Around 2017 to 2018, I started teaching haiku to enthusiasts from Malaysia and Singapore. I conducted the class online. The response from the first group was stimulating and encouraging. When the course from the first group ended, there was a request for another group. With the course layout from both group, I started to draft a haiku writing guide base on the same layout plans. Some of the students wanted to selfprint the book and I let them handle the process. Due to some complications in deciding the printing company, I decided to send the manuscript to publishing company. I tried ITBM, some couple of months later, the manuscript was rejected. Then, I sent to DPB, same story. I almost gave up on printing the book but someone recommended a printing company. We decidedto do selfprinting. It took several months due to clisure of printing companies during the heightof corona season in 2021. But when things started to become better after the corona ended, the printing company turnedto reject my manuscript. then, with aliff zamri help as he just finished printing his own haiku collection, I decided to send my manuscript to the same printers. At the time of writing this, we are in the process of printing our second lot. The first printing of 50 copies was done on purpose as I don't want the books lying idle in Alif house, not moving. In fact, I wanted the book to go to all the people that Ive taught first. For the second printing, I go for another 50 copies and this time, Ive instructed the distribution to go to bookshops.
I started mulling a compilation of all my short stories for several years. I wrote short stories to the Berita Harian papers and Asas group for several anniversary team. I gather all the past BH writings and asas collection together with a short story that I've won a second award in the Golden Point literature Award in 2015. I gather all these short stories and send it to Unggun creative, a publishing company in Singapore. The company applied a writing grant and surprisingly, I qualified.
With the generous writing grant from The National Arts Council Singapore, the publisher invited a famous literature personality from Malaysia Emeritus Prof Dr Mawar Safei to write the forwarding address to this book. It gives quite a prestigous reputation to my book.
I started gathering Japanese proverbs from 2012, when my first grandchildren, three of them, were born in this year. At last, after 6 years of data gathering and matching of the Malay probverbs, I mailed the manuscript to the publisher, Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka in 2018. Happily, the manuscript was accepted but we had to do a thorough editing of the writing format in kanji, hiragana and katakana for three years and another 100% checks on the matching malay proverbs. It took another 2 years for the printing process and at last, I was inform by my co-writer that this book was already in the market from November 2022.
It was tremendous hard work gathering a total of 2078 japanese proverbs for 7 years together but such a satisfying feeling to know that nobody else has done it before. I think Ive carved a name in the literary circle such heavy duty book as this.
Haiku
Ten years of writing
from the birth of twins in spring
till the skin wrinkled.
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