AS a melting pot of cultures, ethnicities, beliefs and religion, Malaysia – and the rest of Southeast Asia – has been rich with history for thousands of years, or even longer.
In tandem with the aforementioned, this region of Asia has no shortage of stories concerning the unknown, the shadows in the trees, and the voices in the woods.
Collecting tales from her formative, younger years, Malaysian-born author Kopi Soh recently released her third book, Looking After the Ashes that compiles old wives’ tales, taboos and childhood superstitions peddled by adults.
“Growing up in Malaysia, I am also naturally surrounded by Malay and Indian tales, superstitions and taboos. In order to respect one another’s culture, we had to first learn what they were. The selection process wasn’t a conscious one, I just let it all pour out of me,” she said when explaining how she selected her stories.
Unsurprisingly, Kopi Soh is as mysterious as her book, as the author operates under a pseudonym and has kept her identity secret for a very long time, beginning with her blog when she migrated years ago.
Feeling homesick and lonely, she used her blog to post about Malaysia, and naturally, it attracted a Malaysian readership, which eventually became an online community of sorts.
“The atmosphere on my blog was very much like a kopitiam. A coffee and makan place for people to hang out and so it progressed to a point where they started calling me Kopi Soh, a term used to refer to the lady who serves coffee and owns the cafe. My blog was my sanctuary and I guess, perhaps my ‘sharings’ also made people feel less alone”.
As the nickname stuck, Kopi Soh’s decision to remain anonymous even when publishing Looking After the Ashes was respected by the publisher, Penguin Random House SEA.
“Publishing under Penguin was a dream come true. I never thought that would happen in my lifetime. Initially, the manuscript for Looking After the Ashes was written more ‘For My Eyes Only’. As mentioned earlier, after migrating, I was homesick a lot. I missed my parents terribly. So, I began to write down stories to accompany me,” she explained.
Later on, Kopi Soh felt that she wanted to leave a legacy for her son, one that involved sharing with him tales of her Malaysian childhood.
“What better legacy than a published book. That’s where Penguin came in. I wrote to them, attached the first three chapters of my book as a sample, and their associate publisher Nora Nazerene Abu Bakar replied, telling me they were interested in my stories.”
Writing as second nature
Prior to Looking After the Ashes, the author penned the self-help book Oh, I Thought I was the Only One and its sequel, with the first book being Kopi Soh’s personal attempt at creating and spreading awareness about common psychological issues.
Explaining that while all three books differed in subject matter, they were nonetheless drawn from Kopi Soh’s own educational background, profession and personal experiences.
“My work with men, women and children in domestic violence situations, rape victims, sexually abused children and individuals with emotional and mental health problems made writing the first two books fairly straightforward.
“For the third book, although it was about spooky things and old wives’ tales, it was still very much a part of me. I am not sure if I used a specific approach. Basically, I just wrote from the heart. When I read my own tales, it makes me smile”.
As someone who professes to ‘go with the flow’, Kopi Soh is merely collecting tales in her journal at the moment.
As such, the author has no plans for another book, at least until after she graduates as her focus is currently on education.
“For now, I need to focus on doing research and writing my doctoral thesis, in addition to writing research papers for publication in academic journals”.
