time we got to meet the legendary Steve McCurry this year too. That too, was another experience to behold. As a travel photographer & one who has grown up reading National Geographic, it was an absolute honour to be able to meet him in person & gawked at his marvellous images from FRONT ROW YO!

Super super super happy, haha :)

This shot is courtesy of Mun Keat – I couldn’t battle the crowd =_=”

Of legends & inspirations, one must always remember despite being humbled by them, we must also strive to achieve the best with our craft. There ALWAYS will be room for improvement, and the odd inspiration to others :)

So keep shooting/writing/filming! The impossible is nothing.