No, this is not the sequel to the hit movie about a boy from the slums who joined a television game show and eventually wins the jackpot prize using only his life-experiences to answer the questions to find his one true love who got separated from him when they were little during a chase scene on the train. There I pretty much gave you people who have not seen the movie a spoiler.

As a kid who spent his childhood years during the 1990’s, I experienced first-hand the craze that was called SLUM BOOKS. For those who do not know what they are, these are not books acquired from the people who live in deprecated areas of a city/country. Slum books come in different shapes, sizes, colors, thickness, number of questions, and scents. Yes, scents. The more elaborate and maarte your slum book is, the more popular you are with other kids. Kinda like Myspace or Friendster (gosh I feel old), the more intricate and extravagant your design is, the more attention you get.

The time when the slum book fever got me, I badgered my mom into getting me one. She got me one with Elmo from Sesame Street dressed like Pinocchio on the cover. It was smaller than your average notebook and thinner than most slum books. The cover actually said ‘Autograph Book’ since ‘slum books’ are for girls. And, it was also G-rated since the questions did not touch on the romantic side, ie. ‘What is Crush?’, ‘Who was your first kiss?’

I was in fourth grade back then and was socially awkward. I was not the brightest star yet I wasn’t the dimmest star either. As my brother put it, I simply existed. Because I caught the slum book fever late, my classmates already got tired answering those of the other kids. That prompted me to devise a scheme. I told them that I would be transferring to another school the following year so that they would write in mine. I of course succeeded. Haha!

What prompted me to make this site was actually boredom. I also needed something to do as a project for the new year. Funny how your brain produces ideas which seemed so easy when you first thought about it. Kalerks lang. I did not actually plan to follow the slum book layout. I planned to write about people only but a conversation with my brother about the glory days of the 1990’s brought us to this slumbook idea. He further upped it a bajillion notches when he said to make the title ‘Slumbook Millionaire’ so that the goal of the site would be to meet a million people and in the process learn something about and from them. It is a daunting task indeed but I do believe that I can do this. With your help of course. Oha!

With that said, I give you SLUMBOOK MILLIONAIRE. Bawal sumagot ng ‘Secret’ ha! (The answer ‘Secret’ is not allowed.)