THE STAR
By Daphne Lee
Like a certain Mr Balboa, a Malaysian writer perseveres – for almost two decades – and finally gets his book published.
IT all started 18 years ago. Gerald Chuah, then in his early 20s, was feeling dejected and depressed. He was in college but felt that he had no future. Many of his friends were furthering their studies abroad and he was disappointed that he didn't have the same opportunities as they did.
"I wondered how I could change my life," recalls Chuah. "I was sitting on my bed, staring into space and then I suddenly focused on the Sylvester Stallone poster on the wall. And there and then I decided to do what I loved best. I decided to write a book about being inspired by the actor and his films."
Chuah says that writing this book became an obsession for him.
"I was very excited at the thought of doing it. At the same time, I did not know one thing about writing a book or how to publish one. I spent my whole semester break writing. In seven weeks I wrote 250 pages. That was my first draft of the book that has finally been published now."
Gerald Chuah got to meet his idol, Sylvester Stallone, at the opening of Planet Hollywood in Singapore in 1997. Yes, that's Chuah's book Sly is holding, with an earlier version of the cover.
In the Eye of the Tiger: Survival Principles from Sylvester Stallone's Life & Films is Chuah's book, self-published at considerable cost, to coincide with the recent Malaysian premier of Rocky Balboa, the sixth and final instalment of Stallone's Rocky series.
"For the last 18 years, I never forgot about my dream to publish the book. I did procrastinate a lot, though," says Chuah. "After I wrote the first draft, I sent an excerpt to Stallone's agent, but it came back, with thanks."
His life, however, was already changing thanks to the book. "I found that spending time writing it gave me confidence to apply for a job as a journalist."
Chuah is still a reporter and his job has, in fact, been instrumental in allowing him to make his ultimate dream come true: to meet his hero. In 1997, Stallone was in Singapore for the opening of Planet Hollywood. It was at this event that Chuah managed to hand a copy of the book – a first draft – to his idol.
Chuah managed to arrange to attend the opening thanks to contacts he had made as a reporter.
"It was all very hit-or-miss, though," says Chuah. "Right on the night, when I was there, I still didn't know if I was going to get the chance to meet Stallone as security was very tight."
Luckily, another contact was kind enough to introduce fan to idol.
Chuah was thrilled when Stallone's other, Jacqueline, agreed to launch his book in Kuala Lumpur.
"I felt really proud and really happy when I shook hands with Stallone and gave him the book," says Chuah who remembers how pleased and surprised the actor looked when he found out that he had inspired someone to write a book based on his life and films.
"It's never been done," says Chuah, "but to me it seems like something obvious to do, to take inspirational quotes from Stallone's movies and compile them."
To Chuah, the main message is, "going the distance".
"It's about finishing, not winning," he says. "That's why the book is not called Success Principles, it's called Survival Principles."
Chuah feels the book needed to be written because he wants others to be as inspired as he is by the quotes and lessons from Stallone's films.
"I learnt a lot from them," he says, adding that he is impressed at how Stallone's philosophy of being positive and giving everything you've got has remained consistent throughout his films.
"The book is solid proof that you must not give up on your dreams," says Chuah who launched Eye of the Tiger on Jan 22 with none other than Jacqueline Stallone, the mother of his hero, in attendance at the Borders bookstore in Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur.
"My book was given to Jackie by Bob Sands, an Australian businessman whom I'd met at a seminar. I shared my book with him and he was impressed. Next thing I knew, he'd presented it to Jackie and she sent me an e-mail."
The back cover of Eye of the Tiger has a quote from Jackie: "I read this book and every word is true. The whole family lives by these rules and these are quotes that Sylvester was raised on."
If Jackie's support alone has not had Chuah reeling with delight and amazement, this would have done it: he was recently contacted by Bob Proctor, motivational speaker and author of You Were Born Rich. Proctor has offered to publish Eye of the Tiger internationally through his company, Life Success Publishing, and wants to get Jack Canfield of Chicken Soup for the Soul fame to help sell and promote it.
Presumably, if Proctor and Canfield do indeed take on the book, it will be re-edited. Chuah himself admits that the book was not even proof read and, thus, contains many grammatical and spelling errors, as well as typos galore!
"I'm upset that there are many mistakes in the book," says Chuah. "The book was produced in a rush. It was just important to get it out and waste no time. Many people say to themselves ‘I'm not ready' but if you wait too long, the time may never come.
"Getting the book published was my Rocky experience. It wasn't about being perfect. It was about going the distance. It was a now or never moment.
"This book," he adds, "is not meant to impress. It's meant to make one reflect."
According to Chuah, Proctor has likened Eye of the Tiger to Rhonda Byrne's The Secret, the best-selling book and DVD about the laws of attraction. Does this mean that Chuah will soon hit pay dirt, just as Byrne has?
Chuah doesn't rule out commercial success. He has seen so many of his dreams come true that he prefers to continue to think positive.
If he does make it big, "I want to create a Real Rocky foundation to inspire people to go the distance with their dreams and I want to highlight their stories in my upcoming books, documentaries, and websites.
"I want to inspire people to believe in themselves and climb the mountain they dream of.
"I want my book, or my seminars in the future, to raise people above the obstacles that are stopping them, so they are able to move ahead. And through their successes they will inspire others. And make the world a better place for everyone."
Rocky would be proud.
For more information about ‘In the Eye of the Tiger: Survival Principles from Sylvester Stallone's Life & Films', visit the official website at stallonism. com. Author Gerald Chuah also has a blog called The Real Rocky Challenge at
therealrockychallenge.wordpress.comwhere he hopes others will share their own Real Rocky stories.
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