L-R: Jeanny Chong (cafe owner), Roy Jessesly, Derek Chong, Jennifer Linggi pose with copies of their books at the book launch, 5 Jan 2018, Cana Cafe Penampang.
PENAMPANG – Cana Cafe here hosted a book launch for three authors, Derek Chong, Roy Jessesly and Jennifer Linggi to a closed audience of friends and acquaintances on 5 Jan 2018.
Derek Chong, 49, who hails from Kota Kinabalu, launched the 3rd edition of his book “30 Days to a Better Self-Awareness.”
“The human person is searching for meaning. When we have the right foundation, the personal meaning of our lives can be found,” he said this by way of introducing his book at the launch.
“We will search and find. However, when our foundation is wrong, our search becomes tiring and aimless. The 30 Days to a Better Self-Awareness is a tool that can help individuals to find and set right those foundations in our perceptions, hearts and principles of life, leading us to find the true meaning of our life,” he added.
The first edition was released at the end of 2013. Since then, he has used the book to journey with individuals and in groups to help them discover who they are.
Derek, who is also a life coach in his own right, feels strongly that everyone should re-look at one’s foundation. When it is right, life becomes powerful, meaningful and celebrated. When it is not, it means we have been building on wrong foundation.
“But we can change,” underlined Derek, emphasising that “one of the things that we want to do first is to build or re-build our foundation, the way we know (understand) and love ourselves, and this is where the reflection from the 30 days can assist you.”
Derek revealed that some of his associates have used the book as a tool for reflection with people wanting to grow, looking for change or finding it hard to express oneself.
One such person, Mariana Yapp, has a dream to illustrate since young, and with one-to-one coaching from a friend who walked with her through the book ‘30 Days to a Better Self-Awareness,” she finally found the courage to write, illustrate and print her first book. Her second book has also been released recently.
The “30 Days to a Better Self-Awareness” has found its way to the sharing tables of individuals and groups, either for self-reflection or group discussion in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Wellington.
ATC Publisher of India, who published the 3rd edition, is now marketing the book for the author. It is Derek’s hope that it would benefit a wider reach of people to lead them to a richer and more beneficial existence, both to themselves and to others around them.
The book is sold locally @ RM20 per copy. Derek can be contacted @ 019-8620660.
The second author, Roy Jessesly, launched his first book, Colour Me Book at the same event. His story has been published in the 21 January 2018 issue of Catholic Sabah on page 17.
Jennifer Linggi, 51, architect by profession, was at the event to introduce her book Kampung Legacy, the result of her devotion to the subject of basket-making and the need to document the traditional baskets of Sabah.
Linggi was at the book launch at the friendly invitation of Cana Cafe. Her book was launched earlier in May 2017. The Tun Fuad Foundation funded the publication of her book after realising the need to preserve the knowledge of local ancestral traditions.
Article reproduced from Catholic Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu
