Author, Hotelier and the 2022 Epigram Book’s Fiction Prize Recipient
Release date: 31 August 2022
Welcome to Season Four of the Listen by Heart Podcast, where we feature Stories from Women of the South China Sea. Podcast host, Jasmine Low welcomes Karina Robles Bahrin, a Malaysian author and hotelier who has been selected as the 2022 Epigram Book’s Fiction Prize recipient. We offer our congratulations to Karina for winning the prize for her first novel – written in lockdown!
INTRO Welcome and thank you for joining me on the Listen by Heart Podcast. I’m your host, Jasmine Low. It began as Listen to your Heart – a project that began as a TEDx Talk in 2016 albeit a botched recording and my nervous energy that translated into giggles. It was unplanned and it was one of those strings of serendipitous events that started when my mum was diagnosed with a non-malignant brain tumour that needed to be removed. A fixer sort, that sent me on a tumble of a search for answers. Why did the tumour grow, what would she need to recover, does our body heal on its own, how do dietary nutrition or the lack of affect cell growth and the marvel of vibrational frequencies within us and surrounding us – as ethereal as this may sound! That has translated into this, Listen by Heart Podcast.
I’d like to share with you, a FAMOUS SPEECH that NELSON MANDELA NEVER GAVE… it’s titled Our Deepest Fear and for the records, my research shows that this passage was often attributed to Nelson Mandela but it was in fact a quote in a New York Times bestselling book titled ‘A Return To Love’ by Marianne Williamson published in 1992. Marianne is an American author, lecturer and co-founder of a volunteer food delivery program in Los Angeles and a Peace Alliance.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Thanks to the author Marianne Williamson, for this quote that has made its way into the hearts of so many people.
Introducing to you Karina Robles Bahrin Wong (she drops the Wong in the public eye only for brevity). And in 1992, the same year that Marianne Williamson published, ‘A Return to Love’, Karina Robles Bahrin graduates from Stanford.
PJ to the Bay Area
- Bachelors in International Relations, Class of 1992, Stanford University, California, USA
- Recipient of Public Services Department of Malaysia scholarship
- Stanford-In-Oxford Summer Programme, 1991
- Assunta Secondary School, Class of 1986, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Life in the fast lane
Public Relations
Karina built a career for over twenty years in the field of public relations. Some of her career highlights include:
- Media relations liaison for Asia tours of notable corporate figures including: Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell and Bill Gates
- Head of Communications for Bursa Malaysia from 2004–2008, inclusive of the company’s IPO debut.
- Media relations lead for the Force of Nature Concert 2005 in aid of tsunami victims. Star-studded line-up included Backstreet Boys, Black-Eyed Peas, Eric Benet, Jackie Chan, Ruth Sahanaya, Sheila Majid & Wyclef Jean
- Lead media relations consultant for the inaugural Malaysian Idol competition
Boardrooms to bedrooms
Entrepreneurship
- Co-owner and founder of La Pari-Pari, one of Langkawi’s best-known independent small hotels since 2012, which has won multiple awards from TripAdvisor, Agoda and Booking.com
- Co-owner of fatCUPID, one of Langkawi’s top 2021 restaurants as ranked by Prestige Malaysia
- Co-owner of Kebun Republik, Langkawi’s first indoor cold-room pesticide-free farm supplying temperate climate vegetables to local businesses on the island
Involvement in the Arts
- Founder of the Suatukala community initiative (2015 to present) that has impacted over 1,000 workshop participants and audience.
- Past programmes include workshops by David Lok (Studio DL), Ruby Subramaniam (visual artist), KL Shakespeare Players, Elaine Foster & Sheena Baharudin (spoken word poets) and Lina Tan (Red Comms)
- Public arts performance & exhibition showcases: Suatukala Showcase (2015) and Suatukala In The Park (2017)
- Recipient of ArtsFAS/Yayasan Hasanah grant to produce a musical theatre production—Pulau Sri— which was staged on November 27, 2021 in Langkawi to an audience of over 100. The show was later screened on a Facebook live session with the show’s co-creators and producer.
- 2021/2022 recipient of the CENDANA PRISMA grant for a Langkawi-wide story creation and theatre production competition to be launched in March 2022
- Participant of Aunt Lute x POC United Prepping to Publish workshop with Sonora Jha, Professor of Journalist at Seattle University and author of How To Raise A Feminist Son (2021)
- Winner of the Epigram Fiction Prize 2022 (the novel, The Accidental Malay published by Epigram is available at book stores in Malaysia from August 2022).
- Published short stories:
- “A Woman In Five Pieces”– Urban Odysseys: KL Stories (MPH Publishing) & KL Noir: Blue (Fixi Books)
- “A Subtle Degree of Restraint”– title story (MPH Publishing)
- “A Little Warm Death” & “The Proper Care of Princesses”–Malaysian Tales Retold & Remixed (ZI Publishing)
The Interview
My Identity, Who I am
From one big island to one of 99 in Langkawi, Kedah, we chat with Karina about where home is, her 10 years on the big island of Langkawi, her childhood and growing up in a mixed culture family.
The Women Who Came Before Me
We uncover Karina’s paternal and maternal history and learned about:
– Her mother and her mother’s mother; the Philippine side of the family.
– Her father’s mother; the Malay, Negeri Sembilan and Chinese side of the family.
– Their education and hers.
Leaving a Legacy
In the interview, we discuss her early career, memorable highlights of her corporate life and at 40, how she uprooted and moved to Langkawi to become a hotelier.
‘The Accidental Malay’, 11 years in its making, is her first fiction novel and it was written when the world and Langkawi was very much in lockdown.
How to take care of Princesses
Karina reads an 8-minute excerpt from her delightful short story, “How to take care of Princesses”, first published in Daphne Lee’s Malaysian Tales Retold & Remixed collection of short stories (ZI Publications).
I hope you’ll enjoy this podcast as much as we did producing it!
Help us spread the word!
Promo for sms/socials:
AFT Podcasts podcast host Jasmine Low brings you on an audio journey with Karina Robles Bahrin – Malaysian Author, Hotelier and 2022 Winner of the Epigram Book’s Fiction Prize. Listen and subscribe to the Listen by Heart Podcast on your favourite platform: Apple podcasts https://bit.ly/listenbyheartpodcast, Spotify spoti.fi/3yfxWNZ, Google podcasts bit.ly/3la7C46, Player FM https://bit.ly/listenbyheartplayerfm or via YouTube: https://youtube.com/watch?v=SZoO5Io5J1g. Thank you!
#listenbyheart Website: listenbyheart.webprojx.com
About the Listen by Heart Podcast
You have been listening to Jasmine Low’s Audio Journey experience, an AFT Podcast production.
Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred platform and if you’d like to encourage us on, find out how you can support the production. Thank you!
Our purpose: Listen by Heart Podcast is an audio project that sets out to record and archive stories from women of the South China Sea, an area of much interest lately. As we document and record all of these stories, we will also be digitising and creating an online presence for women of Southeast Asian heritage and honouring the women who came before them.
Our Mission: Listen By Heart Podcast aims to serve as the Sentinels of the South China Sea, keeping our region at peace, and our mental health in check.
Production Credits
An open-source project created, narrated and produced by Jasmine H. Low (jasminelow.com).
An AFT Podcast Production by AsiaFitnessToday.com.
Supported by GoInternationalGroup.com.
Website by WebPROjx.com.
#ListenbyHeart | https://listenbyheart.webprojx.com