My New BIG Baby

8th March 2010. That's the date of my 'newest born' baby: Booqc.com (pronounced book.com). Hooray!



The Dream
The idea of this new biz venture came about while I was promoting my first book (Batik Inspirations). At that time, I was promoting my book to as many bookstores in the region.

After a few deals, and also after familiarising myself in the book industry & making friends with fellow publishers.. I thought that there are many other publishers like myself: not too big, but some with great books. And the issue - we're all doing our own things ourselves.

And that got me thinking: wouldn't it be better if we (the independent publishers) could actually team up together and come united under 1 big umbrella? (this relates back to a post I wrote: Chopsticks Story).

That goes back to around 2006-2007. And in 2008, I wrote the business proposal for Booqc.com.

The aim was simple - unite book publishers together, and we'll become stronger as one, all of us having more sales... but most importantly, we can also give back the huge discounts to the buyers.

With all ideas in place, it was time to start on the work (that's where the bold move to moving to PJ came about + finding the Dream Team).

So finally, after 3-4 years of idea to development, I'm ready to present the newest baby: Booqc.com! (finally!)

So guys & girls - especially booklovers & those loving all things Malaysia, do take a look at our new store! You might just find that one unique Malaysian read... or maybe be interested in our super deals! :)


Or of course, u can also join our Read 4 Less Facebook contest! (RM120 vouchers to be won weekly!).


*And yes, my humble thick skin request: please share the site with your khakis, kawan kawan, pang yao & friends! :)

Just About 6 Months Ago - Till Today

Slightly over 6 months ago, I left sunny island Singapore to head upwards to the Klang Valley (PJ to be exact).

While there are many pull & push factors, but the one main reason for 'the big move' is because I want to expand my business. While I'm happy with my past works, but I have much bigger dreams to be realised, and it's time to get into the next gear.

Settling down aside, my first task was to look for an office. Now that wasn't as simple as I thought it would be... mainly because I'm not that familiar with the areas in KL & PJ (till today, there are many areas which I'm discovering every week!).

Next came the furniture - what to buy & where to buy (again, note I'm not from here, so that took a while to find out).

Once those were settled, then came finding the Dream Team. And I think this is the most important aspect of them all. I needed to find people who have the same vision & goals to work together.

Over the months, I've found my teammates bit by bit. Of course, there were also the bad apple (1 only), and 1 has also left due to other commitments. But the rest, they have been around & growing. Along the way, I've met more nice people around and have made them part of the Dream Team too.

Well, looking back, it has been quite an interesting past 6 months. I've definitely grown personally. And the company as well.

While previously I only work with teammates for a few months on project basis - where the team dissolves once the project is done, but now, it's different. We are all here for a long term & a bigger goal. It's no more just purely product development, but also the full process of a business.

And of course, now, I'm overseeing much more things. I'm learning to grow the company yet at the same time learning to handle my teammates. There are the good days & the not-so-good days as well.

I must admit life is quite different from the 'honeymoon days' I used to have for the past 2 years prior where I could travel much more. Though I sometimes do miss the travels, but, I"m not complaining.

In fact I'm enjoying it. And so far, the company do seem to be heading in the right direction though there's still lots more for me to learn, and the company to grow. But as for now, we've taken our very first big step - having launched our 'first baby' yesterday! Hooray! :)

*Some of u already know what is the business I'm doing. For those of u who don't, well, stay tuned! It will be revealed in the next post! :)

What A Blog Quiz!

Fellow blogger, Foong PC, came up with quite a unique quiz on his blog, asking readers to make their choices on 40 things (he's giving away prizes!). Here's mine:

1. Najib vs Mahathir: not been in touch with politics for a while...

2. Facebook vs Twitter: Facebook

3. Lady Gaga vs Beyonce: Beyonce

4. PJ vs KL: PJ, hands down!

5. iPhone vs Nexus One: iPhone

6. Blackberry vs HTC: HTC

7. Firefox vs Google Chrome: Firefox

8. Nikon vs Canon DSLR: Nikon, it feels nicer to use (has weight).

9. sex vs sleep: honestly it depends lah. but i think one comes after the other.

10. eating vs sex: sex

11. call vs sms: call

12. sunny vs rainy: if in Klang Valley - sunny. if in Singapore - rainy.

13. werewolves vs vampires: neither

14. healthy & poor vs sick & rich: healthy & super rich

15. cakes vs doughnuts: cakes

16. school days vs working days: working days

17. dog vs cat: dog

18. single vs married: married

19. Malaysia vs Singapore: Malaysia, truly Asia.

20. China vs USA: depends on what lah. If only the world is not just one (or in this case) 2 sided.

21. Paula Abdul vs Kara DioGuardi: Paula

22. OldTown vs Papparich: Pappa kaya

23. Fitness First vs Celebrity Fitness: dont gym

24. driver vs passenger: driver

25. beautiful & dumb vs brainy & fat: beautiful & errr...

26. handsome & egoistic vs ugly & rich: i thought you'd ask handsome & poor vs ugly & rich. lol!

27. insurance agent vs direct selling agent: insurance agent. less pushy (though still is)

28. horror movies vs comedies: comedies

29. working for yourself vs working for others: own boss

30. Avatar vs Lord Of The Rings: Avatar

31. bus vs taxi: taxi

32. Haagen Dazs vs Baskin Robbins: Haagen Dazs

33. flu vs diarrhea: flu

34. blue vs pink: blue

35. chicken vs duck: to eat? duck!

36. dawn vs dusk: dawn

37. Tiger Woods vs Nicol David: Nicol David... Malaysia boleh!

38. Gmail vs Yahoo email: gmail

39. book smarts vs street smarts: street smart - thats the successful people in the world!

40. foongpc's travel posts vs ghost story posts: travel & funny posts like this lol!


Foong, hope u choose your winner properly ah! haha!

Berblog Dalam Bahasa Malaysia: Apabila Ahli Politik Beria Ria Sebagai Idola Pop!

My 2nd blog post in Bahasa Malaysia... here goes:

Aku hairan. Bukan hairan apa... tapi mengapa ada sesetengah ahli politik ingatkan diri sebagai idola pop?

Baru baru ni aku ke satu tempat di tanah air... dan yang aku nampak muka seorang ahli politik ni di merata rata tempat. Maklumlah orang ni ahli politik.. aku paham nakkan publicity sikit, tapi gambarnya mula dari tol aku masuk, tak berhenti henti sampaikan dalam bandar jugak!

Ada gambar dia di billboard besar, di poster pertengahan jalan - dan datangnya dalam saiz yang berbeza beza. Ada yang sederhana, ada yang besar, tapi yang kecik tu kureng lah!

Aku pikir, poster poster ahli politik ni menjadikannya macam lah lebih besar daripada mana mana idola pop! Kalau Siti buat konsert kat tempat ni pun, takde lah gambar Siti ni di merata rata seluruh bandar! Ataupun mana mana penyanyi orang putih pun... Lady Gaga pun kalah jugak!

Aku merungutnya bukannya apa... aku rasa kalau seseorang tu baik, orang akan tahu. Sememangnya publicity tu penting, tapi buat lah pada pada. Jangan over-do... terutamanya ahli politik. Ingatlah diri sendiri... kamu ni masih ahli politik, bukanalah international singer atau idola pop!