Photo by Lee Swee Wei
Today I received a cheque for two hundred and fifty ringgit from a publications company. It is payment for a short story I wrote which they had published in their newspaper in March last year. It has taken almost a year for me to receive this payment. Nevertheless, I am still elated. It is not because of the money but because, with this cheque, I have now joined the ranks of the professional writers.
Although I loved to write during my schooldays, I had stopped since I left school. During those crazy varsity days and the hectic years of working life that followed, I did not have the time to write and very soon, writing was out of my mind. It was only after I retired four years ago that I decided to write again. I wrote assays and poetry and my writing became more frequent when I started to blog. I did not expect to make money from my writings and it was mainly for fun. I also did not expect my writings to be published; not in this country where English is a second language.
I had read in the newspapers early last year that they were looking for real-life stories from readers who are fifty five and above. I sent in my article "The Most Beautiful Catapult Ever" and it was published a few weeks later. I was jubilant as it was my first ever publication and I bragged about it to my wife and children and even cut the article out to show to my children in Singapore later.
The question now is what to I do with the cheque? Shall I frame it up and hang it in the hall or in my bedroom? That would seem an awful waste especially during these hard times. After all, two hundred and fifty ringgit can buy breakfast for my wife and me for a month, if we spend prudently. (For breakfast, we have been eating out daily ever since my retirement. It used to be during the weekends only and she would prepare breakfast during weekdays but she decided to follow me into retirement). But this is the first payment I have ever received for my writings! Surely, it has to be remembered.
The other things that I have to do now are to grow a beard, wear a beret and smoke a pipe. Shouldn't every writer have that "creative" look? Now, wearing a beret is not a problem but I do not smoke so I think I will just have to let the pipe peep out from my breast pocket. The bigger problem is with the beard. Being a Chinese, I am not very hirsute so I will never be able to grow one. Perhaps, instead of a beard, I can grow my hair long. Why, I can even tie it in a pony-tail; that should give me the "look".
Finally, even if I never had an article published again, it does not matter because I am now a professional writer. As for the cheque, I think I will just keep a Photostat copy of it for remembrance. Also, from now on, I will be writing more short stories and less poetry. Breakfast is important.
