Da Launch!
First of all, some pretty serious business. At about 5pm today, an anonymous woman called the printers and ordered them to cease distribution of the book until it had been reviewed. Fortunately, we had our legal eagles on hand: we knew that in order for a book to be banned, it must be gazetted before parliament. The woman (who did not reply when called back) had no case.
A ploy of intimidation, not unlike the police threats during other IndigNation events? No idea. In any case, if they ban the book, it'll make them look silly and drive people to buy the book over Amazon. But just in case, buy the book while it's still on the shelves.
And boy, does this book fly off the shelves! We'd been informed that usually only around 70 books are bought at book launches. Tonight we sold all 200 of the books we brought. We didn't even have complimentary copies left over for the contributors - those'll have to be delivered later. :)
With our adorable MC Sam Wu and sign language interpreters Daniel Tung and Yen Feng, we had a kickass kickoff event at Mox - 30% off all drinks - with speeches by author Ng Yi-Sheng (that's me) and editor Jason Wee. In between, we had a panel discussion featuring Nicholas Deroose, Lu Huen, Dr Khoo Hoon Eng and Dominic Chua - with short readings by Jeremy Kwok, Sheila Rajamanikam and Khoo Hoon Eng.
And my dad came! Everyone was so impressed at how supportive he was. Sure, my big sis was there too, but sisters are always goddesses. (My mum was in China and my brother was in the States, though, so they have valid excuses for absence).
And then everyone descended on the contributors for autographs... all 15 of us ended up with sore wrists (we're 16 peple in the book, but one of the boys was getting married to his partner in Switzerland).
For those of us who couldn't get books, don't worry - by the end of the week they'll be in Kino and Borders and Select. And if you want them in Popular, just make phone calls and ask for them. They'll have to pay attention eventually. :)
Pictures coming soon!
A ploy of intimidation, not unlike the police threats during other IndigNation events? No idea. In any case, if they ban the book, it'll make them look silly and drive people to buy the book over Amazon. But just in case, buy the book while it's still on the shelves.
And boy, does this book fly off the shelves! We'd been informed that usually only around 70 books are bought at book launches. Tonight we sold all 200 of the books we brought. We didn't even have complimentary copies left over for the contributors - those'll have to be delivered later. :)
With our adorable MC Sam Wu and sign language interpreters Daniel Tung and Yen Feng, we had a kickass kickoff event at Mox - 30% off all drinks - with speeches by author Ng Yi-Sheng (that's me) and editor Jason Wee. In between, we had a panel discussion featuring Nicholas Deroose, Lu Huen, Dr Khoo Hoon Eng and Dominic Chua - with short readings by Jeremy Kwok, Sheila Rajamanikam and Khoo Hoon Eng.
And my dad came! Everyone was so impressed at how supportive he was. Sure, my big sis was there too, but sisters are always goddesses. (My mum was in China and my brother was in the States, though, so they have valid excuses for absence).
And then everyone descended on the contributors for autographs... all 15 of us ended up with sore wrists (we're 16 peple in the book, but one of the boys was getting married to his partner in Switzerland).
For those of us who couldn't get books, don't worry - by the end of the week they'll be in Kino and Borders and Select. And if you want them in Popular, just make phone calls and ask for them. They'll have to pay attention eventually. :)
Pictures coming soon!
posted by Ng Yi-Sheng @ 12:44 AM
1 Comments:
At 6:14 PM,
Vernon said…
Hi Yi Sheng,
I was the one who tried to shake your hand as your dad popped out of the lift with NO ventilation!
Just want to say thanks for your part in pushing the envelope for more gay equality (a misnomer, how can equality by calibrated?) in Singapore.
Vernon Voon
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