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small organizational fee is required upon acceptance of this invitation this fee directly covers the essential logistics including event coordination securing the virtual platform and managing the live session promotion marketing dedicated outreach to our extensive member list and broader genre fiction and literary networks library listing featuring your work permanently on our club resources club support ongoing administrative costs that keep our fast growing community vibrant we believe this is a modest investment for a high value direct connection with a dedicated audience guaranteeing your work receives the attention it truly deserves we are incredibly excited about the possibility of featuring you and your exceptional literary achievement would you be open to a brief call or email exchange to discuss available dates and the next steps to secure your spot thank you for considering this invitation warmly clara pennington book organizer oprah s manhattan book club penningtonclara pa gmail com https www manhattanbookclub org dear tunku halim i hope you re doing well i m writing to follow up on my recent invitation to feature 44 cemetery road the best of tunku halim in our virtual meet the author spotlight hosted by oprah s manhattan book club your masterful command of supernatural suspense your distinctive malaysian settings and the remarkable range of horror elements in your collection make your work an extraordinary fit for our series our members are deeply drawn to atmospheric culturally rich and psychologically gripping fiction precisely the kind of storytelling you are celebrated for the spotlight provides meaningful visibility long term promotion and a direct opportunity to engage with an active audience that values horror thriller and southeast asian literature as noted in my earlier message the small organizational fee simply covers the professional support required for event setup promotion and maintaining your permanent listing within our club resources it is not a payment to be featured we would be honored to include you in our upcoming lineup and i would be delighted to share available dates or answer any questions you may have warm regards clara pennington book organizer oprah s manhattan book club penningtonclara pa gmail com https www manhattanbookclub org dear tunku halim i am writing to you on behalf of oprah s manhattan book club a fast growing network of passionate readers engaged members and celebrated authors in manhattan and beyond my name is clara pennington and i serve as the book organizer for the club first and foremost i must commend you on your prolific writing career making you potentially malaysia s most prolific author in the english language and celebrate your critical acclaim including being a nominee for the international impac dublin literary award and having your novel vermillion eye used as a study text at the national university of singapore we are highly captivated by your latest supernatural thriller juriah s song the premise a young rock star pursued by a female spectre who flees to the seaside village where he once attempted suicide is immediately gripping the novel masterfully weaves together themes of past trauma redemption horror and seduction with the introduction of a repulsive shaman and the haunting question does the lovely juriah mean to haunt him to death the overarching theme of exploring the choices one would make if they could live their life again elevates this from a pure horror story to a profound psychological thriller this potent blend of dark secrets romance and supernatural suspense is exactly the kind of resonant and gripping work we look to champion and showcase an invitation to a virtual spotlight we are currently curating our exclusive virtual meet the author series providing a dedicated platform akin to a supernatural thriller global literature and horror forum or intimate meet the author event for writers like yourself to connect directly with a dedicated and expanding audience of enthusiastic readers this is a unique opportunity to gain visibility connect with hundreds of potential new readers interested in international horror psychological suspense and celebrated malaysian english language literature engage directly participate in a vibrant discussion about the genesis of juriah s song as a horror love story how your background as a lawyer and your work in malaysia and australia influence your themes and the deliberate choice to explore the spiritual magical aspects through the character of the shaman receive dedicated promotion we spotlight your work across our network and platforms ensuring maximum exposure for juriah s song a small organizational fee to ensure a high quality seamless and widely promoted event a small organizational fee is required upon acceptance of this invitation this fee directly covers the essential logistics including event coordination securing the virtual platform and managing the live session promotion marketing dedicated outreach to our extensive member list and broader thriller horror and international literature networks library listing featuring your work permanently on our club resources club support ongoing administrative costs that keep our fast growing community vibrant we believe this is a modest investment for a high value direct connection with a dedicated audience guaranteeing your work receives the attention it truly deserves we are incredibly excited about the possibility of featuring you and your captivating novel would you be open to a brief call or email exchange to discuss available dates and the next steps to secure your spot thank you for considering this invitation warmly clara pennington book organizer oprah s manhattan book club penningtonclara pa gmail com https www manhattanbookclub org december 3 2025 0 the dark knight ahead of the 25th anniversary of vermillion eye author tunku halim talks about the reissue of his iconic work as well as his journey into the literary scene and how it has changed in malaysia or indonesia it s very rare to find someone who doesn t believe in ghosts says writer tunku halim tunku abdullah he explains that this spine chilling category is such a popular genre in varying creative media across the world because even those who don t like horror have a fascination for it particularly in malaysia we have a very rich mythology like the pontianak toyol orang minyak possession black magic and all the other spirits even the educated believe in this stuff dubbed the stephen king of asia halim 61 has produced a staggering number of works over the last three decades delving into malay myths legends and folklore i don t classify all my stories as horror some are psychological thrillers and paranormal romance they can be called asian gothic he says it s just that when i started i published two short story collections of horror followed by my debut novel so then i got put into this box or coffin if you will when you think of the genre in malaysia you think of tunku halim reading law at the university of sussex in the uk he then worked as a legal counsel for some years before switching from precision to prose and devoting himself to crafting unsettling stories as a teenager i always thought that being an author would be wonderful but my mum had other ideas she gave me the option of law accounting or medicine i chose law because it involved using words halim s creative writing journey began with short descriptions of the eerie tales surrounding kuala lumpur s jalan damansara which links bukit damansara to section 16 in petaling jaya i made notes about this scary winding road with jungle all around and that became a story i wrote a few more and i said why not come out with a collection since then he has made his mark in the niche market with titles such as the rape of martha teoh other chilling stories the woman who grew horns other works gravedigger s kiss horror stories and most recently my lovely skull other skeletons the local trailblazer in the genre points out that scary films paint the category in a bad light with narratives that follow typical established formulas confirmed to elicit fear and anxiety in viewers i don t like watching horror movies because generally they have a very low budget hence affecting the plot and acting they always have some woman going down into the cellar the electricity is somehow not working but she has to go down anyway then she will be attacked by some spirit in the house yet the family never leaves and just stays according to him these shows largely rely on shock and gore but it is different for creative writing writing has to be more sophisticated you have to have a strong plot what i want to do with my story is capture the reader s attention from page one get them so immersed that they forget they are reading that is what i want to achieve how does he ensure that he sends shivers down his readers spine and keeps them engaged then there are many ways to draw people in with any kind of story there has to be some sort of problem that needs to be resolved mine is always associated with supernatural elements or something disturbing or fearful creative writing is like any other skill he says for dark fiction the trick is to show not tell for example when you say the door opened by itself and i felt frightened that is telling but the door opened by itself and i felt goose bumps is showing so when i say that subconsciously the reader will imagine what is happening and that will trigger the instinctive reaction this is how you create tension and fear while it is not possible to draw every chilling scene from his own experience very rarely does anything happen to me so i use my imagination a lot halim tends to map out a storyline just from being curious about a particular setting or situation he comes across he explains the inspiration behind one of the anthologies in his latest release i walked past this house quite often it s a typical bungalow but dilapidated empty and falling apart and no one looked after the garden and so it looked like a jungle i wondered how come nobody lives here why doesn t someone buy it and build a new house one day i saw an old woman in shabby clothes sitting just outside the front door right away that sparked my imagination for a story called the garden when not working halim loves spending time outdoors walking travelling and just doing activities that allow him to engage with the real world fuel his creativity he also steers clear of social media as he thinks it is a major distraction and interrupts one s ability to generate ideas i value my privacy above anything but i also think social media is addictive and i do not want to get addicted to anything for most people social media is the default thing to do as soon as they feel slightly bored they pick up their phone and start to scroll through the different apps so there is no opportunity to be bored but not doing anything is actually very important because that s when i think about what to write or other things i want to do in my life for the new generation of authors however having an online platform is almost like a requirement for their work to be considered for publishing halim acknowledges it is unfortunate that it has come to this but boasting a strong social media presence demonstrates their ability to sell for this veteran wordsmith however even with just a blog on wordpress which he occasionally writes for his opuses still make their way to the bookstores and some are reissued with updates to suit the contemporary context for instance vermillion eye which is used as study material at the national university of singapore will be republished by penguin random house next month 25 years after it was introduced the story explores three distinctive characters in one compelling account of love lust and vengeance they wanted me to refresh the text and make it up to date so i had to bring in technology which made a big difference to the story in the original copy my main character is a pimp based in sydney to get customers he would go to the red light district and approach passers by but that s totally changed because kings cross is now gentrified people want to move here it s a nice place to live pimps don t go out looking for clients anymore it s all done online so i had to tweak some parts to take this into account vermillion eye 25th anniversary edition will be launched at the george town literary festival next month with a new look to commemorate the shift in the literary scene over the last 30 years where readers now indeed judge a book by its cover given his years of experience in the field halim is praised as much as he is criticised he is aware of both bouquets and brickbats but does not let that deter him from pursuing his passion i don t write for fame and i don t do it for money i write for satisfaction and because it is a fulfilling thing to do he says his advice for aspiring authors write because it is something you want to do don t write with the purpose of getting published if you do get published that s a huge bonus but the joy is in the act of writing itself it is also the cheapest hobby you can have because all you need is a pen and paper this article written by aireena azni first appeared on oct 27 2025 in the edge i d like to thank aireena azni for writing this article hope you found it interesting november 10 2025 0 dining vegan in penang updated 2 8 25 a friend s vegan daughter is visiting penang so he asked me about what restaurants to go to i often eat in a vegan way so here are some of my suggestions some of these are pure vegan while others are vegetarian with vegan options ruo tea dine in a most zen like environment the delicious food is taiwanese inspired and served in an artfully japanese way you ll come away feeling full there is a minimum spend and you should book ahead young children are not allowed brown poodle my favourite in the tanjong tokong area a great variety of food western and asian love the burgers pizza and the monday speciality chicken rice great selection of cakes too small dogs are allowed zen xin i love this place because it serves a variety of dishes to be shared more like a proper chinese restaurant rather than single dishes per person great mutton curry and so much more neko vegan house hidden away off chulia street this tiny establishment with only 3 to 4 tables is a gem a very limited menu but so delicious ring the door bell to get in uncle loke curry me they specialise in yummy vegan curry mee meehoon called curry laksa down south they re in a small hawker centre in tanjung tokong not far from brown poodle where you can choose to dine in or order using grab but you ll be paying a bit more i always cook a few veges at home and add that to my curry mee when it arrives it opens early and closes after lunch janxden greenlife a simple setting but still delicious i often pop in here for a bite the satay is particular...