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

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.

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+

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.

Want to write a novel? Be a journalist? Be a freelance writer? Be a social media consultant? To do all this, you need to take a very important step: take that leap of faith.

Aubrey Andrus wrote a post I heart so much: The First Hurdle: Why Writers Should Stop Being Scared and Take the Leap of Faith. One particular paragraph really stood out for me:

Even the talented ones who are likely to be very successful as a freelancer prefer to dawdle and over-research what it takes to go out on their own. They dream instead of do. But your dreams will not come true until you step over that first hurdle. Take that first leap. Bust your excuses. Start taking action instead of thinking about it.

I was exactly like that! For years I dreamt about writing that novel. So, I read and read and read books about writing. I had shelves full of them. But did I do any actual writing? Nope. I realised I wanted to be as perfect and equipped as I can before I start anything. But you know what? You can never learn until you do the actual thing and make mistakes.

So, I started writing. In the beginning it was difficult to battle my perfectionist tendencies and not listen to my inner critic, but I managed it! I ended up writing a short story and submitting it to the MPH Alliance short story contest. I didn’t win or anything, but boy it felt so good to finish a story!

After that, I became bolder and bolder. I ignored that inner critic monster and took a few leaps of faith. I submitted a poem to an anthology. (Didn’t get in, but Sharon Bakar gave me awesome feedback.) Then I called up a publisher to find out if they were interested to publish a few children’s stories I wrote a couple of years ago. The time it took for them to get back to me was tough for me, but in the end they came back with a yes! That was how the Trixie Koala series of children’s books was born. My first book will published in the next few months in paperback and ebook format.

Aubrey also wrote this: You must do the things you think you cannot do.

Yes! Totally!

Moving to Australia. Getting published. Working as a digital content writer. These were the things I thought I could not ever do because they seemed too difficult, too impossible. But here I am, living my dreams at last because I dared to take the leap and dared to fail. And I did fail a few times. But rather than moan and dwell on it, I picked myself up and walked towards the next challenge. That’s what I recently learned. It’s not about doing the right things to succeed — it’s about knowing that you’re going to be all right even if you fail.

Photo by LarryLens.

I always tell myself to borrow less books from the library. And I fail miserably each time.

If there’s one reason for me to migrate to Australia, it would be the lovely, lovely, love (x10) libraries. It is wonderland for book lovers. Crack for book addicts. Paradise for Movie lovers. Haven for magazine readers. I can go on.

When I was told by the librarian at Burnside library (which is really near my home, which is another reason why I heart my neighbourhood so much) that I could borrow 50 books or magazines and 10 DVDs at once, I laughed.

“Who the hell could read that much? Who in the world would borrow that much, anyway?”

Cough.

Apparently, me.

Last Saturday, a librarian at Burnside said to me that I should return some books because – read this – the computer couldn’t print a borrowing receipt (which tells you when to return a book) that long!

I was (cough) kinda embarrassed, especially when a friend said that by borrowing so many books I was depriving people from reading them. Yes, I feel like a chastened school child, so I dutifully did a marathon reading session on Saturday and returned nearly 15 books. (They were mostly manga! I’m no genius speed reader )

This time, I managed to curb my borrowing this time and borrowed only … 5 books. Hey, it’s a feat for me, okay?

I just started writing a new column for The Star’s iPad edition – Editor’s Choice. It’s called Reading Revolution and it’s about one of my biggest passions: e-books. I will be writing about how to get started reading e-books, issues concerning the ebook industry and I will also be interviewing e-book authors.

I was really excited to be given the chance to write this column. I mean, a reason to go on and on about the thing I love? What joy!

Anyway, you can download the Sept 26, 2012 Reading Revolution (in PDF format) column, but it reads so much better on the iPad or tablet, so download The Editor’s Choice by visiting http://thestar.com.my/ipad. It’s free!

This post is a little late, because I just ended my tenure as a student. Still, it was such a fascinating time to be a student that I had to write it down.

I signed up for my Aged Care course like I planned. Initially, I was supposed to head to Barossa Valley to spend a month at a winery picking grapes and labelling wine bottles, but when I found out about the South Australian government’s Skills for All initiative, I cancelled it. I qualified for the scheme, so this meant that the government will pay for my course. Instead of paying $2,000, I only paid my college’s $260 registration fees (Padman Healthcare). Though, at some colleges you pay almost nothing. But I chose the college because I felt that as the company ran nursing homes, they’d ensure that the training given would be the best there is – especially since the organisation does take in some of its students as carers.

(Anyway, it is lucky that I applied then, because the slots for that benefit quickly dried up after two months!)

I chose to live near my college and found a place about a few kilometres from it. Some of my classmates, who manage to find accommodation that’s around $100 per week or so commented how expensive my place was (it’s about $150). But I save a lot on fuel (I don’t have a car) and transport because I either walk to college or cycle there. (I bought a cheap bike from Gumtree.) Plus, hello – unlimited high-speed Internet!

I mean, every morning I get to walk past houses like these:

Or this:

And the weather in August was still chilly but not too chilly, and flowers were starting to bloom … it was lovely to be out around walking or cycling in Adelaide.

I underestimated how hectic college could be, however. Classes run from 9am to 4pm every day. There was endless amounts of assignments, and there was one time where I woke up at 6am to complete work that was due at 9am!

I found the Aged Care course very, very fascinating and my respect for nurses and nurses’ aides (or personal carers) are certainly much higher now. This is why I’m so surprised and dismayed that many cultures look down on personal carers.

The first thing people think of when it comes to becoming a personal carer is this: “Yuck! I have to handle urine and faecal matter?”

I admit that when we started studying about personal care, and when shown confronting videos of how we’d literally take care of people’s toilet and hygiene needs, I wilted inside – I wasn’t sure if I could do it. But as the classes went on, my respect for the profession grew and grew. A great personal carer will make a great difference to their clients or patients. They are at the frontline of healthcare and need great physical stamina and emotional strength to do what they do.

It’s a really honourable profession, and they deserve more than what they’re getting now. And I’m not just talking about the pay, which (for a full-time staff member) is around $18 per hour, but the regard society has for them.

I once read a book about shit (yes, literal shit) – how we dispose of them over the centuries, the people associated with the task – that said that the closer some people are to the task of disposing waste matter, the lower their prestige in society. Yet, the task of disposing waste is one of the greatest technological advances of civilisation because it has improved mankind’s welfare and health by leaps and bounds. YET, the people associated with such an important task gets no respect.

Life is shitty that way, isn’t it?

My friend Yin in her vegetable garden. She grows her food and recycles food waste back into the garden.

After reading Michael Pollan’s brilliant Omnivore’s Dilemma (I interviewed him in 2010 - Make informed choices about food) and Tristram Stuart’s equally amazing Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal, I dreamt of growing and recycling my own food in a sustainable, green-friendly fashion.

However, I lived in a 1000sqf balcony-less apartment in Petaling Jaya, so my dream would have to remain a dream.

But when I came to Adelaide to make my first entry in January last year, I met Yin, a wonderful lady that has helped me so much in settling in my new home. (She was lovely enough to allow me to housesit her home for a week when I was trying to find a place to stay a few weeks ago.)

I was also awed that she grew her own food and recycled her waste to turn into fertiliser!

Chard grows side by side with coriander and weeds. Yin prefers to let her garden grow "wild", saying that's how nature intended it.

At the back of her house somewhere near Port Adelaide, chard, yummy coriander, chilli, silver beets, beetroot, and spring onion grow side by side. She has olive, lemon and kumquat trees too. Furthermore, her vegetables were huge – they were bursting with health. This, said Yin, is due to her giving them “light” (She’s a Sukyo Mahikari devotee) and talking to them like beloved friends, and the natural fertiliser made from recycled waste foods and “worm juice” produced by the worms in her worm farm she has in the garage.

Yin has been growing her own food for years, back when she lived in Sabah. She said she first got the idea when she met an environmentalist in the Philippines and later, a woman in Japan. She learned the skills she needed to grow a sustainable garden and over the years, even held informal courses to people who wanted to learn how she did this.

Food waste is collected in a bin and later fed back into the Earth to be turned into fertiliser.

Food waste of any kind is collected in a bin outside the kitchen.

Later, she would bury the waste in the ground, with a layer of leaves above it, and “turn it” a few weeks later. The soil would eventually be rich with nutrients and be used for the vegetables.

The food waste is buried beneath this stack of dried grass.

Alternatively, she sometimes place it in a special bin which does the same job.

The soil at the bottom of this bin is rich with nutrients.

She waters the plants, if she can, from rain water collected by two big bins at the garden area.

She would “feed” the worms some leaves sometimes. Later, she would collect the water the worms produce – she dubs it “worm juice” – and waters the plants with it.

Mmmm (to plants, anyway). Worm juice!

Yin’s vegetable garden is really inspiring, and I particularly love the coriander that she grows. It’s plentiful, organic and so yummy!

I really do hope that I can have my own vegetable garden like Yin’s one day. Maybe not one as “full on” as hers, but I hope to eventually grow a few pots of herbs and vegetables: coriander, spring onions, rosemary and thyme would be lovely.

I first zipped to a friend's home in Norwood before going to North Adelaide. Here I am getting chummy with Jack, a neighbour's cat.

After years and years of hand wringing, I’m finally in Adelaide, South Australia. I honestly didn’t think I’d be here. Heck, the friends I have here were quite convinced that I’m not coming over because I kept going back and forth endlessly. Should I stay in the safe and certain or should I jump off cliff into the unknown? In the end, I decided, what the hell, I’m going to give it a try.

Now that I’m here, I’m glad I did make the leap!

The weather is chilly, but not Hokkaido icy or Edinburgh wintry, because these two places were the two coldest places I’ve been in. The kind of cold that seeps into your bones and do not let go. In Adelaide, at least, it gives you a break sometimes. Today, for example, is almost like a cold night in summer!

My room is above this little house, which is separate from the main house.

Sunlight greets me every morning.

Mum is already telling me I need to keep the place clean. Definitely will!

North Adelaide reminds me a lot of Bangsar with its quaint cafes and restaurants. It is just about the central business district of Adelaide (CBD for short) and is full of picturesque houses. I have fallen in love with the little library in the neighbourhood where you can rent out books, DVDs and read magazines and newspapers. And did I mention the free bus that takes you to the city? The idea that such a thing exists bowls me over.

Worries? Yes, I have many. But I’m taking things one step at a time. I told myself that even if I can’t get a job to pay the bills, I would’ve tasted life in Australia, and that is worth every penny (or sen).

Leaving friends and family was hard though. My first night here as I sat in the studio apartment that will be home for the next few months, I did wonder if I made a mistake. Was I attempting something impossible? Did I do the right thing? What am I going to do without my dear friends and family?

The pain is lessened a little by the new experiences I have here – meeting the neighbour and her Rhodesian Ridgeback Gordon, sitting in a park with the icy winds in my hair, cuddling a fat cat called Jack and sipping tea while staring at the lemon tree at the back of a friend’s house, and rushing to IKEA in “heavy” traffic. An experience only because in Adelaide, what is called “traffic jam” is like a nice drive on Sunday in Subang Jaya!

Whatever the future may hold, I’m glad I mad the move. It’s an intoxicating sensation, to fall back without knowing where you’ll land.