|
Twenty-seven years ago, Thai Airways International and The Oriental Hotel laid out a plan to assist local writers by bringing them to the attention of the public. Working with the PEN Club of Thailand, a writer whose work has been published could be awarded with recognition and a literary prize. A wonderful idea! But why isolate it to Thai writers alone? Why not writers from all ASEAN countries? A logical place to issue these awards would be The Oriental Hotel, of course, and Thai Airways International could fly them there. The Oriental is one of the oldest hotels in Asia, and for ten consecutive years had been voted The Best Hotel in the World. Much of The Oriental’s glory comes from the many writers who stayed there—Joseph Conrad, James Michener, Somerset Maugham and a host of others.
The Oriental Hotel, under the guidance and direction of its manager Kurt Wachtvietl, agreed, and together THAI and The Oriental inaugurated a yearly event called The S.E.A. (South East Asian) Write Award. It honours and pays tribute to nine (from the original five) writers and poets from the nine ASEAN countries of Southeast Asia.
An impetus to the success of the awards was when Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand agreed to preside over the presentation ceremony and chair the organizing committee. At the second presentation, the organizing committee decided to invite well-known authors to give the keynote speech. That year James Michener was invited. He delighted the audience with his heart-warming tales about his early experiences in Bangkok and Thailand. The next year was Han Suyin. The following year was Gore Vidal, American historical novelist. Others have been William Golding, Paul Theroux, Frederick Forsyth, Norman Mailer, Vidiadhar Naipaul, Victoria Glendinning and this year’s speaker, Mr. S.P. Somtow.
Those who visit the Author’s Lounge at The Oriental—it is open to the public— will notice on the wall to the left as they enter, a large marble plaque. Engraved here, for the world to see for generations to come, are the names of the awardees and the countries from which they come. There could be no higher tribute to the literary men and women whose names appear there.
Each year there is a gala presentation of the awards at the hotel. Those who have attended were high-ranking Thai ministers, ambassadors from the many ASEAN countries, invited guests, members of the local and international press, news photographers and TV cameramen and both Thai and foreign royalty—an impressive gathering but no more impressive than the awardees dressed in their traditional national costumes from nine ASEAN countries.
The reception cocktail party held in their honour is only a forerunner of what is to come. Soon after, they are ushered into the Grand Ballroom at The Oriental and presented to a selected member of the royal family. The honour awards come after a gala champagne dinner party.
“It cannot be denied,” wrote one literary critic in the Bangkok Post, “that the S.E.A Write Award is certainly having an impact on the creation of an awareness of the overall ASEAN literary scene.”
The management at THAI realised there was a certain gamble in organizing such awards. Who would help sponsor such an ambitious and costly program? Who would decide what work is best? And how do you avoid discriminating among ASEAN writers where nationalities, religions and languages differ so drastically?
But the idea was sound. “It was just what we needed to recognise Asian writers and promote our cultures,” explained Chitdee Rangarava, Public Relations Manager for Thai Airways International at the time. “The popularity of the awards has also succeeded in promoting international communications. Suddenly authors are being read outside their country. There’s a cry for translations. That had never happened before. The Award could also help boost tourism. Thai Airways International agreed to be one of the major sponsors.”
That was twenty-seven years ago, and the number of five ASEAN countries has grown from five in 1979 to nine today. Aside from Thailand, they include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.
Thai Airways International flies awardees from their respective countries to Bangkok. They stay for a week at The Oriental Hotel, with all expenses paid, and this year’s prize money amounts to 100,000 baht, or US$2,600. But, most importantly, awardee’s books will be made known internationally.
Selecting winners was a critical ruling that had to be made from the start. It was solved by a unique system that seemed fair and just to all countries. Writers and poets would be selected by their peers within their native country. The requirements were that all work selected had to be an original and had to have some relevance to the nation or region where the author lived.
The work, whether a novel, short story or poem had to be fiction and had to have been published within five years of the selection year. The work could be presented in English or in the author’s native language.
And who are these winners? The differences among them are as striking as the similarities. I was fortunate to be able to attend most of the awards over the years and in doing so I got to know many of the awardees. I was impressed with many of these writers and their dedication to the arts.
From past winners, there was Thailand’s Naowarat Pongpaiboon, a successful lawyer as well as a noted poet; Nick Jaoquin of the Philippines was a laborer; Putu Wijaya of Indonesia authored no less than 15 novels and is a film and stage actor; Marianne Katoppo was the first woman to be awarded. The Thai winner was a lady, Duanwas Pimwana, who writes under the pen name of Pimchai Jugin She. A young writer, born in 1969, she had won many awards for her books of short stories and her novel Chang Samran. More recently, a winner was Philip Jeyaretnam, a lawyer from Singapore who devotes as much time as he can to writing.
|
The emblem for the Southeast Asian Write Awards
Hotel Oriental GM and Her Majesty the Queen at the first Awards
Guest speaker William Golding, hotel staff, and author's wife (standing) in the Authors' Wing
Her Majesty the Queen making a presentation
Guest speaker Peter Ustinov at SEA Write dinner
Awardees spend an afternoon on the river
A view of the Oriental from across the river
Guest speaker ex-PM Kukrit and novelist Han Suyin
When the Oriental celebrates it's always a gala affair
Classical music at the Oriental for the awards
The Crown Princess makes a presentation one year
His Serene Highness Prince Bhisadej Rajani
presided over this year's 2006 Awards
Presentation.
2006 Awardees, Prince Bhisadej Rajani and
Oriental GM Kurt Wachtvietl.
Thai Awardee Ms. Ngarmpun Vejjajiva picking up her
award in a wheel chair
Close up photo of 2006 Awardees
For more about SEA WRITE read the author's At Home
in Asia
|
|
His objective in writing is to explore the perspectives of those around him and to slip into their shoes while telling their tales. His winning entry was his book Abraham’s Promise. I was most impressed with Dr. Zakaria Ali from Malaysia. Dr. Zakaria holds a master’s degree from a university in Texas and a second master’s from Mexico. He earned his doctoral degree from Harvard University in 1991. He began writing in 1968 and since then has won many awards. We struck a common ground when we learned we both did graduate work (mine was anthropology) at a university in Mexico. I am looking forward to reading his books.
Domingo Landicho from the Philippines is not only a gifted writer but also a jack-of-all-trades—a professor at the University of the Philippines, an actor for the theatre, TV and films, and a cultural activist. He kept everyone entertained with his theories of writing at the press conference. Professor Haji Hashim Bin Haji Abdul Hamid from Brunei is a very erudite poet and pleasant to listen to. Kim Pinun from Cambodia read one of his poems in his native language and, despite not knowing the language, it was beautiful—much as an Italian opera is to non-Italians.
And then there came this year’s awards.
His Serene Highness Prince Bhisadej Rajani presided over this year’s 2006 Awards Presentation. He was escorted by an entourage of police officers and arrived at The Oriental Hotel in a bright yellow BMW from the Royal Fleet. He was extended a red carpet welcome upon arrival by all the sponsors including Mrs. Sunathee Isvapornchai, Vice President, Corporate Communication Relations, Thai Airways International and The Oriental’s General Manager Kurt Wachtveitl.
Prior to entering the Royal Ballroom His Serene Highness was introduced to the line up of Ambassadors from Brunei, Cambodia and Laos and Consul Generals of Indonesian and Philippines Embassies.
During dinner, prepared by The Oriental’s own famous Executive Chef Norbert Kostner, guests were entertained with enchanting and delightful music by the Krungthep Light Orchestra whose repertoire for the evening included songs from His Majesty the King’s Compositions as well as such nostalgic tunes as “Moon River”, “Somewhere in Time”, “Till”, “Waves of the Danube”, “Miami Beach Rumba”, “Pearly Shells” amongst others.
Following the traditional Royal Toast in honour of Their Majesties the King and Queen by Bangkok Bank’s Dr. Amorn Chandarasomboon, the evening programme continued with presentations of award plaques to the nine ASEAN laureates and recognition plaques to the major sponsors. The touching scene of Thai winner, Ms. Ngarmpun Vejjajiva, picking up her award in a wheel chair closely accompanied by father Dr. Athasit Vejjajiva and brother, Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, brought tears to fellow awardees and guests alike. Her speech was just as poignant.
The climactic finale was none other than the brilliant and very relevant keynote speech by the indomitable guest speaker, Mr. S.P. Somtow (Sucharitkul) whose topic was “Who am I? A Short Course in Reinventing Oneself as a Southeast Asian Writer”
The S.E.A. Write Award brings the beauty of the written word to all of Asia and the rest of the world. By winning this highest literary prize, Asian authors are gaining international recognition by being read outside their own countries.
Although the Award Presentations are by invitation only, the public is given an opportunity to meet the awardees at a special press conference. But one doesn’t have to attend the ceremonies to get the feeling of the grandeur of the event. Just pay a visit to the Author’s Lounge at The Oriental.
Next week we will take a look at some of the minor, but special, museums in Bangkok.
|
