My other literary works

Many people knew me as the chess writer for The Star newspaper. But not any more as my chess columns had stopped in March 2012.Come next March, it will be 10 years already. A generation of school-going kids would have passed by without knowing that once upon a time, there was real chess reported in the newspapers. Not only in The Star but also other newspapers like The Malay Mail - under the tenure of Phuah Eng Chye, Lim Chong and Eddie Chua - and Berita Harian, the latter contributed by Sabar Hashim.

But I didn't want to be type-cast as only a chess writer. And for a brief period, The Star allowed me to cover other areas that interested me. These stories generally appeared in the North section of the newspaper although once of twice, one of my stories would find its way into Section Two. 

Mind you, all these stories were never about money. I did not write because I needed the money to supplement my work at Ban Hin Lee Bank. Far, far from it. As a disclosure, did the token honorarium of RM20 per story appear to be excessively generous? You tell me. No, it was because I needed something as an outlet for my creative energy that I turned to freelancing this chess column for The Star. And it simply grew from there, that's all.

I contributed not more than a score of non-chess stories to the newspaper. All very enjoyable. I remember that once there was a wine-tasting session at a hotel in Batu Ferringhi; the promoters were attempting to pair their Australian wines with local Chinese course dinners. I ended up mighty drunk and had to drive very slowly and carefully back to Seberang Jaya. Too bad that I cannot find the newspaper clipping anymore. 

I think writing these stories began in 1999 but by 2001 I had decided to stop because too much of my time was being taken up to attend these functions on the island. But not because I was objecting to them!