I want to join the Sketchbook Project but I need to wait until I have USD65 in my paypal. The deadline to participate is Oct 31, 2010 and I hope I can make it before the deadline as I will only receive my GCU payment on the same day.

What is this project all about?

Thousands of sketchbooks will be exhibited at galleries and museums as they make their way on tour across the country. After the tour, all sketchbooks will enter into the permanent collection of The Brooklyn Art Library, where they will be barcoded and available for the public to view. Anyone – from anywhere in the world – can be a part of the project.

If you want to join me, do visit The Sketchbook Project.

Previously, 10 years previously, he was about to fly around the world on his airplane, nicknamed Putrajaya Malaysia, a Velocity RG, that he custom-built with retire American pilot and engineer, Steve Korney. Due to the 9/11 incident, his dream was shattered…but the thought of realising his dream survived.

Tomorrow, after 10 years, he will realised his dream, not on his airplane, but only on his 128cc Modenas GT motorcycle; that he nicknamed Lil G.  It was like a dejavu. Back then, I was one of his website team members and today I play the same role, only I am being alone, as we are short of Yanti and Nellie. A friend is a friend. No matter how crazy his dream is, you will be there to support him.

My friend, Hadi Hussien, will embark tomorrow on a journey to London, UK by traversing through Asia and the Middle East. Hadi will be covering 27 countries and close to 30,000 kilometers in total distance.

Hadi, himself,will update his blog, I Am Malaysian, from where he will be at ( if there’s an internet connection) but if he’s really not in the position to do so, I am here on stand-by 24/7 to help him do just that.

Hadi is looking for sponsorships and in return, sponsors will get to advertise products on Hadi’s sidebar. The hit is currently not that high  (an average of 200 visitors daily)  as we just put up the blog over over a week ago, but we expect traffic to soar higher as Hadi starts his journey and begins updating us with pictures and stories, hopefully videos too. More information on sponsorship can be found at the Advertise page. He accepts donations also.

I will be updating about the flag-off tomorrow. The flaging-off will be at Sri Pentas, Bandar Utama, 24th April 2010 and will be aired live via TV9’s Nasi Lemak Kopi O at 9.45am.

Meet Lil G and Hadi Hussein.

I attended Asian Festival of Children Content (AFCC) press conference last Monday. It was an interesting conference and this is the first time I heard of it. AFCC aims to foster excellence in the creation, production and publication of children materials with Asian content in all formats and facilitate their distribution and access to parents, teachers, librarians and children in Asia as well as the world. The Festival, with a series of innovative programmes, seeks to fill the direct need for quality Asian children content worldwide, particularly in Asia.

The inaugural Asian Festival of Children Content (AFCC) will be held at The Arts House, Singapore, from 6 to 9 May 2010 and is co-organized by The Arts House and the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS). The theme for this year is Asian Content for the World’s Children.

I am looking forward to attend the festival as I will be exhibiting my original artworks for My Mother’s Garden as well as attending talks and workshops. There will be another launch of My Mother’s Garden in Singapore!

No, I did not went but Linda Tan Lingard from Oyez! Books did! Before she went to Bologna, Italy, she asked me whether I want to promote my artworks in Bologna. I said yes and gave her printout of my artworks and free flyers. They were featured with courtesy of National  Book Council of Malaysia alongside with our own famous illustrators such as Nur Azmi, Sarah Joan, Mischele Mariam, Anuar Hassan (Sireh) and many more. The flyers were all distributed (thanks to NBCM and Linda) and the best part was when Linda told me that my artwork prints that were mounted on mount board were all taken by visitors except for one!! I don’t mind at all; so glad that people actually appreciate my artworks and took them!

Yipee! My artworks went to Bologna already! But me, am still here under my own coconut shell. *Sigh* I know I just cannot sit and whine about it so I am determined to go for next year’s book fair in Bologna and hope to save enough money to go. Anybody want to barter trade 1 year ad space in EIB (the big one; top of right sidebar) for a return flight ticket from Malaysia to Rome next year? Haha, let me know!!

Now I’m going to read the terms & condition on how to enter the Illustrators Exhibition at Bologna Children’s Book Fair; hope am not too old to enter.

Here are some pictures from Bologna with courtesy from Linda Tan Lingard:

My artworks on the shelf alongside with Sarah’s, Mischele’s and others’.

National  Book Council of Malaysia’s booth @ Bologna Book Fair 2009, Italy

Oyez! Books booth. Seen on the background is Mr Peter Worthington, the writer for Animal Adventure Series published by Oyez Books. The Illustrator of this series is Nur Azmi.

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Ken Ong