YUSOF GAJAH
Yusof Gajah, President of the YGL Agency, is Malaysia's foremost naive art artist. Growing up in Johol, a village in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia and in Singapore. He studied art at Sekolah Seni Rupa in Yogjakarta, Indonesia. When he returned to Malaysia in 1975, he started his career as a fulltime artist. Since then, Yusof has built up a formidable reputation in the art world and his paintings are widely sought after, both locally and internationally. In addition to his painting, Yusof has written and illustrated a number of children's picture books. He has received numerous awards, including the Best Children's Book Illustration from the National Book Council of Malaysia and the Noma Concours Grand Prix Award (ACCU) in Tokyo, Japan for his book, 'The Real Elephant.' He also conducts art workshops and especially enjoys working with children. His constant companion and supporter is his wife, Zakiah. They have three children.
ZAKIAH MOHD ISA
Zakiah Mohd Isa is a Director of Yusof Gajah Lingard Literary Agency. She brings with her a wealth of experience in storytelling for children. Zakiah has conducted storytelling workshops for teachers and has also conducted puppet shows for children with her daughter. Zakiah is a natural storyteller who believes in the power of stories to engage children and to encourage interaction with children. Together with her husband, Yusof Gajah, Zakiah has also been actively involved in a number of art workshops with teachers, parents and children. These include workshops at Petronas Gallery, Siemens Gallery, Islamic Museum of Art, National Heart Institute, Art Camp of Bursa Saham, Galeria Perdana in Langkawi, and International schools in Kuala Lumpur, amongst others. She is also a skilled instructor in the traditional art of batik.
LINDA TAN LINGARD
Linda Tan Lingard is the managing partner of Yusof Gajah Lingard Literary Agency. She has worked in the publishing industry for more than 20 years primarily in business, legal and tax publications. Linda has lived and worked in Jakarta, Hong Kong and UK and is keen to promote multicultural understanding through books and related activities. Linda is a Frankfurt Book Fair fellow and a fellow of the Asian Publishers Fellowship (Korea). She is a graduate of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and holds an MBA from Leicester University, UK and a Certificate in Copyright from HarvardX.
LIM LAY KOON (LEI)
Lim Lay Koon (Lei) is International Rights Director at the Agency. She has more than 17 years of project management and consulting in Supply Chain Management and IT. She has implemented projects across various industries such as media and broadcasting, manufacturing, FMCG, utilities, logistics and airports. The functional areas she has been involved in include sales and distribution, materials management, and quality management. Lei has worked in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. A whole-brain person, Lei is also an award-winning illustrator. Her credits include Master & Apprentice (Calistro Prize) and Sounds in Grandmother's House (Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka Prize). She enjoys reading, traveling and backpacking. She graduated summa cum laude from Winona State University, Minnesota, USA.
HEIDI SHAMSUDDIN
Heidi Shamsuddin is a Literary Agent in the YGL Literary division. In a previous life, she was a lawyer in UK and a cafe owner in Malaysia. Today, Heidi is a writer and an agent. She won the first prize of the Eye Level Children’s Literature Competition (Regional level) with her short story ‘Johan the Bee Hunter’ in 2012. She is currently working on a series of chapter books. The first book of The Door Under the Stairs series will be published in April 2015. Heidi loves traveling, hiking, taking pictures, cooking and meeting people. She lives in Selangor, Malaysia with her husband, three kids and two cats.
WINNIE GOH
Winnie is Marketing Director at YGL Agency. With a background in accounts, she worked for 10 years in Singapore before returning to Malaysia. She then spent the next ten years in the post-production and animation industry. She has traveled extensively and has attended the Hong Kong Licensing Show, the Bologna Children's Book Fair, the Vegas Licensing Show, Ace Show Korea and Mipcom in Cannes. She is fluent in Malay, English, Mandarin and Cantonese. Contact: gohwin@gmail.com