By Mohamad Letfee Ahmad
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 — Local writers are urged to become members of the Koperasi Penulis Nasional (KOPENA) to gain entry into the business sector.
Its Chairman, Mokhtar Omar said this is in line with KOPENA’s main mission to be the preferred cooperative society for members of the literary circle and the publication industry.
“We hope that KOPENA’s vision to diversify and provide effective, viable, friendly and trustworthy services based on cooperative principles and practices will soon be achieved with the support of the community of writers from various genres. We hope to get as many members as possible to elevate the socio-economic status of our local writers,” he said at the first Annual General Meeting (AGM) of KOPENA here.
The AGM has also elected the Cooperative Board Member line-up for the 2022/2023 session led by Mokhtar as Chairman and Khairul Naim Abdul Wahab as Chief Executive Officer while Muhammad Ikhwan Al Syahid Abdullah Tahir was elected Secretary-General and Nor Rafishah Md Hassan as Honorary Treasurer.
The Executive Committee consists of Shahrun Nizam Shahir, Mohd Zaidi Yusof, Khairul Azman Dollah, Muhammad Haniff Hashim, Mohd Ridzuan Othman, Mohd Hidir Ahmad Husaini, Zaileha Abdul Malek, Nur Eiklah Tulha, Thanusya d/o Shanmuganathan and Nashimah Basri while the Internal Audit Committee led by Mohamad Musip includes Prof. Dr. Ir. Wan Abu Bakar Wan Abas, Wee Jeeny Siong and Maizura Mohd Ederis.
Mokhtar said, among others, KOPENA will focus on the book industry including the publishing, sale and distribution of books, e-books and comics as well as training programs.
“We also hope to produce a community of publishers, distributors and writers who will be active contributors to the socio-economic development of the country,” he said.
KOPENA, registered on August 14th currently has 100 registered members.