English lecturer’s book bags first prize in non-fiction
By S. KOMALADEVI
IT WAS a proud moment for author Peggy Tan Pek Tao when her book Life: The Malaysian Style won first prize in the non-fiction category of the Popular-The Star Readers’ Choice Award 2010.
The awards ceremony was held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on Monday during the ongoing BookFest@Malaysia 2010.
“This is a wonderful event to encourage Malaysians to indulge in writing because there are very few Malaysian book writers,” said Tan, 54, who lectures at Universiti Sains Malaysia ’s School of Languages
Life: The Malaysian Style is a collection of true anecdotes that shows the sparkling side of Malaysian experiences in love, work and life.
The second prize went to Even Madder about Malaysia by Dean Johns while third prize winner was Yasmin Ahmad’s Films by Amir Muhammad.
In the fiction category, Little Hut of Leaping Fishes by Tei Chiew Siah won first prize .
Tei’s sister Teh Chew Peng accepted the award on her behalf as the writer is in Scotland
The second and third prizes went to authors Tash Aw for Map of The Invisible World and Shaari Isa for Kirkby: The Life and the Loves.
In the Popular-Berita Harian Anugerah Pilihan Pembaca 2010, Datuk Siti Nor Bahyah Mahomood and Muhammad Zakaria’s Rahsia Minda Hebat won the first prize in the non-fiction category.
The second prize went to Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim’s Saya Pun Melayu. Siti Nor Bahyah also bagged the third prize for Mak Abah Redailah Anakmu.
The top three winners in the fiction category were Aisya Sofea (Yang Sebenarnya), Siti Rosmizah (Cinta Kau dan Aku) and Anis Ayuni (Sungguh Aku Cinta).
Present at the awards ceremony were guest of honour national laureate Datuk A. Samad Said, Popular Holdings Ltd chairman Chou Cheng Ngok, Popular Holdings Ltd director Vangat Ramayah, Popular Book Co (M) Sdn Bhd executive director Lim Lee Ngoh, The Star’s managing editor June Wong and Berita Harian group editor Datuk Meor Kamarul Shahid.
“This is a new level to search for new talent to enrich our country’s treasury of books,” said Datuk A. Samad Said.
The top three winners in each category received RM1,500 cash and a trophy for first prize, RM1,000 for second prize and RM500 for third prize.
All winners were presented with a certificate of recognition.
The Readers’ Choice Award, held for the fifth consecutive year, is one of the few honorary awards held to recognise the talents of local authors.
To be selected as nominees for the award, the books must be written by local authors or classified as local writings.
This year’s nominees were books published in 2009 and also titles that were on the best-selling list at Popular Bookstores in the same year.
The contest, with the slogan “Read to Vote, Vote to Win”, was based on a voting system participated by Popular readers nationwide.
The voting period was from July 1 to 31.
Readers were allowed to pick from a list of 40 nominated titles in the fiction and non-fiction categories for both the English and Bahasa Malaysia
Nominated titles are still available for book lovers to purchase with 20% rebate at all 64 Popular outlets nationwide.
hi miss peggy. I read your book already. it is very interesting to read all your stories. It is really a book that describes about human life. Sometimes it suits with my daily life also. I am sure u done a great research before write this interesting book. I hope, i will read your next book and maybe there are other stories your can write more, story can make us realize actually that what are doing all this day. Thank you miss also for the great class i had for this semester. Rozi Nuraika Ramli Gp 65
ReplyDeleteCongratulation Miss Peggy!
ReplyDeletemiss Peggy..congratulation to u ..
ReplyDeleteCongratulation miss Peggy... may i know where can i have a look of the award winning book??
ReplyDeleteDear Miss Peggy,
ReplyDeleteI have already chosen three out of several other stories in the novel entitled ‘GIFTS OF THE HEART stories to lift the spirits…’ by Miss Peggy Tan Pek Tao. The stories that I have chosen are Monkey God, Cupid in Kampung Cantik and First Love. Here, I compared some characters and how these stories began and ended with.
Firstly, I started with analyzing the Monkey God story. In this story, there was a main character named Ah Kow. He was son of the wealthiest person in his place. Although he had everything but truly, he bored with his life. He had to go to the tuition class and plays piano. But suddenly, he has been kidnapped by others characters named Sam and Lay Beng. Thus, they blackmailed Ah Kow’s dad. Interestingly, Ah Kow was not felt fear instead he felt so happy once he got kidnapped by them.
The second story is Cupid in Kampung Cantik. The main character in this story was Zain, a Malay man. He was a successful engineer but he has no love. However, there was another character named as Cik Emelia Hashim, who was a beautiful Malay woman. Zain was very liked her. But then, he shied to tell Emilia about his feeling. After he tried a few times to tackle her, Emilia accepted him. Zain’s dad was also one of characters in this story. Funnily, Zain’s dad liked to their maid, Cik Ros. At last, in the end of this story, both of them were united together with their lover and lived happily.
The last story that I have been read was entitled ‘First Love’. This story tells about life of a businessman who had a company but he has no love in his life. Pearl was another character rolled as a girl that has the attractive manners. The heart of that company owner was pull towards her although he was a busy man with regarding of his works. But he was tried so hard to get Pearl’s heart. The problem was arisen when Choo Teng forgot about his proposal towards Pearl and he was fallen in love to Lilian who was the secretary of that businessman.
As a summary, I can state that these stories have their own message delivery way to readers. Actually these stories are normally happened in our society. In my estimation, I have chosen the Cupid in Kampung Cantik as the best story among those based on their characters and story flow from beginning until its ending.
Prepared by: Siti Aisyah binti Amran (110108) LSP 300 GROUP 65
Prepared for: Miss Peggy Tan Pek Tao
congratulations.
ReplyDelete