They may be small, tentative steps, but with pedigree backing her, newcomer Diandra Arjunaidi is already shooting for the stars.

GIVEN the recent international successes of our local female songwriters, you would be forgiven for thinking that Malaysia has become a bit of a hotbed for budding female-songwriting talents looking for a bite at the international pie. It started with Miri lass Zee Avi, who scored a deal with Brushfire Records (partly owned by Jack Johnson) back in 2008, her album charting on the Billboard Top 200 and selling in excess of 300,000 units.