Phil Yeh in Singapore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (YEHHHHHHH!!!! LOL!)

 

When the National Book Council asked me to help them post PHIL YEH on my blog, I said "YES" immediately. Then I asked:

"Who's Phil Yeh?" (LOL!)

 http://www.bookcouncil.sg/_courses/pdf/2010/From%20Comics%20to%20Screen%2023%20Feb%2010.pdf

 After a simple Google, I realised my good friend passed me a couple of his works: "Dinosaurs Across Route 66" and "Dinosaurs Across California". Now this friend of mine is a well-respected Singaporean authority on comics, so I never took what he gave me lightly.

So here's who he is:

Phil Yeh founded his own studio and publishing company at the age of 16 in 1970. In 1973, he began publishing a newspaper devoted to health, books, the arts and travel called Uncle Jam. Yeh interviewed many cartoonists for this paper and also featured their artwork for the next 18 years. In 1977, he published the first graphic novel in the United States called "Even Cazco Gets The Blues" with introductions by Sergio Aragones and Don Rico. As of 2002, he has published more than 70 books from graphic novels to children's books including "The Winged Tiger" and "Theo the Dinosaur." In 1985, Yeh founded an organization "Cartoonists Across America and The World" dedicated to using cartoons and humor to promote literacy, creativity, and other positive issues. His band of cartoonists have painted more than 1000 colorful murals in 49 U.S. States, and in 12 other countries from China to Hungary. He speaks to about 100,000 students in schools, libraries, and conventions all over the world each year. 

AND he is in Singapore! AND he's sharing his expertise! AND you can get in on this easily!

Here's HOW:

 

  

If you register by 1st Feb (Mon) - it's $250. If you register AFTER today, it's $280! 

http://www.bookcouncil.sg/_courses/pdf/2010/From%20Comics%20to%20Screen%2023%20Feb%2010.pdf

How Western Parents Help Their Kids In Learning Science

A good friend of mine shared this link with me. It's a professor of Physics, Dr Kakalios, who wrote this book in 2006. He uses the stories of superheroes to discuss Physics with his classes. The result of which is a book shown above.

There is also a series of Youtube videos which showed him in action:

Wired magazine also did a story on him here:

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/01/physics-of-superheroes/

What's interest me most are the comments following the article:

"I’m a middle school teacher who uses graphic novels in the classroom and would LOVE to use this book!"

"My daughter (she’s 10) has started going through my comic book collection and has been asking me if we can ever do what superheroes can do like fly etc. This would come in handy. It’s almost birds and the bees on physics for geek parents’ kids. So winning one copy would be absolutely awesome."

"Maybe I’d more interested in physics if my teachers used this method instead of trying to make memorize everything…. by the way, I wouldn’t mind winning one of those, it must be very interesting…. "

 Since 2008, I have been sharing with parents, teachers and students about how important it is to make Science interesting and relevant for our kids. These comments are quite similar to what the readers of my books have been sharing. So to my readers and fans of my comic books, thank you - we're on the right track!

As I buckle down to focus on creating the new book, it is great to see that while this is a road less traveled, I am still walking in the footsteps of great explorers - like Dr James Kakalios - who'd started on the path before me. Of course, that also means that I am going to have to make sure my works are the best I can produce!

This Monkey says: You have to let go of a tree in order to gain a forest.

(Click on the images to read the full article! - my thanks to Ms Kun Lai Leng
Senior Reporter, Feature Desk(Education) of Sin Chew Daily, Malaysia)

When I told my parents I'd quit my teaching job in Raffles Institution (RI), they were very sad.

They saw how teaching has made me a better person - less self-centered, more committed. They were very proud that their son taught in the top secondary school in Singapore. Hence their disappointment that I was leaving the school was understandable.

But my students never gave me up. Every year, they texted me and wished me Happy Thisday and Merry Thatday. We meet up for drinks, and they shared their dreams and achievements with me. Like them, I kept my own teachers in my heart often.

It's true that they were my student once, but I am their teacher forever.

So my commitment to my students does not end with a resignation letter. I still have stuff I can teach and I'm not about to stop.

I am still teaching Science - to thousands of Singaporean students. My comic books introduced Science to young people - they actually ENJOY a book about Science! 

Now, I am introducing Singapore Education to our friends in Malaysia. See the advertisement they put below my article? (For those of you who cannot read Mandarin, the title of the advertisement read: "Choose Singapore Education, Grasp Your Future"!) 

So, my dear ex-students, when I left RI, I took what I learnt and moved on to greater heights. The notion that teachers only "talk the talk" is not true. 

Your teacher is walking the walk, I'm sure you can do better!

 

January's Lifestyle Magazine from NTUC - Have a Great School Year!

All of Singapore's students will be returning to school this coming Monday. May your 2010 school year be full of great friends and really useful education! May teachers find new ways to help our kids fall in love with learning all over again!

Here's a review from NTUC's Lifestyle Magazine!

There is also an article I wrote - a more detailed version of my earlier blog entry thanking  

MM Lee Kuan Yew - here's a great suggestion: why not do it as a school project? As the magazine is on sale now, I'll just post a small, low-res version here:

Sir Fong on National Library's Top Ten Most Borrowed chart!

 This is rather unexpected!

Sir Fong 2: Fur-o-cious, a Sir Fong book of student and teacher humour released in 2006, is the 7th Most Borrowed Book on the Young People English Title (Singapore Collection) chart!

Looking at a local chart dominated ghost stories and Ho Mingfong books (that's MOE appointed literature text), this is quite a happy achievement!

Especially if mine is the only comic book to break into that chart!

Word-of-mouth is very important in the National Library circuit. If someone likes your book, he/she will recommend it to others. Since Fur-o-cious was released in 2006, that means readers have been recommending my book to friends slowly but surely for the last 3  years plus!

I am also surprised because based on my regular visits to National Library's online on-loan site, "Sir Fong's Adventures In Science Book 1" is clearly more popular than "Fur-o-cious". I have several theories as to why "Book 1" haven't yet made it but "Fur-o-cious" did, including the fact that "Book 1" is only available in the library for less than 1.5 years while "Fur-o-cious" was there for 3+ years. But those are just theories and not worth dwelling over without facts!

Nevertheless, this is a piece of wonderful and encouraging news! And I can do a Happy Countdown tonight!

Happy New Year!

One more piece of good news before I join my friends for the Countdown to 2010:

Malaysia's China Press ran a story of Sir Fong on 29th Dec 2009! China Press's "U Edu" section runs stories for students and education, and the front page headlines "Looking Forward to Local Pictorial Books". Sir Fong shares the center spread with Malaysian comic book "Sea Turtle Here We Come"!

If you can read Mandarin, and click on the photo below, you can read the detailed page:

( Click on image above to see full page of article! )

Another piece of good news is that I did very well at the Popular Book Fest! I was given 30-mins stage time, but made the most of it and engaged families and parents fully about the benefits of Sir Fong books.

The Book Fest visitors were very supportive after they saw how important a good comic is in their kids' understanding of Science. So I sold a healthy amount of books there! XD

I also made two standees for visitors to pose with:

2009 has not been an easy year - H1N1 and poor economy - and I am so grateful for those of you who believe in the work I am doing, and gave me your support, time and love!

So, as I take a day off to tend to my fish tank, walk my dog and get ready for countdown to 2010 with my good friends, I would like to thank you. I'd also like to say "Happy New Year!" to you, and may we all have a better year in 2010! 

Thank you! Otto

Sir Fong's first appearance in Malaysia's newspaper!

"Singaporean Comic Artist Otto Fong: Giving Out Light at Every Turn of His Life" - Kum Ying Zi, Oriental Daily News, Malaysia

On 18th December 2009, Friday, Sir Fong and Totto the bunny made it to a newspaper in Malaysia.

This marks another milestone in the journey of my comic book series. Reporter Kum Ying Zi spent several hours interviewing me in Kuala Lumpur, and the headline she chose was poetic and beautiful. I never saw my life in that light - all I knew was I made some strange turns in life. I was an engineer, teacher and video editor. I worked in film and theatre, before I finally became a full-time publisher and comic artist.

Ms Kum generously saw it as my contributions. She gave me a great new point of view!

Indeed, in life, we take turns which were sometimes necessary and unexpected. In these twists and turns, our plans were often thrown into disarray. But wherever life puts us (or our own decisions land ourselves), we have a choice: a choice to shine or shrink into our shells feeling sorry for ourselves.

Take the example of a great scientist Stephen Hawking:

Hawkings have Lou Gehrig's disease. The disease took away most of his motor skills, including the use of his hands, his body and most of his speech. It did not stop him from writing one of the most popular bestseller in science "A Brief History of Time", and being hailed as the most brilliant theoretical physicist since Einstein.

As 2010 comes closer, it marks the end of the first decade of the 21st Century. For you, my readers, and for myself, it is simply the beginning of our choice to shine. Or shrink. The choice is always ours. May we all choose powerfully!