Yvonne Foong

Good news! Euro1 Motion Picture and Literary Agency sent me an offer of representation, as agent to market my book in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. I’m not alone in this because John received an offer from them as well, so all the more I shouldn’t reject it. Nothing beats having a partner-in-crime in whatever you do because this world is simply so big and scary at times. Moreover, I think it’s brilliant coincidence that the both of us received an offer from the same literary agent across the globe. Our queries were sent separately and at different times, before we even got to know each other. Even lottery doesn’t come this close! Let’s hope that Euro1 will be able to secure a publisher for us very soon.

I’ve been advised to hold back international rights until the local publication is out in stores. That’s how things work usually. The author writes a book, gets it published locally, and then markets the book at literary festivals and book fairs abroad. But I decided to take up this offer. The local publication is only a few months away so I’m sure that we can beat Euro1 in terms of time. After all, Euro1 is only an agent. They still need to find a publisher that may take up to a year to publish my book. If that’s the case, then I am right on track. By time my work is available in Europe, the local publication would be around long enough to drop out of bookstores.

Besides, a chance like this doesn’t come around all the time, so praise the Lord!

SK shared with me an e-mail containing a very inspiring message by Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs. I had the mail forwarded to a couple of close friends, but later felt that everyone deserves to read this intriguing speech.

‘You’ve got to find what you love,’ Jobs says

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example: Read the rest of this entry »

Whee! It’s time to introduce my 2nd hostee. She is no other than my good friend, Cheryl Leong! This 22 year old is pretty, sweet, charming, talented, friendly, helpful, fun-loving, jovial, oh she’s EVERYTHING! But too bad, she’s unavailable, so it’s just too bad, guys.

Cheryl has been a great friend of mine since secondary school, but I don’t know how to thank her. The only thing I can think of is to share some of my hosting space with her. Go have a look at her portfolio HERE!

Yups! Cheryl graduated from The One Academy last year, with a diploma in multimedia design. She’s now venturing into freelance photography. If you need to hire a professional photographer, do remember to drop her a note at itscheryl(at)gmail(dot)com. She’s also up for friendship.

picture stolen from http://www.dustyhawk.com

There was a bloggers meeting last Sunday at MidValley’s Oasis Foodcourt. That was my first appearance as a blogger in public, and my, the turn out was amazing! It’s great to finally see the people behind their blogs, and now they know that Yvonne Foong is very real indeed. My goal is to change stereotypes and stop people from thinking that being sick means we are hopeless and we shouldn’t have a life. It seems that I’m beginning to accomplish this goal of mine. My encounter with Emily Yoon that day was not without rewards.

Before I started reading Peter’s and Yvonne’s blog, I’ve always had this common mentality, thinking that all people with disabilities or illnesses don’t do anything, or rather, they live a life that is very duh and boring. For example, I used to think that the only thing they drink was plain water and the only thing they ate was porridge and they don’t go anywhere but stay at home all the time and they don’t use the internet either, but I was very obviously wrong, because firstly, Peter Tan and Yvonne Foong both have their own blogs which are more successful than mine. Peter Tan arrived at the meet with Starbucks in his hand (next time buy for me also mar!) and halfway through chatting with Yvonne, she noted that she wanted a drink and I fully expected her to come back with water but instead, she came back with a fattening, high calorie, sugary can of coke. Beyond that, they were both at the hip, cool and happening (but not as hip, cool and happening as KLCC or Mid Valley. Peter arrived “fashionably� late, so did Yvonne actually, just like every other Malaysian.

If there’s one thing I learnt from this meet, it is that Peter and Yvonne are really no different compared to the rest of us, they drink what we drink, likely eat what we eat, go where we go and are just as late as we are. It is just that sometimes, that they may need help to do what we do and go where we go.

It was rather ironic that I experienced intense silence a day before meeting Yvonne who’s hearing is almost completely gone now. Throughout Saturday morning as I was enveloped in silence, being alone in a secluded private island, the thought of not having my hearing kept coming back to me. What will I do? How will my life change? But it was also within this silence that I found an immense amount of peace that I have not felt for years, and within that silence, I heard God’s voice louder than I have ever heard it before.

I’m so touched, Emily.

Yay Yay! Here comes my first pay cheque as a writer. It’s a very humble amount, but enough to fly me out of bolehland on a budget airline. This idea derived from David, whose first writing brought him to Bali! One day, I’ll earn enough with my pen to visit the moon, and who knows, I might also find a publisher there! So, anyone game enough for this?

I suppose its nothing wrong to admit that I do believe in miracles. Many things in this world happen with no scientific reason. We’ve heard about miracle healings, about terminal illnesses being cured by unseen power. Many things are working behind our backs everyday, things that we cannot see with the human eye. I don’t know how true this is, but at least, I choose to believe in their existence.

Wouldn’t it be nice for me to hear again. I miss listening to birds chirping in my garden, school children laughing across the street, Lee Hom’s music, piano sounds, and even my mother’s yelling. It’s been a long time since I last heard the flow of water. Sounds of nature are the most beautiful in the world.

John’s coming back soon and will launch his new book this December. As usual, he will be giving a talk at his book launch before moving on to a Q&A session. I don’t see why I should hide the fact that I miss hearing his voice. Sad to say, I’ve only heard it once, during the launch of ‘Fourteen Bullets’. Little did I know, that that was the last time for me to hear him. If I knew my hearing was going soon, I would have grabbed the fella, tuck him into a jukebox, and keep playing it over and over again until my hearing take its toil.

By laws of science, my hearing nerve has to go when the tumour goes during surgery. That means, I will be deaf without the brainstem implant. But even with the implant, I still have to undergo years of training and getting used to, in order to listen like a normal person.

Am I prepared for all that? Yes I am. But am I willing for that? No, I am not. I’m only going for it because I have to. If there is a choice, who wouldn’t want non-invasive cure and prefect hearing quality? So after all things considered, miracle healing is the best option I can ever have.

Let me tell you a secret. I haven’t receive payments for any of the newspaper articles I wrote. I wonder if they forgot about me. Delays such as this is very damaging to my own economy. There’s this book that I wish to buy, but it costs a whooping RM60.13 at Kinokuniya. For the sake of smart financial management, I prefer crediting expenditures directly from my income. But being penny wise isn’t always a good thing, especially when I need to get the next article done in 7 days.

Fortunately, we Malaysian writers have an online troubleshooter. He’s no other than Oon Yeoh the talking writers resource. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present you, Oon Yeoh’s short version of William E. Blundel’s “The art and craft of feature writing”!

I hope that would suffice to serve next week’s dateline. This is my first time at feature writing, so wish me luck! While I’m at it, does anyone here have that book, but wish to get rid of it?

I’ve been advised about transparency and accountability lately, and I realise that my t-shirt project is much bigger and riskier than I thought! Previously, people decide to donate out of good will and personal initiative. But things are a whole lot different now.

Therefore, I’ve decided to cease accepting donations from the public until Dr. Friedman gets back to me with all the neccessary documents. I hope he won’t take too long for this but Cochlear Corporation is indeed a very big company. Unlike St. Vincent Medical Center, that Dr. Friedman could just see the president directly and all words of consent were exchanged. In the mean time, lets pray together that Dr. Friedman will be able to get a good discount for the implant.

As for my health progress, my hearing dropped again and now, I can’t hear a single thing when people speak to me. This world is so quiet these days. Is this what they call, a peace of mind?

Mommy turned 56 today! That’s 19 years of motherhood, taking care of this brat over here. Even though I’m already a big girl, mommy still treats me like a small baby. She brings food to my computer (not my bedside), holds my hand when we walk, hugs me when I want to be pampered, changes my wound dressings when there’s leakage, sings me lullaby in the ICU and cries for me when I’m in pain. She’s one heck of a gutsy woman. She lifted me when I could not walk. She carry my luggages when we travel. Everything that requires physical strength, she’s there for me. There’s so much that I want to say to my mommy. Without her, no one would be there for me when I needed support the most. There are many people who care for us in our lives, but only a few would be willing to sacrifice for us. Mommy loves me so much that she’s willing to do anything to ease my pain. Not that she has to, but because she loves me. With mommy, this journey with Neurofibromatosis becomes easier. For I know that whatever happens, she will be there to take care of me, provided that she’s still in this world.

Mother with her favourite sister on the right

I wish mommy a very Happy Birthday. May she have a long and joyous life ahead. This article of mine that was recently published in The Star, is dedicated to my mommy. Just like this blogpost, it comes with years of pain and many buckets of tears.

Do you have a dream? I know I have one. My innermost dream is far different than how I live now. I wish to be a child again, with a simple joyful life. A time that I could laugh at everything, smell the roses wherever I go, run barefoot across fields, beautiful dresses with knee length trains, blooming sunflowers and sweet heavenly music. Oh, the life I so want to live.

But now, I’m putting myself out there. Telling my story to the world, a story that I wish to change. A look at my palm, you’ll see a little woman. I do not intend to chase for fame, be surrounded by envy, and marvelled upon. I’m just a little woman, seeking refuge in my own temple. I want happiness in the spirit. I want to find what’s important to me, and when I find it, the best in the world will be with me.

But fate didn’t make me that way. Fate brought me thus far, an awful illness, a dreadful past, and a long inspiring story to tell. Fate had me believe that I’m meant to do big things. I thought that I was on a mission, to speak for my people, lend the dreaded a voice, and triumph for changes. But Lord, is this really what I’m called for? Is this really who I am inside?

My innerchild is so different from what’s being displayed. I love to sing lullabies, paint colorful pictures, fly amidst the clouds, wish upon the a star, hug my teddy bear to sleep and play with Snoopy all day long.

Perhaps that’s the life I dream for in heaven. I so wish to live like heaven on earth, but many times, living like a child is not possible. Being out in the open, like a speaking piece of specimen, I begin to loose the things that are most important to me. I want to remain naive and innocent, but that’s not a way to survive. And certainly not a chance to make any difference.

Many a times, I do nor know if I’m doing the right thing. The best I can do, is close my eyes and seek answer from the Lord. That’s when I belittle myself and feel the whole world on my shoulders. It makes me so weak and tired. Then I begin to ask myself, am I trying too hard? Triumphing for a change and making a difference in this world is a noble thing to do. But to make a difference, I’m forced to loose touch with my innerchild, my dreams, and the things that are important to me. Is this all worthwhile? I do not know.

Everytime I meet a new friend, I wish to show them the inner me. Seek my center, and not my display for I’m very different inside. I thank God that my dear friend, Elena, has found my trueself, the Yvonne that many people do not see. Whatever becomes of me, I’ll forever remain as a little girl to her. Anytime anyday, I can just hold her hand, sing her a song and hug her as tightly as I can. For she knows, that I’m all but a little girl who needs to be loved.

Climb every mountain, search high and low,
Follow every byway, every path you know.
Climb every mountain, ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow, till you find your dream!

A dream that will need all the love you can give,
Every day of your life for as long as you live.
Climb every mountain, ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow, till you find your dream!

Is my inner dream, at the end of this journey that I’m partaking?