Yvonne Foong

Cheryl and Vic accompanied me to the launch of MillionaireAsia yesterday. Neither of them had confidence finding the way to Carcosa Seri Negara. Cheryl in particular was stressed at the idea of retracing a route that got her lost for 1 hour previously.

But we went. I sat comfortably in the back while they both wrestled traffic jams and struggled at reading maps. When I first asked Vic if he would bring us there, he looked it up online and agreed. As for Cheryl, it was not her first time accompanying and driving us to similar events. We even took the train to Passion Club in 2006 when Nottingham University raised funds for my surgery.

But the main agenda yesterday was in the celebration. We turned up as guests by closed-door invitation .There were 300 people. I brought along some books and collected RM400 for my medical fund. The publisher introduced me to the crowd and together with several others; we had a toast of champagne to signify the launch of MillionaireAsia, Malaysia edition. To entertain guests were watches, jewelries, and other accessories on display at catchy areas, as well as some cars and a helicopter at the lawn.

It must have cost a fortune just doing it all up, coupled with special lightings, red carpet, display plagues, and what have you. Vic said we stood out as the odd ones. At least I wore a bareback!

Later, we had a chat with Michael and Amanda from the British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce. Lucky there was Amanda, because I got to ask about her children. One’s an Engineer, another a lawyer, and then I forgot the middle child. I asked why they weren’t here. She said one’s in London, and the others in some other countries. And then I remember, Amanda and Michael are expatriates. So it was only logical they did not come with the family.

I’m not doing the kind of business that require much socializing, so I did not deliberately struck up conversations with people. But the few I talked to were interesting enough to leave an impression. One was a middle-aged man with a doctorate to his name. He came and looked at my poster skeptically. I thought he was hesitant. But I soon realized he was just being himself, for he picked up my whiteboard and wrote, “Congratulations Yvonne Foong,” followed by more words of encouragement, as though it had been rehearsed. My name was not even prominent on the A2 poster. But this uncle addressed me enthusiastically. When he received the book and left, I could not help but smile at the odd encounter.

One lady asked me to dedicate the book to her late grandfather. But I misunderstood, thinking her name was “Kate”, and Kate’s grandfather just passed away. So I wrote the autograph as it to encourage Kate. I cancelled the word, “Kate”, when Cheryl explained again. But the message was not so apt anymore. I wrote, “Always remember that things happen for a purpose”. How are you supposed to tell that to someone deceased? Next time, make sure before you autograph a book.

Next came Hugh. Although I couldn’t hear well, I guessed Hugh must have been jolly loud. He reminded me of Steve Otto, my A.B.I Consultant, except that Hugh is perhaps 20 years younger. After getting my book and autograph, he went and got Mr. Publisher to autograph the magazine! I wanted to walk up and offer my autograph on the page with my story. But ah, he already got one in the book. Heh.

Cheryl, Vic, and I left around 10:30pm, but not before making an announcement of our impending departure so people could still buy last minute. Food was good but there were not enough. After speaking with the BMCCs, all food served buffet-style were four-fifth gone! Cheryl and I had a bit of here and there while Vic had even less. So Cheryl at 4 feet 10 went scouting for food like a mouse every so often. I bet she must have stalked those waiters bearing snacks on trays who roamed the floor all night. I joked that they looked as if to say, “eat up and leave”, as soon as the clock struck 10. Or they were just tired.

I didn’t take the goodie bag. Now I wonder what could be in there. Should better than what you would get at bloggers’ gatherings. A Mercedez….. pen?

There was this lady who insisted I accept her RM10 for a book, claiming that she didn’t have change. We refused, so she proposed donating to me without getting the book. Seeing her persistence I signed for her a copy and accepted the note. It left an impression as I haven’t seen someone so keen in reading it despite not bringing enough to pay. What was her motivation? Surely, a reasonable adult would not have repeatedly asked such a thing amidst a busy crowd from the high society. Maybe she really wanted the book, or maybe there was something in me she felt related to. But she came around twice so I felt that was really something.

All a writer wants is for people to read her writings and benefit from them.

Thank you, MillionaireAsia. We had a great time. Thank you Vic and Cheryl for bringing me there. And thank you all who were in our company last night.

Next week… Her World Magazine Gala Dinner

CLICK TO VIEW GROUP PHOTO

Here are two pictures we took last week, after our appearances on Venus, a 30-minute talk show with Aishah Sinclair on NTV7.

Unfortunately, they would not give me a recording. Let’s hope they put it up on their website soon.

NTV7 Producer Satira Diyana and a cameraman visited me in college last Tuesday. Besides interviewing my lecturers and friends, they shot some brief footages and together, we acted out some scenes. The video is to be aired before my scheduled 30-minute live talkshow on 31st March at 11am.

Thank you to my lecturers Dr. Steven, Ms. Padma, Jason, and Leighton for sacrificing your very valuable time. Thank you Elaine, Shaun, Sue Leen, Pei Wen, and the rest of my sporting collegemates. We had so much fun laughing. You all made my day

The funniest yet, was labelling Dr. Steven as pembelot . Being the head of American Degree Programme, behind him was an American flag and nothing else. If you remember watching The Simpsons movie last year, the scene is similar to Senator Schwarzeneger in his office. Provided that Dr. Steven with his suit and tie, is Malaysian backed by a U.S. flag appearing on Malaysian T.V.

So you will be seeing a bunch of pengkhianat, pembelot, pemberontak, and penderhaka on NTV7 come 31st March 2007 at 11am.

May I become an effective and charismatic NF spokesperson the way I’ve always wanted. For personal accomplishment and also as my contribution in society. My wish is to see Malaysians rise above their individual challenges. I am not here to promote the severity of NF and how trafic it seems, although they are often necessary before anyone takes me seriously..

By the way, there are so many Malay words for traitor. Ini semua pasal itu cerita Hang Tuah ka?

John Ling once said, the crowd size does not matter. Even if only one person came, and benefits from meeting you, that one person matters.

Today, I am honored to receive an invitation as guest speaker at Bloggers’ Buff, an all-day event organized by Putera MIC. It was held at a humble community center in Kuala Lumpur. Among those who came were Timothy Tiah from Nuffnang Singapore, Dato’ R of Vinod Kamalanathan & Associates, and Kenny Sia from Kuching, just to name a few familiar names. To have a better idea of the crowd, please browse the photos below.

I am most glad to have accepted the invitation. Apart from hearing speeches and getting to know each other, there was also a forum on blogging. While Timothy Tiah gave a speech on blog advertising, Dato’ R, the guest of honor, spoke about cyber law. I hope Dato’ sticks with us, and continue to enlighten us about the law and media.

The benefit of this gathering exceeded my expectations. Apart from raising RM300 from the sale of merchandise and donations, the heartwarming experience being with these people and talking to them is above all else. My speech today was probably the best I ever gave. There were moments of awkwardness, because I did not prepare my speech in advance. But praise God, He guide me and helped me search my heart. I was able to communicate messages that have long buried in me. As someone had said, “Speak the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Thank you everyone. It was only a couple of hours, but trust me, every deed, no matter how small, echoes in eternity. Till we meet again!

I forgot to announce!

Please come support Jolin and I tomorrow, SUNDAY at MPH Bookstore, MPH 1Utama. We’ll be there from 3pm to 4pm,to promote a short story compilation, “Write Out Loud”.

ICome hear what I’ll have to say!

The grand book launch held at Popular Bookstore, Ikano Power Center, last Saturday was a HUGE SUCCESS! I feel most blessed and honored to receive the support of so many people. Many of them I did not even recognise, sacrificed a beautiful weekend afternoon to support me! Life is worth living because of them, and I’m not kidding. We often hear people saying how grateful they are. I say it very often too. But in such situations like my book launch, that sense of gratitude is so great, it’s overpowering.

YB Loh, Josh Lim, and my buddy Cordelia each gave a speech. Josh demonstrated a slide presentation of my website and Advertlets. 10 lucky winners of the Pop Quiz session happily brought home movie collectibles, and our goody bags were simply awesome! After the launch, we headed off to Starbucks for free drinks!

Special thanks to the following parties for making my book launch a big success!

Cinema Online” for the magazines and movie collectible hampers.
Segi College for plastic bags and pens.
Popular Bookstore for making venue preparations and coordinating.
Notes from venus for notepads and roping in sponsors.
Yoga Zone for vouchers.
Marigold for cartons of packet drinks
Starbucks Coffee for beverage vouchers.
Adverlets for stickers.

Also special thanks to: PR liasion Cordelia Lee, Emcee Pinky Khoo, Photographer Cheryl Lepng, YellowPost writer Hezreen, Registration coordinator Rebecca, Designer Jun Kit, Popular Bookstore Liason Wei Sim, Starbucks Liason Emmelyn Chan… to be continued when I recall more.

THANK YOU YANG BERHORMAT LOH SENG KOK FOR OFFICIATING THE EVENT! Sorry have to shout big big in case he misses this.

Read what Blogger BP has to say about my launch!

Okay, enough of thanking for now. Click below to view PHOTOS!

Read the rest of this entry »

Dear all,

I’m having a GRAND BOOK LAUNCH! Previously, I conducted two book talks at MPH Midvalley and OneUtama. But this time, it’s a REAL book launch with YB Loh Seng Kok officiating the event. I’m making sure it’s fun for all of us. Here are the details:-

Venue: Popular Bookstore, ikano Power Center
Date: 21st April 2007
Time: 3:30pm - 5:00pm

There will be a TEA SESSION from 5:00pm-6:30pm at Starbucks Coffee, who kindly sponsored 50 complimentary beverage vouchers! Yum yum. Let’s go yumcha after the launch. But due to the limited quantity, vouchers will be given out by first-come-first-served basis. You need to call Cordelia Lee at 012-2927768 to confirm your place at the launch before 19th April. Vouchers will be given out together with goody bags during registration beginning from 3pm to 3:30pm. So register early and come early pleaseeee!

Psst! Other sponsors include Cinema Online, 3logy Media Sdn. Bhd. and Segi College. Come win some prizes during the Pop Quiz session!

Remember ya, please register early to avoid dissapointment.

So you know, last Thursday, there was a fashion show at Zouk Club, organised by SIFE of Nottingham University in Malaysia. They were very kind for inviting me to give a speech, and also help sell my t-shirts and books on campus after the event.

Cheryl and I were given complimentary passes. YC was caught up with work last minute, poor girl. My other friends who came paid RM30 each at the door. All proceeds from ticket sales were in support of Mouth and Foot Painting Artiste in Malaysia. (I did mention charity right?)

All in all, the event was a blast. Brovo to the organising committee for pulling through. Sincere thanks to Zouk Club for sponsoring the venue. According to Weng Lum, Zouk was helpful and hospitable. My first experience in Zouk was great.

The clothes and models were much better this year compared to last year. SIFE also let members of their university Photography Club try their hands at real-life photojournalism. I hope you all had a fun learning exoerience!

Anyway… here are some eye candies. Photo credit goes to Cheryl Leong Pei-Li.

As most of you might have known, I made a speech at The One Academy last Saturday. My ex-lecturer, Pinky Khoo, and the organising committee had been very kind to invite me. I had great fun watching the interesting performances, from ballet dance, singing, panthomime, to breakdancing. Children, teenagers, and old folks of Ti-Ratana welfare society were also invited.

here are some photos taken by my new-found friend, Cecilia Chau.