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Filed under: Personal Note

Of Warehouse Sales and Interior Decoration

I surprised myself Saturday morning by being one of the first customers to hit the Times Warehouse Booksale. I missed all of last year’s warehouse sales and haven’t been to one for the past three years. So, thank you Sharon for the notice and thank you Google Calendar for the nifty SMS reminder.

I went with my six-year-old who straightaway busied himself at the Power Rangers CD section. At first, there didn’t seem to be that many books available – just five to six stacked tablefuls of books. Then I rounded the corner of the second storey shoplot at Dataran Hamodal and almost gasped – there were tables everywhere and rows and rows of books. And I only had two hours.

It was a good thing that I went with a specific purpose in mind: interior decorating.

Yes. Sounds boring, but recent developments over the past couple of months have made me revisit the interior decorating tomes that had been collecting dust on my bookshelf, and scour book aisles for new ones. These books are bloody expensive – a new title can easily cost more than RM100, and who can be satisfied with just one book? So when Sharon highlighted the book sale, I thought – perfect. I don’t need to know what the newest and swankiest home decor is, I just need inspiration and ideas, a new way of looking at space and interiors, and fresh insights into colour. 

I found a lot of inspiration sandwiched between books on Hillary Clinton and Yoga positions, at practically the first table I visited. The hardcovers were mid-90s and early 2000 editions, true, but at RM20 to RM30 each, I could afford a bit of age. So it was that barely half an hour into my foray at the sale, I was already piling up my basket with eight heavyweight decorating books. (The principle was simple, load up first, then reduce. The problem was, of course, that each title weighed at least half a kilo, so I got a spot of weight training as well.)

Anyway, in between lugging around the basket, inspecting home decor photographs, and keeping my eyes peeled for Philip Roth’s Everyman and Nigella Lawson’s Domestic Goddess (I am on a domestic streak, I tell you), I was peeking glances at the other visitors to the booksale.

Some were like me, with their baskets almost full with titles, whereas others were clearly browsers, picking up titles, reading their synopsis and putting them back. There were Moms and Dads with kids who were readers, too, or playing hide and seek among the tables or clamouring to go home (mine was pretty well-behaved, Alhamdulillah, though he alternated between giving me kisses – for allowing him a colouring book and a Power Ranger CD – and then punching me in the butt and tummy, for taking so long at the store). I also looked out for Sharon and Ted, but didn’t spot them.

There were some intriguing titles that I spotted. O, The Intimate History of the Orgasm, was one, and I rather wished I’d bought it now, given the reviews; Stephen Fry’s Incomplete and Utter History of Classical Music actually went into my basket until I decided I couldn’t afford the time for his irreverence. I regret the decision - I would have enjoyed reading his thoughts on Rachmaninov! Confessions of a True Romantic, which turned out to be a how-to relationship book; and The Other Adonis, which sounded naughty but is apparently a reincarnation-murder-thriller tale.

Two books remained in my basket: Gretchen Rubin’s Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill (don’t ask me why but I’ve been intrigued by American Presidents, too, lately) and Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail which I’d always wanted to read. Both were a steal at RM10 each.

I wish I’d also bought Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go and Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys but these were not heavily discounted so I can postpone their purchases. I really was trying to be sensible, you know.

I left the bookstore finally with five decorating titles, four back issues of Aussie and Brit home decor magazines, the two non-fiction titles, a Power Rangers CD, educational workbooks for the kids, a tic-tac-toe travel set (my six year old insisted), two bubble-blowing sets (guess who again insisted), and, for my ten year-old who’s potty over moons and planets, my most expensive purchase of all at RM59, this gorgeous tome simply titled “Universe“, which contains colourised and magnified astronomical images of the universe with at least a page for each planet, moon, asteroid and galaxy. I blew about RM250 at the booksale, but I’m pretty happy at the quantity and quality of books I got.

Here’s to the next warehouse sale, deeper pockets and more time for reading.

Filed under: At the Stores, Books, Personal Note

Credit Card Fraud

I’m a victim of credit card fraud.

Over Christmas, someone booked hotel rooms in a continent far, far away and enjoyed a Christmas getaway at my expense. The bookings were done online, of course, and coincided with a heavy purchasing season that failed to trigger the alarms of my credit card provider (think black and yellow if you’re Malaysian and are wondering which bank). I’ve been defrauded to the tune of a few thousand ringgit. It’s a nasty shock to open your credit card statement and find that your due payments have suddenly shot up sky high, especially if you have been prudent with your credit card. It’s a nastier experience to find that someone else enjoyed a holiday at your benefit. I wish those thieves horrible accidents.

Apart from directing black thoughts that way, my credit card provider is also going to get the brunt of my wrath should they fail to respond in a timely manner by reversing the charges on my credit card. I am mild-mannered, usually, but if I feel I am wronged….well, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, particularly if she is also a consumer cheated. I do not harbour much hopes though of quick action because the last time I was double-billed for a purchase, it took the bank almost a month to reverse the charges. And that was when a high-ranking executive was helping me lodge the complaint.

Still, with more competition in the banking sector, perhaps their reaction times are now quicker. We shall see.

Filed under: At the Stores, Personal Note

Polygamy (Long, Long Post)

I meant to write about this earlier, but the internet connection at home is acting up again.

On the 4th of January, there was a premiere of “Berbagi Suami” (English title: Love for Share), an Indonesian movie focusing on three women in polygamous marriages.

I was given comp tickets to the premiere, dressed up and dragged husband along, but then got caught for an hour in an unusual traffic jam near my home and decided to turn back. So I do not know how good or realistic the movie was, but I can tell you this movie, the first to highlight polygamy from the woman’s perspective, won the best feature film award at the Hawaii International Film Festival in October.

The premiere was organised by Sisters in Islam and proceeds go to fund the first research work into polygamy in Malaysia.

Religious Context

First of all, let me explain to non-Muslim and non-Malaysian visitors that polygamy is allowed in Islam, but is subject to very strict conditions. According to the Quran, a man may take up to four wives, but must treat all equally, and if he even feels that he cannot be equal to all, the he should be monogamous. Also, the reason for polygamy is wholly to take care of the widows and children of men killed in combat.

“If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry women of your choice, two or three or four; but if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with them, then only one” (Quran 4:3)

The Quran also emphasizes limitations against polygamy: 

“You cannot be equitable in a polygamous relationship, no matter how hard you try.” (4:129)

Now, I am not going to debate the theological rights and wrongs of polygamy. That would be way be beyond my capacity as a mere Muslim woman. But if you go back to the roots of Islam, you’d find that the religion exhorts the sanctity of the family, accords women and wives equal standing in the religion, and frequently reminds its subjects to treat people as they would wish to be treated. In this sense, free-for-all polygamy is clearly in complete discord with Islam.

Filed under: Islam, Malaysiana, Personal Note, Women

Dina is Blogging Again

Yes, Dina Zaman is back. And even though her new blog is essentially a marketing tool for her upcoming book, it’s wonderful to have Dina’s very human writing on the Net again.

Dina’s book “I Am Muslim” is a compilation of the essays that she wrote for Malaysiakini for a column of the same title. Two of her essays on AIDS from that column won her the Red Ribbon New Media Award 2006. She promised us blogger-friends photos but then forbade us from posting them! She has one now on her blog but you only get to see her back. Tsk.  

The book launch is March 27th, so mark it in your diaries.

Filed under: Books, Islam, Personal Note, Playing Favourites, Women, Writing

New Year Reading

So it is the New Year already, Eid Adha is over, the fireworks have blazed and died, the second round of merry-making have started, and this first night of 2007 is a discordant blend of noise and quiet, gaiety and sobriety, solitude and crowds. As I am writing this, I am obviously not part of the celebrating pack, though I welcome 2007 with some of their festive eagerness.

Tonight seems to be a good time to set some reading resolutions for the twelve months ahead. I am going to jump on the suggestion by Ms Bib or Sharon to participate (albeit silently) in Booklogged’s To Be Read Challenge which requires you to list and commit to reading at least twelve titles from your bookpile, existing and future, in the next one year. The TBR seems like a great idea to set and achieve some reading targets for the new year, and one book a month seems, well, read-able.

So, here’s my TBR (fiction) list for 2007:

1. Elizabeth Kostovo’s The Historian (a third of the way through)
2. Silverfish New Writing 6 (quarterway through)
3. Tash Aw’s The Harmony Silk Factory (quarterway through)
4. Zadie Smith’s On Beauty
5. Haruki Murakami’s Dance Dance Dance
6. Hari Kunzru’s Transmission
7. Adibah Amin’s The End of the Rainbow
8. Augusten Burroughs’s Running with Scissors
9. Neil Gaiman’s Fragile Things
10. Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale (after so many rave reviews, I am curious) 
11. JK Rowling’s Deathly Hallows, when it hits the bookstores
12. For book twelve, I will have to decide among Stephen King’s Lisey’s Story, Mary Gaitskill’s Veronica, Philip Roth’s Everyman, and Peter Carey’s Theft. Everyman’s at the top of the list for now, followed by Veronica.

Of course, any additional titles I read for the year will mean I exceed this New Year’s Resolution which will be a cause for celebration, come end-2007. We shall see.  

And let’s not restrict this goal-setting to just fiction, as my non-fiction mound of titles increases at a faster rate. Here are the top non-fiction books I aim to finish in 2007 (excluding work-related titles):

1. Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat
2. John Perkin’s Confessions of An Economic Hit Man 
3. Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything
4. Senu Abdul Rahman’s Mental Revolution 
5. Stephen King’s On Writing (he was my favourite author, growing up)
6. Carl Sagan’s The Demon Haunted World (this has been on my to-read list for more than a year but I somehow end up bringing home a different title from the bookstore)

I kept the list at six, to leave space for other titles that will become useful reading as more of 2007 unfolds.

My New Year Goals, where reading is concerned at least, seems to be an ambitious mountain to scale, so allow me to snatch a ten-minute read before sleep overcomes by ending this post here, with this message to the New Year: You’d better be good, 2007.

Filed under: Books, Reads