Elizabeth Tai's Blog, page 30

Appearing on 891 Book Club

Me with 891 Afternoons presenter Sonya Feldhoff.

As I said in the post before, ABC Radio contacted me because of a post I wrote about my visit to the Life of Pi set.

You can listen to the interview in its entirety at the 891 Book Club Archives.

It was an interesting experience, being on a radio show. Especially if you’re the one being interviewed! I’ll tell you the truth – my heart was pounding when they asked me questions about the book because I read the book over two years ago and had to refresh my memory about the details.

(The interview happened because 891 Afternoons presenter Sonya Feldhoff came across my post about my visit to the set of Life of Pi when I was a journalist.)

The ABC radio offices is quite polished, and it was fascinating to watch the studio operate. On one side is the presenter and guests with their mikes and earphones, on the other are these people operating switchboards and computers.

Outside the glass-encased studio is a regular office where I assume the journalists work. Ah, how I missed that world!

I was ushered into the glass-encased studio, asked to put on the headphones and sit in front of the mike. I felt as if I was going to sit for an exam!

Still, my bestie in Malaysia said she could see me via the web telecast of the show and said I was just fine. Well, you be the judge!

You can listen to the interview at the 891 Bookclub archives here:

This is what this episode is about according to the 891 Bookclub website:

It was a special thrill in our 891 Book Club to welcome one of the authors whose book we are focussing on this month.

Karen Lord from the Caribbean was in the studio to personally discuss her book “Redemption in Indigo”, which has been described as a modern day fairytale.

And it was interesting to hear her describe how she fleshed out the fool in her book, a character rarely afforded such attention.

Our other book in the spotlight is now a much loved modern classic.

I must be one of the few book lovers who somehow missed reading “Life of Pi” in the first few years after it won the Mann Booker Prize but it’s been wonderful to finally catch up on it for our 891 Book Club.

Timely too, with Ang Lee winning the Best Director Oscar this week for his movie version of “Life of PI”.

I managed to track down and welcome to the studio Elizabeth Tai, a freelance writer, who has not only reviewed the book before but visited the movie set in Taiwan to interview Ang Lee.

I will be on ABC Radio’s Book Club

I received an e-mail a few days ago from the producer of the show. She happened to come upon my post, Cover the Life of Pi, where I wrote about my experience visiting the set of the movie.

She thought that it’ll be interesting for me to come on the show.

To be honest, I’ve been on the other side of the mic; in 1999, while I was a journalism student in Curtin University, I worked in the community radio show as a reporter and actually interviewed people (ministers, activists, the lot) and even acted as producer for the show. I’m used to being on the other side, the one asking the questions. I’m not used to being asked questions!

Well, I’m not sure how big a part I’ll play in the show, but I’m intrigued to witness how Australian journalism is done. If I’m not mistaken, I’m one of the book reviewers that they invite to the show – these book reviewers are often members of the radio station’s book club.

You can listen live to the show at 2.30pm (Adelaide time – 12pm Malaysian time) today (Friday, March 1, 2013) at their live stream:  http://www.abc.net.au/adelaide/programs/webcam_radio.htm?streamFile=localadelaide&streamTitle=Conversations

Covering Life of Pi

I had the privilege of visiting the Life of Pi set in Taiwan and was in the water tank set to witness how scenes like this (sans tiger) were filmed.

My articles, Bringing Pi Into Being and Rough Voyage, came out last November in The Star.

It brought back great memories – visiting lovely Taiwan, meeting Ang Lee and being in a huge water tank (the world’s largest water tank set or something like that) to watch the great genius at work. Life of Pi holds a special place in my heart because it was the last movie I covered before resigning from The Star and moving to Australia.

Ang Lee, at first glance, is like the uncle next door. He may be soft-spoken, quiet and humble, but beneath all that is a creative genius. I was simply impressed by the Taiwanese director’s drive and attention to detail.

I visited the set around  May last year. It was located at Taiwan’s abandoned Taichung airport. Sadly, by then, the tigers were already flown back, but the production was in full swing.

Ang Lee on the set of Life of Pi.

We were shown around the set and I saw a team of people meticulously working on props such as journals, clothes, furniture, debris, plastic fish … but the best part was seeing how Ang Lee and his team put together such an ambitious film. We even saw the 3D mock-up film of the amazing sinking ship sequence that you see in the trailer.

There’s an astounding amount of careful planning that went into the film to ensure that the film stayed on budget; Ang Lee lamented a few times that he wished he didn’t have that burden on his shoulders, so I’m really glad that Life of Pi received mostly positive reviews from critics. In fact, it’s nominated for an impressive 11 Oscar Academy Awards and 3 Golden Globes! Good going, Ang Lee!

PS: Which is why I should really watch the movie soon … yes, these days I’m really not up-to-date with my movie watching. I used to be so good at this! Heh.

Movie review: Of Gods and Men

The Cistercian monks of Tibehirine in Algeria live a simple life. They worship God in their modest chapel with singing and silent meditation, hold services for the town’s few Christians, listen to the problems of their Muslim neighbours, offer them medical aid and listen to their problems.

They live in harmony with their Muslim neighbours, showing them love instead of judgement. They don’t sell Christianity with cheap slogans or threats like some brassy American preachers. Here, the monks evangelise with love.

When an Islamic fundamentalist group massacres a group of foreign aid workers, their Muslim friends beg them to leave but they refuse, believing that they need to make a stand.

Thoughts: I’ve been discovering so many goodies at the Burnside library, and nothing brings me more joy than foreign movies – a different flavour from the usual loud Hollywood blockbuster.

Sigh, this French movie really makes me think about Malaysia. How fundamentalism threatens to ruin what little harmony we have. The scene in the movie that stood out for me is when a couple of Muslims were talking to Christian, one of the monks, about a Muslim girl being killed for not wearing the hijab.

“God says in the Quran you kill your brother you got to hell. They say they’re religious, they have not read the quran!” said one man.

“The world’s gone mad, Christian.” said an elderly Muslim. ”Where are we going? I don’t know who these people are. Only god knows,” he lamented.

Seriously, he’s echoing our thoughts.

Ultimately, we are all brothers and sisters. So, why the hell are we fighting so hard to make people believe what we believe, live the way we live?

Of God’s and Men is a slow-moving movie;  it’s not filled with gun battles or vampy women. Which is why it’s so jarring when the quiet and serene lives of the monks and their Muslim neighbours are brutally interrupted by senseless violence. In this way the director demonstrates what a sharp contrast there is between true spirituality and religious fanatism.

But lest you think the monks are superhuman, they are fearful and doubt too. As one monk says, “Dying for my faith shouldn’t keep me up nights. Dying here and now does it serve a purpose? .. I don’t get it. Why be martyrs? For God? To be heroes?”

And Christian answers. “We’re martyrs out of love; out of fidelity.”

This movie is based on a true story, by the way. And that makes it all the more sadder – that it really happened.

A touching and moving movie. If we can all live like the monks of Tibehirine, the world would be a much better place.

Rating: B+

I want to write a book, but I don’t know which book!

So, today I fired up my laptop, determined to write something. But my head is all confused. My problem is not that I don’t know what to write but that I have too many things to write. Swimming in my head right now are ideas for:

Two memoirs
A romance novella or two
A sci-fi epic
Several short stories

And sitting in my hard disc are:

Several half completed sci-fi stories
Some completed stories that need to be edited and put up, well, somewhere

And at the same time I have to:

Write the last two books of my Trixie Koala children’s stories
Write several columns for Reading Revolution
Get cracking on the Young Adult novels that I have for Discern Publishing.
Write copy for my day job at the Social Media agency.

OMG, no wonder I’m confused. I’m all over the place! LOL. I have way too much to do and to process and my head is running all over the place trying to figure out what to start first. As usual, I’m overcommitted. This has always been a problem for me, and something I need to learn to have a handle on.