TIME FOR ASIAN WRITERS TO SHINE

       Southeast Asian writers were urged by bestselling author Paul Theroux to tell their stories with honesty and integrity, without bias and hidden agendas.
       Theroux says writers are "seldom well compensated" for their efforts, especially poets who are often underrated for their contributions to society.
       But with the emergence of Asia as a new global power, he says regional governments would do well to support their own writers, he says in honouting eight regional winners of the Southeast Asian Writers Awards recently.
       At the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the venue of the gala event, Theroux reminded a packed hall that classic writers of old from abroad such as Joseph Conrad and Somerset Maugham need not be the only voices depicting the region.
       "It is time your own writers write the stories."
       The world should wake up to the big changes sweeping the Orient.
       The Asia Theroux wrote in his latest book "Ghost Train To The Eastern Star" traces the magical leap made by countries such as Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand the past 40 years.
       "I first came to Thailand and Vietnam in 1969," says Theroux who taught literature at the National University of Singapore from 1968-71.
       His first book on Asia, called "The Great Railway Bazaar", 30 years ago spoke about a chaotic capital that was Bangkok and of colourful trips to Indochina during the Vietnam War years.
       Those tales now serve as historical documents for a time and place long gone.
       For stories to survive, Theroux stresses the need for honesty.
       In good writing, he says, you need to exercise ethics and integrity.
       His speech before His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn and his Royal Consort HRH Princess Srirasmi was the highpoint of the evening.
       The sponsors of Sea-Write, one of the most prestigious corporate social responsibility events in the Kingdom, include Bangkok Bank, Thai Airways International, Mandarin Oriental, Bank of Thailand, Export-Import Bank of Thailand, Thai Beverage, the Rex Morgan Foundation, the Chumbhot-Pantip Foundation, Toshiba Thailand and King Power Complex.
       Theroux says he owes much of his success to a table he made in Singapore in 1970.
       The table, which could be taken apart, as Theroux travels often, was made by a carpenter off Orchard Road.
       "Today Orchard Road has changed so much. None of the old shops remain," he adds.
       But the table, bought for just 240 Singapore dollars (Bt5,800), has served him well.
       It has followed him to Britain, where he lived for many years and then to Hawaii where he now resides.
       "I couldn't work on a wobbly table. The carpenter made the table out of hard wood with fatlegs," he says.
       It stood a bit lower than most tables to accommodate writing and typing work.
       Therous still writes long hand before typing the manuscript.
       About 40 books owed their origins to this table.
       Towards he end of his stay in Britain, Theroux wrote "Kingdom By The Sea" in 1978. It became one of his most celebrated works.
       "It written at a time of the Falklands War," he recalls. "I was disturbed by the event. I was against the war."
       "The Argentine writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges says it best when he compares it to tow bald men fighting over a comb."
       Commenting on today's digital age, Theroux says he trusts his calligraphy more than keyboards.
       People should not be fooled by the hype drummed up by computer companies and Internet firms. Books and newspapers will never be replaced by the electronic medium, he says.
       The prine medium is far cheaper than the new medium and does not require expensive monthly fees and repairs.
       Theroux's steady income testifies writers can still live off their books.
       "The Great Railway Bazaar" was reprinted 52 times, providing royalty income for the writer.
       Some of his works have also been made into films. His books "Dr Slaughter" became the movie "Half Moon Street" (1986) with Sigourney Weaver; "Chinese Box" (1997) with Harrison Ford and "Saint Jack" (1979) with Ben Gazzara.
       But it is his non-fiction works that Theroux is best known for.
       His trip to Asia followed his stint as a Peace Corp volunteer in Malawi in 1963.
       It was his involvement in politics in Malawi that led to his expulsion in 1965.
       After two years in Uganda, he travelled to Singapore, the backdrop to "Saint Jack".
       The tale of an American hustler who becomes involved with the world's oldest profession during the "rest and recreation" years of the Vietnam War is regarded today as an invaluable historical work.
       So much of Singapore has changed and many of the places no longer eixts.
       In 1971, he quit the English Department to begin a full-time writing career.
       "I have never held a job since."