Reading Culture in Singapore: Searching for (Good) Second-Hand Bookstores
by Dinesh Sathisan
One of my passions is travelling. Whenever I travel to places like Paris, London or New York (amongst others), I never do what Lonely Planet has advised tourists to do, but rather love taking the off-beaten track in exploring these cities or learning about its people and culture. And the highlight of my travel experiences is the excitement I get from laying my hands on something exclusively local – e.g. Junior’s cheesecake in New York, Marrons Glacé from Jean-Paul Hévin in Paris, niche scents such as those from the Italian perfumer Lorenzo Villoresi in Florence, or a nice bottle of non-export white wine from the Bourges region in France.
Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, once remarked, “Travelling makes a man wiser, but less happyâ€. I have to agree with Jefferson because having travelled to some fine cities and having experienced their reading culture, I get very sad that Singapore pales in comparison. Charring Cross Street in London, 12th and Broadway in New York, rue de Catherine in Montreal, the 6th Arrondisement in Paris all have something in common – all these places have several good second-hand bookstores, stocking some of the best books in fiction and non-fiction, including titles in history, art and architecture.
To the dismay of my parents, I spent almost five hours in the Strand Bookstore in New York – “18 miles of booksâ€, as they claim and definitely live up to it – and another three hours at a used bookstore called Charlie Byrne’s in Galway City, Ireland. Shakespeare & Company in Paris is a quaint, small English bookstore where some of the rarest of books are sold and it happens to be a frequent hangout of mine every time I am in the city. The prices can be a little steep – especially since the Euro is strong – but it is not in the buying where I derive pleasure, but in the browsing.
The fact that you see so many titles which you would probably never see in Singapore is an experience in itself. To my amazement, a small little town called Burlington in Vermont, USA has more than five second-hand bookstores, stocking all sorts of books, categorically arranged and browser-friendly. A second-hand bookstore also appears a staple in small French and Italian towns, usually run by a couple of senior citizens. So, whatever happened to Singapore?
Tim Harper, a Cambridge historian, argues that Singapore was the centre of intelligence and knowledge in the region during the colonial period.[i] So it is rather sad that when people say ‘books’ in Singapore, we instantly think only of that huge bookstore at Wheelock Place that sells overpriced items and the Kinokuniya branches around the island? Can Singapore’s reading culture be simply judged by the children who come in the droves to get their hands on the new Harry Potter book? Isn’t a good reading culture a significant identifier of a mature city and the availability of recycled, second-hand books telling of such a society?
The cities highlighted earlier – London, New York, Paris – are all old cities. The comparison of these cities to Singapore may seem unfair to some. But the city-state aspires to become an arts hub like London and New York, an education hub like Australia, a cultural hub like Paris and we often explicitly compare ourselves to these big, mature cities.
Isn’t a good reading culture an indispensable prerequisite to a country aspiring to become a culture and education hub of the region? Shouldn’t books on history and art be made accessible to a larger audience like students who would like to buy them but cannot afford to pay $125 on a book on Chola bronzes or Chinese ceramics? Singapore does not have a specialised bookstore dedicated to history or art books sold at a discounted price. This is when a good second-hand bookstore comes in handy because someone else’s useless dust-collecting vintage book becomes another person’s treasure.
Of course, you’d be thinking: Hasn’t this person been to Bras Basah Complex?! Bras Basah unfortunately is a mess. Most of the stores never arrange their books by titles and they cater mostly to students who are on the lookout for second-hand economics and physics textbooks. Some of these textbooks belong to the 1980s and are no longer relevant to students today. If you’re very lucky, you may find yourself picking up a classic Penguin series fiction that has seen better days, from a pile of books in a bin.
I am unable to spend more than ten minutes in any of these stores because none of these cater to a niche market of history-loving people or art enthusiasts like Ursus Books in New York City does. I have yet to find a second-hand bookstore in Singapore looking cosy, warm and inviting. Perhaps, Select Books in Tanglin Shopping Centre fit the description, but sadly they don’t stock recycled books. Most second-hand bookstores I have come across in Singapore only stock fiction, manga comics and textbooks.
I would still like to find a good second-hand place in Singapore selling good quality non-fiction books. Until I find one of those in Singapore, where I could spend hours browsing through their holdings, I will settle for online purchases or holiday trips overseas, hoping and praying that I will not be charged for overweight baggage.
Sadly, when you’re purchasing books online, shipping is a killer, especially when you’re shipping hardcover books from the USA, but I thank Dr Gyanesh Kudaisya from the South Asian Studies Department (NUS) for telling me about a Delhi-based bookseller online, from whom I have bought some wonderful books on Indian history and art with reasonable shipping prices. But, online bookstores are not the same as having a physical bookstore near you where you can physically touch and browse these books for yourself before deciding if you would like to purchase a copy. It’s just not the same…
So, am I wrong for feeling that a country’s reading culture can be judged from the number of (good) second-hand bookstores and recycled book-sellers around the island? I know that I am not the only one concerned about the state of second-hand bookshops in Singapore. A/P Maurizio Peleggi asked if we knew of any good second-hand bookstores in Singapore during our cultural history class a couple of semesters ago; Panu, a fellow grad student in the history department and a friend of mine, waxes lyrical about the availability of good, cheap second-hand books in Melbourne around the University campus and laments the lack of a second-hand book culture here.
Singapore needs more decent-sized second-hand bookstores, catering to an audience whose interests vary from history to anthropology to the sciences and the fine arts. The feeling of finding a rare gem of a book, particularly one which is out-of-print that you think you would never ever find, is incredible. I found one hiding in a dusty bottom shelf of an old bookstore in Chennai, India earlier this year, and the feeling is indescribable. Trust me; it’s much better than the taste of truffles filled with Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin!
The writer, an M.A. Candidate with the Dept of History, NUS, is in no way affiliated to any of the websites he lists in this write up. He would also like to be proven wrong that there are no good second-hand bookstores in Singapore, so comments or recommendations on good second-hand bookstores in Singapore selling non-fiction books, should you know of any, are well appreciated. Otherwise, feel free to join in the lament.
[i] T. N. Harper, ‘Globalism and the Pursuit of Authenticity: The Making of a Diasporic Public Sphere in Singapore’ in SOJOURN, Vol. 12, No. 2 (1997), pp. 261-92, p. 265.
Hi Dinesh,
I face the same problems as you too. Do you mind revealing the URL of the Delhi-based book seller?
Well, it’s usually a case of if the supply of such shops are non-existent for very long then some enthusiast will probably round up a few other chaps or lass to do it themselves. This is assuming they are really passionate about it.
It’s a matter of someone starting the ball rolling, preferably with deep pockets too. Organic food stores were in scarce supply ten years ago, it took someone to get it going and from there creating the demand for it, and look at the proliferation of organic food stores now.
Jette, it’s http://www.scholarswithoutborders.in/
I hear you, Dinesh. Glad to have some company on this subject! I’ve lived and studied abroad for almost a decade, and foraging through second-hand bookstores and seeking out amazing books to read has been a favorite pastime. The almost non-existent state of bookstores selling good non-fiction here has always saddened me whenever I return home. I hope your article perks up some ears and gets people to do something about this!