In my last job at The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd (June 2008 - April 2010), I helped with some of the articles and listings in the culture and lifestyle sections of the now-discontinued Off The Edge magazine.
Previously, I wrote user guides, training material and the like at a software solutions company for eight years. My constant dabbling in HTML, CSS and a bit of Javascript helped a lot when I packed much of my documentation into a web-based help system, with the help of the FAR HTML software. I also participated in systems testing, and did some debugging work on occasion.
After listening to too many complaints about my dead-end career path, freelance writer Alexandra Wong shoved contact information for English-language daily The Star up my nose and showed me how to write a proper job-seeking e-mail. My first piece, a review of Lee Su Kim's A Nyonya In Texas, was published in December 2007.
Since then, I also have:
- Around fifty book reviews, several food-related articles, and one review of a stage production in the country's biggest English language daily The Star;
- Several articles in the now-defunct MPH's quarterly Quill magazine;
- One book review in (the probably defunct) CSR-centric webzine CSR Digest;
- Two articles at local food web site Fried Chillies;
- Shared a byline for two articles in the online news portal The Malaysian Insider, and wrote several opinion pieces and some book reviews there as well;
- Wrote some more book reviews, food reviews and opinion pieces for The Malay Mail Online;
- Shared a byline for a piece and wrote another in MAS' airline magazine Going Places;
- A number of articles in the now-defunct Off The Edge magazine when I was with The Edge, where I also:
- Covered The Edge/Bursa Malaysia 2009 KL Rat Race with several other (ex-)colleagues.
After an unsuccessful period of "self-employment", I've returned to full-time employment with MPH Group Publishing as the books editor, where I'm desk-bound and edit and proof manuscripts for most of the day. I also help out with any writing or editing assignments that occasionally drift my way.
