Not My Problem...

I don’t want to hear about the difficulties faced by booksellers in Malaysia.

I don’t want to hear about how little profit they make whenever they stock a book that doesn’t have the name Harry Potter on it because nobody reads books in Malaysia.

I don’t care a hoot whether the big booksellers are upset because some hypermarkets undercut them by selling Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at a reasonable price, instead of the rip-off profiteering prices demanded by the Big Boys.

It's just not my problem.

I’ll tell you what I DO care about. I care about the youngsters in this country not developing a reading habit. I am an English language educator in a country which, by some accounts, lacks a vibrant reading culture, compared to some "advanced" countries like the UK. Not enough Malaysian kids read for pleasure in this country, and I care about this very much.

I care that university students often lack basic general knowledge and understanding of current events, arts, literature, history and philosophy, making it difficult for them to excel in such activities as debating and public speaking, both of which I teach.

I care that the brains of the young (and the old!) are being slowly starved not because they are stupid, not because they don't have access to books and newspapers, but because for a number of reasons, they just don't read very much.

Now don't get me wrong, gentle readers, I believe books like the Harry Potter series have done a great deal to show children, and their parents, that reading is something to be enjoyed and admired, not just something to do to pass examinations. But as a regular doyen of the Kuching bookshop scene, I can see one major reason why so many people don't read as much as they should.

And it's the price tag. Especially when books like Potter are marked up to ridiculous prices such as RM 109.90 - more than twice the average price for a book of its class.

We should not forget that, despite the fact that many people ride around in Mercedes and BMWs and Landcruisers in this town, not many people are prepared to spend more than is reasonable on books for pleasure. That's a fact. Even Prof. Madder, a reasonably well-paid university associate professor, finds it hard sometimes to buy a good clutch of his favourite history books and novels every month, despite the fact that books are tax deductible in Malaysia.

And we haven't even mentioned the silent majority of people who live in the kampungs (rural villages) who can just about afford to ride a motorcycle and whose children probably only see books when they go to school.

In yesterday's New Sunday Times, there was a superb article entitled "No quick-fix spells on book prices" by Elizabeth John and Nurris Ishak. This article gave an account of the difficulties faced by the Malaysian book trade in making a profit in a small market. It seems the book sellers and distributors don't make much money because not enough people read books. And people don't read books because the books are too expensive. Talk about a vicious cycle!

But there is one solution to this problem, albeit not a panacea for all ills. In the article, Raman Krishnan, who runs independent bookstore Silverfish Books, advises the large booksellers:

“Stop complaining about a small circulation for English language books. If the current market size is too small –– a maximum of 3,000 units are sold per book –– then do more to increase it and drive prices down".

The booksellers will of course argue that people should be encouraged to read more, by education or other measures by the Government. But Prof. Madder argues that yes, this may work, but it will take too long. And we don't have too long.

By reducing the prices for books such as novels, history books, business books, biographies etc. NOW, surely this will encourage more people from different social backgrounds to fork out for books. The resulting critical mass of readers will build steadily until it becomes normal to see people reading books. More people will buy books, the booksellers' profits will go up, and so on and so on.

So I don't shed any tears when the free market bites the big booksellers in the face. The hypermarkets have shown that if you sell the books at a lower price (RM 69.90), readers will come. In droves. If the big boys can't handle the free market, they should get out of the business and make room for people who can cater for their customers' needs, and their customers need CHEAPER BOOKS.

Datuk Tony Fernandes did it for the airline industry when he started the budget airline Airasia, making air travel in Malaysia and Asia much less expensive in a crowded and highly regulated market. Surely, books are smaller and much easier to handle than jet aeroplanes!?!?