Completed the first draft in 1998... and it's taken 8 years to find a publisher who thinks the book is "excellent"! I'm very grateful to Raman Krishnan of Silverfish Books who decided to publish TANAH TUJUH ~ Close Encounters with the Temuan Mythos, thereby putting closure to Magick River's multimedia project for the Orang Asli initiated in 1999. Yeeehah!!!
Phase One was Guardians of the Forest - a 52-minute documentary produced in 2000 by Mary Maguire and directed by Alan D'Cruz (and generously funded by Andrew Bird of Verado Films, Ltd).
Phase Two was AKAR UMBI ~ Songs of the Dragon - a CD featuring the celebrated ceremonial singer Minah Angong and her funky ethnic fusion band comprising well-known local musicians. This 2002 project was made possible by a timely grant from the Japan Foundation.
Phase Three: the launch of TANAH TUJUH ~ Close Encounters with the Temuan Mythos at 2:30PM, 29 March, 2007 @ Alexis Bistro, Jalan Telawi 3, Bangsar. I've edited a special 20-minute documentary for the occasion - hope Raman can arrange projection facilities @ Alexis Bistro!
If you're able, please come and applaud... buy a copy of TANAH TUJUH hot off the press... have a cup of coffee... and celebrate with me!!!
Cheers & Hugs,
Antares
~^@^~
xxxXxxx
P.S. Here's a sneak preview of the backcover blurb:
TANAH TUJUH
… is what a large number of Orang Asli tribes call our planet. The Orang Asli constitute Peninsular Malaysia’s indigenous folk and there are at least 18 distinct tribes. The word tanah means “earth” or “land” and tujuh means “seven.” So Tanah Tujuh literally translates as “Seventh Land” or “Seventh World” or “Planet Seven.”
What does 7 represent in numerology and symbology? There are 7 major keys in the octave, 7 primary colours in the chromatic spectrum, 7 main chakras in the bioenergetic system, 7 days of the week, 7 hills, 7 sisters, 7 dwarfs, 7 wonders…
Front flap:
Antares is a writer, musician, and visionary who moved out of the city in 1992 and found himself living amongst the Temuan (second largest of the peninsular Orang Asli tribes) in the Malaysian rainforest, a few miles from Gunung Raja - a mysterious, mist-enshrouded mountain revered as the birthplace of a postdiluvian humanity.
Tanah Tujuh: Close Encounters with the Temuan Mythos chronicles his initiation into a fast vanishing aboriginal cosmomythology that offers an alternative view of reality.
Copiously illustrated with sketches and photographs, a Temuan Glossary, and a foreword by eminent anthropologist, Robert Knox Dentan.
Publisher: Silverfish Books, Kuala Lumpur
[First posted 23 March 2007]