COLOURFUL LAUNCH OF MELAKA EPIC LEGENDARY HERO AT FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR

By Manik Mehta

FRANKFURT, Oct 19 (Bernama) -- The English edition of the epic of the
Melakan legendary hero Hang Tuah was launched Saturday night at the ongoing
Frankfurt International Book Fair, the world's most important and biggest event
for the publishing industry.

A large gathering of representatives of publishing houses, media and the
Malaysian community cheered the formal launching of the book by the Kuala Lumpur
based publishing and translation house, Institut Terjemahan Negara Malaysia
(ITNM).

Saiful Azam Abdullah, Malaysian consul general in Frankfurt, was the guest
of honour. Mohd Sabri, the Malaysian trade commissioner in Frankfurt, was also
present at the launching ceremony.

Applauding the efforts of the publishers, Saiful described the English
edition as a "literary milestone".

He said that the launch of the book was a "brilliant move" on the part of
the ITNM, given the unique importance of the fair as a platform for launching
new literary products. "A better platform for the launch could not have been
found," Saiful said.

In an interview with this writer at the exhibition ground, Mohd Khair
Ngadiron, the ITNM's managing director, explained that Hang Tuah's importance in
Malaysia's literature was "unique".

It was, consequently, not surprising that a Turkish publisher approached
Khair at the fair for translation of the epic into Turkish language.

"We have received business enquiries from Turkey even before the Englih
language edition was formally launched," he maintained.

While Khair had brought only five copies of the voluminious English edition
to the fair, the ITNM plans to produce 3,500 copies in the first instalment.
Khair said that the English edition would be priced at roughly 40 Euros per
copy.
-- BERNAMA