Kokko & May
Ge Mei Lia, translated in English as Kokko & May, is an ongoing Malaysian Chinese comic series created by Eddie See Yew Lee. The series began in 1997.
Kokko & May tells the daily life stories of siblings, Kokko See and May See. Apart from interacting with the See family members, classmates, teachers, and also one shot characters, inspiring children to encounter ups and downs and also learning cultural characteristics beyond school textbook teachings.
Title inspiration
Kokko & May features a pair of male and female young siblings. The inspiration did not stem from Eddie See's own children, but rather from the concept of gender role balances. Since a mischievous young boy could lead to a wider variety of story developments, Eddie See chose the male character, Kokko See, as the primary lead of the narration. Initially, Eddie See intended to title the work “Xiong Mei Lia”, however, the Chinese character “Xiong” is also a homophone of “Xiong”, which disrupted the tone and rhetorical effect of the title. In the end, "Ge Mei Lia" was decided, and later changed to Kokko & May, making the series more accessible and memorable for English readers.History
Pioneering Period (1997–2007)
In 1997, leveraging the lack of children's comics in the Malaysian comic market, Eddie See Yew Lee launched Gemeilia's pilot volume as the debut of his professional career. The work was published by United Publishing House Sdn. Bhd., however, the pilot volume released that same year performed poorly, with about two to three thousand unsold copies remaining. Its 1999 sequel, The Mischievous Siblings, also received a lukewarm response, with its initial print of 5,000 copies taking about a year to sell out. The underwhelming sales were mainly due to the thick volume, black-and-white interior pages lacking visual appeal, and a high price point for the perceived quality.Moreover, during the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Malaysian education system generally viewed comics as harmful materials, often associating them with violence or adult content, rendering them banned items in schools. It was not until 2002 that Eddie See, after receiving numerous feedback and suggestions from readers of the pilot and The Mischevious Siblings, decided to reorganize and republish these books through a subsidiary of United Publishing House, G. Apple Studio Sdn. Bhd.. The books were split into four small volumes; one shots, Struggles, Guests at Home, and Siblings Affection, to resolve the issue of them being out of print. Drawing inspiration from the Hong Kong children’s magazine The Children's Paradise, Eddie See aimed to transition the series into a monthly publication suitable for school readership.
This transformation plan was initially met with skepticism from the publisher’s executives. Although it was originally intended to become a bimonthly magazine, Kokko & May was eventually published monthly from 2003. That same year, the first issue of the monthly series, titled Apprieciate What You Have, was released. Eddie See personally visited Chinese primary schools across Malaysia to promote the comic, leveraging the opportunity to bundle it with 20,000 copies of textbooks. The strategy proved effective, and within a few years, Kokko & May became increasingly popular among Chinese primary school students in Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei.
Peak Period (2008–2015)
In 2009, Kokko & May achieved a monthly circulation of 150,000 copies. During the same year, a new spin-off magazine, Kokko & May: E-Learning, was launched, focusing on children’s science and technology education. It complemented the original comic’s emphasis on life education, thereby expanding the thematic scope of the brand. In September 2009, Eddie See established Ge Mei Art Studio to offer art courses for both children and adults.By 2010, Kokko & May had influenced other Malaysian children's publications, with some segments featuring striking similarities to the original’s on-site visit format. Around the same time, the short animated series Kokko & May: Idiom Animation premiered on Astro’s educational program Xiao Tai Yang, marking the brand’s entry into animation.
In September 2011, due to health concerns, Eddie See announced in Kokko & May: I Am the Team Leader that the 200th issue would be the final installment of the series’ regular publication. In 2012, he founded Pinko Creative Sdn. Bhd., a subsidiary of United Publishing House, aimed at promoting high-quality Malaysian comics and nurturing local talent. The publication rights for Kokko & May were subsequently transferred to this new company. In the same year, a trilingual version of Kokko & May was launched as an iOS app developed by HBL, marking its expansion into digital platforms.
In 2013, Malaysia’s first movie adapted from a comic, Gemeilia 2013, was officially released. The following year, a new magazine titled Mini Gemeilia was launched to provide children with a fairytale-themed platform for comic creation and publication.
Turbulent Period (2016–2018)
In 2016, Sasbadi Holdings Bhd. acquired United Publishing House Sdn. Bhd. and its subsidiaries. By 2018, Pinko Creative faced constraints due to limited personal resources, reduced publishing and promotional capacity, and technical disputes with Sasbadi over publishing rights. Eddie See decided to let Sasbadi take over Pinko Creative under the name of United Publishing House Sdn. Bhd. to effectively resolve issues related to the publication of Kokko & May.The acquisition price was based on Pinko Creative’s 2016 profit and asset valuation. The deal granted Sasbadi the publishing and distribution rights for the Kokko & May monthly series, while Eddie See retained the copyright to the work and the right to operate Ge Mei Art Studio.
Declining Period (2019–Present)
Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, five planned issues of the Kokko & May monthly magazine, originally scheduled for release in the second half of 2021, were delayed to the first half of 2022. With the Malaysian Movement Control Order in effect, planned school visits and tourist site reporting were suspended, resulting in thinner magazine content.In 2023, although Eddie See considered fast-tracking the series' finale, he ultimately decided against it, fearing that doing so would negatively impact the related industry chain. Instead, he shifted the magazine's release schedule to irregular publication and announced plans to implement a new publishing model within the next two to three years. Despite reaching its 200th issue milestone, Eddie See has yet to find the right inspiration to conclude the Kokko & May series.