The spotlight is on fellow polymath and Malaysian author, the remarkable Ong Chin Huat. He is a Number One Bestselling Penguin Random House author and Harmony Heights was one of the Best Books of 2024 according to FT Weekend. Chin Huat, who has 38.7K Instagram followers, shares some tidbits about himself and his writing.
IN: I enjoyed your high-rise multiple-viewpoint urban saga, Harmony Heights. I was emotionally grabbed by the scenarios and psychological circumstances in which the characters find themselves. We are forced to confront the nosy neighbour, the abusive husband, side hustles, middle-age depression, uncontrollable teen behaviour, senile dementia. You trained in law at LSE. As a fellow Penguin author and middle-class Malaysian trained overseas, with a portfolio career spanning decades, did you grow up with unmet traditional Asian family expectations to be a doctor, lawyer or accountant?
OCH: My parents, believe it or not, are not very traditional in the sense of what most people perceive in Chinese Malaysian families so luckily for me there was no expectations placed on me! I studied law because I wanted to, not because I was told to. I decided against pursuing a legal career because after my pupillage in London, I found most legal subjects quite dry. It didn’t fit into my personality or satisfy my creative streak. I decided to become a journalist instead working at the Hong Kong Tatler as the social editor and I believe I found my metier. My father was a chartered accountant and my mum was a teacher but they never forced me to go into anything and pretty left my career choices to my own devices.
IN: I am embarrassed that I can hardly keep track of my 6 characters without the humble spreadsheet. How did you control and track your huge cast of memorable, unique characters?
OCH: It came quite naturally to me. I’m used to dealing with lots and lots of people in my work and daily life and I can remember most people and what they do or how they fit into the social scene when I was writing about society. When I first started writing Harmony Heights, I just had a very rough and brief outline of the main characters and as I wrote, each one took a life of its own. The story then developed very organically and each character did things which befitted their own personality. I didn’t control or track them in any way. They just grew with the storyline.
IN: A question that I am always asked (which I am sure you have also experienced) is how do you fit in writing on top of a hectic and demanding work life doing multiple jobs which are all creative?
OCH: I wrote Harmony Heights in 2021 during the height of the pandemic when Malaysia was under the strictest lockdown. Everywhere was closed and there was nowhere to go! This provided the perfect opportunity to hunker down and write my novel! With so much time on my hands, I then decided to channel all my energies into writing Harmony Heights. But I have to tell you the impetus really started about a year ago when I was at a friend’s home for dinner (Dato’ Seri Farah Khan). This was also during the pandemic but it was at a time when the lockdown was somewhat relaxed and we could go out and she asked me what have I been doing during the lockdown. I thought long and hard and apart from the usual chores I really wasn’t doing much and then she asked the pivotal question “Haven’t you written a book?” This planted a seed in my head but I only started a year later!
IN: You and I have shared the publicist extraordinaire of Penguin and have experienced campaign success through the joint efforts of author, publisher and the publicity and marketing team. What advice can you offer those authors who do not have a publicist and are not from a PR or journalism background?
OCH: Oh, gosh! I don’t think I am qualified to give any advice to anyone but I think on a deeper level you really have to believe in yourself and your work because when you have this unshakeable confidence in your work, it shines through.
IN: As I write I am wearing a leather jacket by Rick Owen, whom I was secretly pleased to see mentioned twice in a chapter. Who is your favourite designer and why?
OCH: That’s a loaded question because I have many, depending on my mood and the look I am trying to create! It’s like asking a parent which is their favourite child! But if I had to choose one it would be Prada just for their sheer creativity and consistency throughout the years. They never fall into a rut or regurgitate past ideas. They seem to come out with fresh and novel looks each season yet still stay within the boundaries of being wearable and commercial.
About Ong Chin Huat (from the Penguin author page):
After graduating from the London School of Economics with a law degree and later called to the Bar in both the United Kingdom and Malaysia, Ong Chin Huat studied History of Art at the British Institute of Florence in Italy. Deciding to pursue a career in journalism, he became the first Chinese person to work at the Hong Kong Tatler as the Social Editor. After a stint as a columnist at the South China Morning Post, he started his own PR Consultancy specialising in fashion and luxury goods. He has been a judge for the Miss Asia Pageant in Hong Kong, Miss Charm de Chine in Shanghai and Mrs. International Global Grand Final in Kuala Lumpur. Currently, he is a freelance writer, fashion stylist and TV Host and has contributed to The Star, Life Inspired, Luxurious Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Design Anthology, Elle and Conde Nast Traveller among others. He hosted a TV Show called ‘Hong Kong High Life’ on ATV Hong Kong as well as a talk show named ‘Driven’ on TheStarTV.com. Voted as one of Hong Kong’s Best Dressed Personalities by the Hong Kong Fashion Designer’s Association, he has met and interviewed everyone from movie stars and business tycoons to politicians and world-class athletes.
You can follow him on Instagram at @chinhuat_ong
Check out his very cool saga with great Malaysian cosmopolitan characters, Harmony Heights, here (US)>>. UK here>>
Synopsis: Blowing the lid off contemporary social mores with a peek behind the closed doors of middle-class Malaysians Harmony Heights is anything but harmonious. In this nineties-style block of condominium located in a forgotten part of town resides a microcosm of bourgeois Malaysian society. From retired judges and doctors to CEOs and homemakers with side hustles, the residents in this apartment building pride themselves on being model citizens. But beneath the veneer of civility and respectability, lies a hotbed of secrets and skeletons that reveal the true nature of these residents. How will they respond to the trials and tribulations that life throws at them? Will they manage to keep up appearances when their private affairs and exploits are exposed? Harmony Heights is a peephole, allowing you to look in, to watch the unfolding lives of cheating husbands, ambitious women, unconventional families, and witness explosive (literally) situations. If you look close enough, you might just see someone you know. Are you ready to keep a secret?
