“What are you doing in Malaysia?” See Tshiung Han

Tash Aw, reading an extract from his latest novel, Five Star Billionaire

“The readings usually take place in front of Hamir Soib’s Tak ada beza, a 4-panel painting of pigs walking on their hind legs. This time, the readings took place in another part of Seksan Gallery, in front of a series of mixed-media works by students from Universiti Teknologi MARA. Reading@Seksan’s 9th anniversary was last month, but this month’s event is bigger.

Why? Tash Aw is reading. His first novel, Harmony Silk Factory, won the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Novel. Nobel laureate Doris Lessing said the book is “unputdownable.” He is in Malaysia promoting his new book. He is a Big Deal.

The first reader is Ksatriya. Amir Muhammad introduces him as the “next Cecil Rajendra,” no doubt because of the Penang connection. Ksatriya is based in Gelugor, near George Town, and he organizes an monthly open mic at China House, a restaurant in George Town itself. Like Cecil Rajendra, Ksatriya is a poet.”

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