A WONDERFUL DAY AT ATMA

Berita Harian  18thJuly 2012
About two months ago I received this email from Prof Ding Choo Ming, my mentor and friend from the Institute Alam & Tamadun Melayu, UKM (ATMA). "...we would like to invite you to ATMA to give a talk on your experience, technique and skills in telling ancient stories to modern readers.  You are one of the rare tukang cerita now! The tentative date in on the 10th July subject  to the availability of ATMA's director who is going to preside the 2 hours seminar...It is just a small gathering of some fellows from ATMA, some students and of course reporters from our local newspapers...What is different is you are the keturunan jati daripada keturunan tukang cerita yang panjang, maka penuh dengan misteri ... Salam hormat Ding"

I was delighted and humbled to receive this invitation as my association with ATMA over the last six years have been one of friendship and enlightenment. I was a bit worried about what was expected of me. But then, Prof Ding assured me it was a small gathering of minds and told me not to worry.

With Prof Ding Choo Ming at his office
Iman, my eldest daughter who is turning out to be such a wonderful help,  took care of all the details like driving me to UKM, taking care of my books and illustrations (which our dear Sir Remgold  advised me to bring along - Thank you kind Sir)
Receiving a gift to be treasured from Prof Dr Abdul Latif Hj Samian, ATMA Director
Prof Ding's student from Malaysia, Japan and Hong KongI enjoyed telling them the story Puteri Saadong
HAK, an FB friend, turned up for the event. Apart from writing, we have found another connector - Adiguru Pak Nasir of ASWARA. Pleasure meeting you HAK!
I met writer Nisah Haron at Goodreads Malaysia. Our love for books brought us together!
Dato Zawiyah Baba had already bought Hikayat before the Wacana event.She was such a delight to talk to.
It turned out that the room was full. After my talk, the audience started asking questions. When each of them introduced themselves, I was a bit shocked. Prof Dr Harun Mat Piah was there - had I known, I would have been very nervous indeed about the talk. Dato Zawiyah Baba. As it is, the talk was a wonderful experience. A student from Hong Kong asked me to tell the story Puteri Saadong. I also told the story of Onangkiu and my version of NAGA.

12th July 2012 was certainly a day etched in my memory. Thank you ATMA!