The book launch held on 14th May 2012 was
a great success. We had about a hundred people who attended the launch. Mediation Skills and Techniques became a
best seller on that day. The books were completely sold out. A number of
guests were disappointed that they were not able to purchase the book on the
day of the launch. However, the publisher Thomson Reuters / Sweet & Maxwell Asia managed to remedy the situation by handing out order
forms and promising quick delivery as soon as the books are in stock. For my part,
if you have received the book, please contact me at Seumas@MediationSkills.org and I
will be more than happy to autograph it for you.
Speaking about autographing, the books were supposed
to go on sale after the official launch, however, something amusing happened
along the way that got the books to go on sale before the official launch took
place. Immediately after the workshop, I was approached by Mahendran from
Thomson Reuters’ marketing department to sign two copies of the book. One copy
was to be given to Lim Chee Wee (President of the Malaysian Bar) while the
other was to be given to Datuk Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari (Chairman of the
Malaysian Mediation Centre /Chairman of the Asian Mediation Association) as
token of appreciation for launching the book. As I was signing the two copies,
I did not realize there was already a queue forming in front of me waiting to
purchase the book. I was truly humbled by that experience to see so many of you
supporting my writing career. Mahendran asked me whether he could go ahead to sell
the book in view that Mediation Skills
and Techniques has not been formally launched yet. Well, for logistic
reason, I asked Mahendran to go ahead with the sale as there was already a line
forming. I was most delighted to meet so many of you and it has been an honour
and privilege to sign so many books on that day. By the time Mediation Skills and Techniques was
officially launched, the books have already gone out of stock. According to the
Publisher, this was one of the rarest moments as far as they can remember or
perhaps the first time ever that the books were completely sold out at a
launch!
The programme for the book launch started right on
the dot (the Malaysian time concept certainly did not apply here!). Rachel Tan
being the ever gracious person accepted my invitation to be the MC for the book
launch. She did a splendid job! The programme started with a short speech from
Prakash Nagarajan who is the Business Development Manager, Thomson Reuters /
Sweet & Maxwell, South East Asia who
represented the Managing Director who was away at that time.
Immediately after Prakash’s speech was my turn to
speak. In my speech, I shared with the guests on what inspired me to write and
how I believe in writing books which are easy to read and understand, simple
and yet practical. I informed the guests that I do not believe in writing
voluminous books and if anyone can even remember half of what they have read,
that would have been fantastic. It was precisely for that very reason, I put in
a lot of stories and illustrations in the book. It is my hope that the readers
are able to relate to those stories and easily recall the techniques and skills
when the need arises. It is easier to remember the story rather than the
theory. At the end, I thanked all those people who have supported me and gave
me unconditional love all these years – just to name a few, my beautiful wife
Jennifer, my kids Ashley and Douglas and my parents.
Immediately after my speech came Lim Chee Wee’s
speech. Chee Wee, the ever humble fella who had sportingly allowed me to pick
on him during my speech started by saying “In consistent with my height, my
speech is going to be SHORT!!!” Chee Wee gave a very touching speech saying
that the Malaysian Bar will miss me when I move to Sydney
The next speech came from Datuk Kuthubul Zaman who
said that when he first met me, he was amazed that I could hypnotized people, however, at
that time he wasn’t sure whether I would make a good Mediator. Datuk Zaman
related some old and amusing stories and finally concluded that I have met all of
the criterias (I am not sure what the criterias are now) that made me an
excellent Mediator! Well, thank you for your kind words, Datuk. It looks like I
got some big shoes to fill!
Then the highlight of the launch was the signing of
the mock book cover by Lim Chee Wee and Datuk Kuthubul Zaman. It was a wonderful
day for me. Many friends attended the launch. Some of them were my former school
mates like Yip Chee Seng and my good buddies, Choong Tuck Meng and wife, Daniel
Boon, Leong Meng Leong, Syed Annuar, Sharifah, Francis Chong, Mark Ong and
Suresh Kumar. His Excellency, the High Commissioner of Singapore, Mr Ong Keng
Yong and the Counsellor Mike Kuek were there as well. My fellow Mediators,
Gunavathi, Nacha, Tejinder, Wong Lu Peen, Sivanesan and Sumathi were there to
lend support as well. I have also invited the High Commissioner of Australia who unfortunately was unable to attend as he had a prior engagement. In view of my ties with Australia, it would have been nice if the Australian High Commission send a representative to the launch instead. Oh, well.....things happen for a reason.
I would like to mention a special thank you to my good friend Yuen Wing Soon whom I regard as one of the top photographers inMalaysia
I would like to mention a special thank you to my good friend Yuen Wing Soon whom I regard as one of the top photographers in
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