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experience for our customers. However, our events were conducted live on Popular Malaysia’s Facebook page, in compliance with the stringent measures imposed by the Malaysian government to safeguard everyone’s health. Nevertheless, a handful of these events were held at a few selected bookstores, with our staff going the extra mile in ensuring that all necessary safety measures were taken. Furthermore, travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic did not stop our customers from meeting their favourite authors from overseas during BookFest@ Malaysia 2021! One such example was the live streaming of the “Meet and Greet” sessions of the celebrated Taiwanese novelist and filmmaker Giddens Ko at the four POPULAR outlets at Selangor’s IPC Shopping Centre, Ipoh’s AEON Mall Kinta City, Ipoh, Penang’s Gurney Plaza, and Johor’s Mid Valley SouthKey. Other acclaimed overseas authors, such Eric Wu Ruo Quan, Yue Qing, Tsai Shi Ping, Wang Hung Che, and Dr Tan Che-Kim, also made an appearance on our Facebook live sessions and shared their views on a range of topics from literature to mental health. Our local authors did not miss out on the excitement of BookFest@Malaysia 2021 either as many turned up during the 10-day event, speaking about various topics of interest. For instance, children’s story writer Li Hui Hui and teen novelist Lin Li Na explored the experience and thrill of writing for a younger audience, while Tsai Hsiao Hua, President of the Malaysia Chinese Writers Association, discussed developments in the Malaysian Chinese literature and her hope to see it flourish worldwide. Feng Shui master Jane Hor shared her zodiac forecast for 2022 and fans of screenwriter Coffee Tree dove into the world of cinema as he introduced his latest mystery and thriller book. Prominent human rights activist cum author Marina Mahathir shared her writing journey for The Apple and the Tree in a live session at POPULAR’s flagship store in Malaysia at IPC Shopping Centre. Tunku Halim, the “Horror Prince”, shared his insights on his latest series, The Midnight Children. Meanwhile, financial consultant Zaidi Ismail gave money-saving tips to the audience, and author Ustaz Pahrol Mohamad Juoi shared the importance of staying calm and There is no bigger joy for the staff of Popular Malaysia than to give children a platform for exploring their imagination through literature. During BookFest@Malaysia 2021, our young visitors were invited to participate in the colouring, writing, and storytelling competitions through online submission. The winners were announced on our Facebook page. Over 600 kids participated in these competitions, and it was apparent that they had really poured their hearts into their endeavours. The 46 winners of the online colouring competition received prizes worth RM6,800 from Faber-Castell, and the 42 winners of the online Chinese storytelling contest and the writing competition were awarded prizes worth RM5,200 from our sponsors, Odonada Publishing, Artline, Zebra and United Publishing House. The excitement on these children faces while receiving their prizes was priceless! Popular Malaysia also teamed up with our media partner Sin Chew Daily to organise the “Hope for Reading” charity campaign, aiming to provide quality reading materials for the underprivileged with the proceeds from the sale of the eco-friendly The BookFest@Malaysia 2021 decorations at the entrance to the various POPULAR Bookstores at Selangor’s IPC Shopping Centre, Sunway Pyramid and 1Utama, and Penang’s Gurney Plaza 书市新装秀:双威金字塔分行、IPC购物中心旗舰店、槟城 的合您广场 the secrets to finding inner peace. Literally adding flavour to BookFest@Malaysia 2021 were live cooking demonstrations by POPULAR-exclusive chefs Marina Mustafa, Michelle Teoh, TK Dong, Ye Ting, and Andrew Kow. Opening the Dreamland Door to a Literary 138 popularnews - 7