The Sphere

Chapter 32: Diana Sinclair

After some discussion with Daniel about Diana Sinclair that night, I could barely shut my eyes for sleep. The possibility of us meeting with Diana made me very excited. Daniel also shared that he was trying to find ways so that we could not only feature her in the next issue, but also to interview her. Oh my God! That was not something I ever thought off! Diana oh Diana!

Diana Sinclair or her real name Diana Johari was born on the 1st of August 1980 in Kota Tinggi, Johore. She was an activist, artist, a producer and last but not least and rarely talked about, she was also a capitalist according to many observants. Who would have thought, a capitalist behind that artistic image. She married Mirza Adam Sinclair in 2004 when she was 24. But the marriage only lasted four years before they went separate ways on the 3rd of June 2009.

Her exploded graphic novel 'Secret Garden' which was sold more than eight million copies around the world had made her name the frequent of the internet and printed media almost every single day. The trilogy graphic novels had received such an attention from the critics, including from the public for their controversial contents that covered around violence, sex, criminal, religion and politics. The novels were published by her own publishing house, Babylon Cat Inc. that she founded in 2006 in Los Angeles. The publishing of the novels was highly protested in South East Asia as her fantasies in the books involved big names in politics, business, and entertainment industry of the region.

Her personal life was nothing short of a public talk-about as well. Her former husband, Mirza Adam Sinclair was a notable real estate investor in Europe. After the divorce, she was said to be hopping around one after another American athletes, in which that became a favourite topic for the tabloids and bloggers every week. Rumours also had it that she always went back and forth between Miami and New York to meet with a number of gang leaders there. I could not confirm just how much of a truth these rumours were.

She would be in Kuala Lumpur to promote her latest book and film, called S.O.S. But it seemed like her past controversy with Secret Garden was still not far behind the people. That had sparked a controversy way before it was even launched.

As the title suggests, Secret Garden was produced under strict confidentiality. Everyone involved, whether directly or indirectly, had to sign an agreement prohibiting them from discussing the book.

Despite the tight security measures, some parts of the book still managed to leak to the public, thanks to hackers. There was a man in San Francisco who allegedly attempted to sell the sketches to a publishing house in Singapore. According to a reliable source, he demanded a minimum of USD 20,000 for the sketches.

When Babylon Cats Inc. learned about this, they wasted no time in taking action. They contacted the Singaporean publishing company and threatened them with severe legal consequences if they proceeded with publishing the stolen sketches or handed them over to someone else. It's unclear how a representative from Babylon Cats Inc. obtained information about the man in San Francisco, but her warning was enough to make the Singaporean company back down. Without Diana's intervention, they might have gone ahead with publishing the stolen material or sold it to a third party. However, facing the call from a powerful and respected woman who led a publishing conglomerate like Babylon Cats Inc. they knew they had no choice but to comply. In fact, a few other publications had already faced consequences for disregarding Diana's warnings.

Concerns arose for Diana and Babylon Cats regarding the man from San Francisco. They worried that if he remained free, he would persistently attempt to sell them again in various ways. To address this, Diana made the decision to halt the publication of the book until the man was apprehended by the police, with the assistance of her private investigators. However, this could not have been accomplished as quickly if Diana had not taken a proactive approach.

Upon learning about the man, Diana promptly sent out a warning to all publishing houses in Asia, hoping it would aid in his capture. The criminal was eventually traced to Jakarta, where he tried to sell the stolen material to a local publishing company. Unfortunately, he managed to evade capture by hastily boarding a flight back to the USA moments after leaving the company. In response, Diana and Babylon Cats promptly contacted the FBI to help track down the man using his fingerprints left on a vase he had touched at the publishing company. "He loves cactus," an FBI agent reported.

The Jakarta publishing company gave him a call and agreed to buy the sketches. At that time, he was already in San Francisco. They then told him to fly to Los Angeles and hand over the sketches to an Indonesian editor who was a con artist.

In Los Angeles, FBI agents were already on standby, along with three journalists from America, Malaysia, and Singapore. Yasmine Cohen, a private investigator in Hollywood hired by Diana, was also waiting for the criminal to meet up with the Indonesian editor.

The criminal, Shidee Lee, was finally caught while dealing with the Indonesian editor in a cafe.

Meanwhile, copies of the sketches had already made their way around Kuala Lumpur before they were made to disappear with the help of the efficient Royal Malaysia Police and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. Diana's works had already sold an estimated 10 million units worldwide before this incident. Secret Garden gained attention from across the globe, becoming one of the biggest internationally launched books. In just the first week of its release, 500,000 units were sold simultaneously in America, Europe, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia.