Amir: If you really like it, you would do it

Amir Muhammad advising Taylorians to follow their dreams

“If you really like it, you would do it. You would not let anyone stop you.” This was the advice given by a very well-known local writer, Amir Muhammad, to the students of Taylor’s University.

Amir pursued a degree in law which he later gave up and continued to study film at the University of New York.

“I enjoyed my law degree. However, I knew that I would never become a lawyer. I could never work in a law firm and I have never regretted the path I took after graduation,” said Amir.

Last year, Amir released two new books. Rojak focused more on short stories and was recognized as one of the top 10 bestsellers for fiction books in Malaysia. 120 Malay Movies on the other hand was a compilation of old movies. Movies featured in the book go date back to 1948 when the movie Chinta was released.

120 Malay Movies was released last year in Singapore because the Malay film industry began there. It was only during the late 60s when Malaysians started to appreciate Malay movies, particularly P. Ramlee ones.

The biggest challenge Amir faced was to source the films because some of the movies which he spoke about in his book are banned in Malaysia.

On another note, Fixi, his newest book label, focuses on Malay fiction. The label was launched this year together with three books, titled Pecah, Kougar and Cekik.

The Fixi logo was inspired by the black and white block themes of most big fashion corporations that Amir noticed when he went shopping in Europe.

Amir, whose inspiration in writing derives from the joy and passion he has in this field, also explained that he was mostly motivated by curiosity. Although two of his documentaries have been banned, he is still glad to have made them and has no regrets publishing his books.

(By Vasenta Selvanayagam)