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Local author, corporate high-flyer and avid traveller Rumaizah Abu Bakar speaks to
Jamilah Lim
about her latest travel book,
ACall to Travel: MuslimOdysseys (Journeys of
aMuslimWoman through Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia).
D
elicate
yet pensively
penned in an honest,
no-nonsense manner,
describing
A Call to
Travel: Muslim Odys-
seys
(ACTT:MO) as
a mere collection of
travelogues is woefully inadequate at
capturing the essence of the unpreten-
tious, immersive writing of Rumaizah
Abu Bakar.
Describing herself as curious, resilient
and resourceful, the accomplished au-
thor’s professional mainstay remains in
the corporate world and derives a quiet
kind of contentment from engaging in her
passions – writing and travelling.
Wanderlust runs through her veins,
and in addition to Turkey, Saudi Arabia
and Indonesia, she has also travelled
rather extensively around Europe, the
United Kingdom, Asia, Australia, Africa
and the Middle East.
“I was intrigued with Turkey as it is
located at the crossroads of Europe and
Asia, and hence it became the destination
for my first extensive solo travel. It was
also my first experience of winter. There
were unexpected encounters at every cor-
ner, which made the trip unforgettable.”
The Travelling Muslimah
but I was glad to find my own unique
voice, and narrate my journeys from a
Malaysian Muslim woman’s point of
view.”
Reading
ACTT:MO
was a delight as the
familiarity afforded by Rumaizah’s local
perspective and style lets you experience
the unfamiliar vicariously through her
precise, down-to-earth and engaging
writing. The locations chosen for her
travels in
ACTT:MO
were coincidentally
Islamic countries, and oh-so delightfully
insightful for the uninitiated.
Four years is a very long time to work
on a project, but it seems to be paying off
well, if sales and interest are anything to
go by. She smiled humbly as she shared
her happiest moment: “Alhamdulillah,
when I could finally hold my creation in
my hands.”
A Call to Travel:
MuslimOdysseys,
available at
Silverfish Books,
Kinokuniya and
MPH.
From heart pounding taxi rides in
Istanbul to icy rain bombs in ancient
Miletus, to hypnotising
wayang kulit
performances in Central Java,
ACTT:MO
is remarkably extensive in its coverage
of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia
despite not being much bigger than your
average paperback.
I later found out that her talent in
travel writing was discovered by accident.
Whilst submitting manuscripts contain-
ing anecdotes of her travels for her second
book,
The Female Cell
, her publisher
suggested delving into travel writing as he
noticed her knack for it. And thus began
a travel writing project that took almost
four years before bearing fruit.
I was keen to know more about the
editorial process behind
ACTT:MO
. Right
after the publication of
The Female Cell
in April 2011, Rumaizah found herself
having to juggle writing with her day job
and other commitments.
“It is tough being a writer, anywhere.
My writing process was random, and I did
not follow any set schedule. I planned,
wrote and researched simultaneously,
guided mostly by my instincts.
“My writer friend, Dr Fadzlishah
Johanabas Rosli, was both my critic as
well as my beta reader, and he played a
big role in helping me bring these tales to
their full potential. It took a bit of time,
Steeped in time ... the
ancient city of Ephesus in
West Turkey
Rumaizah in
Dieng Plauteau