Mark their words

WHEN the Singapore Writers Festival kicks off on Friday, there will certainly be a palpable sigh of relief among booklovers across the island.

At a time when they’re bemoaning the death of reading and the written word (and looking wistfully at that empty shell at Wheelock Place formerly known as Borders), a nine-day event featuring 126 writers seems like reassuring proof that, yes, these beleaguered creatures still exist – and they come in all shapes and sizes.

Amid all the big-shot best-selling authors with ties to Hollywood and serious looking academic-types, we spotted TV actress Jeanette Aw, ex-gangster-turned-gym instructor Joshua Foo and Mandarin songwriter Xiao Han in the line-up. What are they doing at the festival? Why, revealing their literary side, of course.

Now sit down, children, as these three unlikely writers tell you their story.

THE ACTRESS

Jeanette Aw will soon be adding “published author” to her resume, where it will sit proudly beside “international actress” and “Little Nyonya”.

Besides having written a column for Chinese-language entertainment magazine iWeekly this year, a stint that lasted several months and helped her keep in touch with her public while she was filming in China and Malaysia, Aw is also putting the finishing touches on a book. Entitled Jeanette Aw: Definitions, the bilingual work, which also features her own illustrations, will be released around June next year.

“I write musings; my thoughts on things in general,” she explained. “I guess sharing my thoughts through words works a lot better for me because sometimes I’m not very good at talking, or making small talk.”

In fact, the acclaimed actress actually prefers writing to her day job. “Since I was in secondary school, I’ve always liked writing more than performing, because I could put down my own personal feelings. Whereas in acting, you’re just portraying another person,” she said.

Citing one of her iWeekly columns, which was about her godmother’s passing away, the National University Of Singapore’s Theatre Studies graduate shared: “After that article was published, a lot of friends came up to me saying that they were very touched. I was happy because if my words can touch people, then I think I’ve succeeded in writing.”

Is she worried about detractors who think actors can’t write? Aw shared that when she consulted her former university professor regarding her book: “He did tell me: ‘You have to prepare yourself for people who are going to just slam you because they have preconceived ideas on you, as an actor, writing’. I guess I just have to try and do my best,” she said.

Does she believe that anyone can write? “Yes,” Aw said. “I think if you have something special to share, why not? Just write.” MAY SEAH

THE SONGWRITER

For 12 years, popular song lyricist Xiao Han had led a most unusual dual life. When she wasn’t penning hit songs for Stefanie Sun, Tanya Chua, Sandy Lam and other Mandopop stars, she’s putting her PhD in Biology to good use working in a lab.

“My left brain and right brain were talking to each other a little too much and I found it very noisy. Before I went crazy, I thought, I must have a book,” the 37-year-old laughed.

So in 2008, she took a break from science and decided to “write down all my silly and funny thoughts”.

The result was Tear Capsules, her debut Mandarin language book published last year. The six-chapter offering features new essays as well as rewritten pieces from her previous columns in a Chinese daily and a Chinese female fashion mag.

Divided into a series of Na, Cl and NaCL chapters (a pun on the chemical formula for salt and a cheeky nod to her scientific side), the humorous book contains a most unusual mix of science and personal musings – from MSG, the hela cell, to her obsession with salt and bleach, to neurons to, yes, the ups and downs of her life as a Chinese song lyricist in Singapore. Simply put, a surprising literary output from a Mandopop wordsmith.

Her initial ambitions for Tear Capsules, however, were a bit too much for prospective publishers. Two publishers turned her down before it was picked up by publishing house Lingzi.

Tear Capsules is now into its 4th edition and has sold an impressive 5,000 copies. How did she do it? Xiao Han goes on school tours and gives talks. She’s also tapped into her pop music side – anyone who buys a book can download a bonus eponymous track (which is incidentally, one of Xiao Han’s three songs nominated for best lyrics at next month’s Hit Awards).

Plus, it doesn’t hurt that she’s written for folks like Chua, Sun, Joi Chua and Fish Leong. Twenty of her buddies have written blurbs for the book.

And she’s not stopping just yet. Xiao Han is thinking of a follow-up book, this time about “love, sadness and really raw emotions”. “I still have a dark side I want to show.” MAYO MARTIN

THE EX-GANGSTER

When we asked Joshua Foo if he thought he could be a celebrity author, the 23-year-old simply laughed.

“I find that funny. How can an author be a celebrity? I don’t get it. It’s just about writing a book and letting the world know how you feel. It’s just like a diary. And at the end of the day, your story must be interesting and have knowledge for people to feed on,” he said.

While Foo dismisses the idea of garnering fame (or a semblance of it) from a book, one can’t deny that he has come up with a veritable page-turner. It is, after all, titled Right Mistakes: My Life As A Singapore Gangster.

Published earlier this year, it’s a tell-all story about his secret society past, working with three criminal organisations in Geylang and being involved in, as he says in the book “robbery, assault, peddling drugs, extortion”. He’s never, in his words, given anyone “something pleasant to smile about”.

The book chronicles his experiences that led to his gangster years. “I was aggressive and impulsive. And my anger became even more unstoppable,” he recalled. What followed was Foo’s descent into his own personal hell of illegal activities and violence. He’s now working on a follow-up, tentatively titled This Is Business: My Life As A Singapore Gangster 2.

But as exciting and dangerous as it all sounds, Foo presents his life as a cautionary tale. “I just want people to learn from my mistakes,” said Foo, who now goes the rounds of schools as a motivational speaker and also works as a gym instructor.

The years of “putting on masks for different people” became so tiring that he had to stop and pen down his life. You would then think that publishers would jump at a chance to put it out but on the contrary, a number of them “rejected me immediately”.

But he eventually bagged a deal with Marshall Cavendish. “I sent them random chapters and two months later, I got an email saying they loved my story.”

While the idea of finishing a book is a cause for celebration for many first-time authors, it wasn’t the case for Foo. “I wasn’t smiling. I wasn’t happy. It was like: ‘Okay, now what?’ But then one night, I actually cried. I was thinking, ‘I’ve been through so much s**t and finally, I was able to do, for once in my life, something that I know is right.” MAYO MARTIN

The Singapore Writers Fest 2011 runs from Oct 21 to 30 at various venues. Aw and Foo’s “You Can Write Too!” discussion happens Oct 26, 10am to 11am, while Xiao Han is part of the panel for Music And Words From The Heart, Oct 30, 2pm to 3pm, to be conducted in Mandarin. A nine-day festival pass is available from Sistic at S$15. Visit www.singaporewritersfestival.com for details.

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