Malaysian Daryl Kho bags top children's book award with first effort

With his very first book Malaysian, Daryl Kho has bagged the prestigious Hedwig Anuar Children's Book Award which recognises outstanding children’s books by Singaporeans or permanent residents.

His book ‘Mist-Bound: How To Glue Back Grandpa’ is a fantasy work that deals with the very real-life problem of dementia and it won the middle-grade category in the biennial award which is organised by the Singapore Book Council.

“It’s unbelievable. When I first had the idea for ‘Mist-Bound’, I wasn’t even sure if I could write it. It’d been 15 years since I’d written anything creative since graduating from university and I was afraid that I didn’t have it in me anymore.

“Up to the moment that I received my publishing contract, I wasn’t expecting to get traditionally published, because I’d gone through several publisher rejections and non-replies,” Kho told Malaysiakini.

Daryl Kho

“From the start, I was preparing to self-publish and that’s why I’d already long hired my own illustrator - SillyJellie - before getting signed on by Penguin.

“I was going to just produce this book for friends and family because it was ultimately a story I needed to tell, for myself and for my daughter to share with her own children down the line,” he added.

He was awarded SG$3,000 for winning the middle grade category during a ceremony at the Asian Festival of Children's Content over the weekend. This is the first time a middle grade category has been introduced.

Kho, 42, was inspired to write the book after his father suffered two strokes and was then diagnosed with vascular dementia. The first stroke happened 12 years ago, just before his own daughter Alexis was born.

The book ‘Mist-Bound’ tells of a girl whose grandfather's memories have been shattered. She needs to venture into the land of mists and collect ingredients for “Memory Glue” but faces a race against time.

“It’s been an amazing ride, and I’ve been incredibly blessed. Make no mistake, it wasn’t a smooth one, however. So much work has gone into this book behind the scenes, but the journey has been worth every single drop of blood, sweat and tear.

“I also wouldn’t have gotten here without the help and support (or maybe it was simply pity) along the way from friends, family and people who believed in me and/or my story,” Kho reflected.

There is no doubt that writing the book was an emotional and cathartic experience. The idea for the book first emerged in 2014 but after breezing through a first draft he sat on it until his father's passing in 2018.

“I call this book my little paper bottle of memories.

“It was originally made for my daughter, created to contain memories of my parents and bits of pieces of my past, to pass down to her and even her kids after that.

“But it also turned into a repository for sadness and guilt, and then an outlet for grief as well. For me.

“Sadness and guilt - for failing to prevent his condition, for failing to be there (my parents were in KL whilst my sis and I live in Singapore), failing to be a better son. And ultimately grief - from my dad’s passing,” he said.

He admits that the book also became a diversion from a mid-life crisis that he was going through at that time. 

“Career-wise I'd risen relatively rapidly through the ranks, and then all of a sudden, faced rough patches due to a series of organizational restructuring at two companies I worked for. 

“This book was my refuge from what I perceived then to be setbacks (and recognise now to

instead be blessings in disguise). It also reminded me that I still had it in me to write and create.

“It made me realise something important: that having a personal project that you can be passionate about, aside from being able to make you happy: just as importantly, if not more, it can also help make you less sad. There’s a meaningful difference between the two, I’ve learnt,” he said.

He’s not stopping there.

“Work and business travel have really been piling back on with a vengeance, but in terms of writing, some breaking news for you, I have a short story coming out next month with HarperCollins India's Sci-fi and Mystery Anthology titled ‘Flipped’.

“It’s about the metaverse, and is actually a spiffed-up version of a piece I published as a high-school student, two years before ‘The Matrix’ movie launched and introduced the concept more broadly to the world,” said Kho.

This is the first time that there have been two prize categories since the award’s inception in 2011.- Mkini