A Bernama report
says: “Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today launched the
first 1Malaysia Bookstore at the Kuala Lumpur Urban Transformation
Centre (UTC) Building, the renamed Pudu Sentral, here.“The shop is the flagship store, several branches of which will be opened throughout the country, including in Sabah and Sarawak.”
It was a surprisingly low key announcement after all that fanfare leading up to it. Although, we have been expecting it for a while, and many unanswered questions remain. The report in the (print version) of The New Straits Times only mentioned it ‘by-the-way’: “It also houses the Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia, 1Malaysia Textile shop and the new 1Malaysia Bookshop, which was launched yesterday.” Readers specialising in in-between-the-lines messages must be having a field day.
According to market talk, this is a joint-venture between ITBM (The Malaysian Institution for Translation and Books) and MPH, a well-known local chain, with the participation of several other local distributors, who appear to have been called up for national duty. Rumours also say that books will be sold at 15% below market price, which brings up two questions.
First, book margins are notoriously small; so how is this 1Malaysia bookstore supposed to make money, when Pudu Sentral is one of the least favourite places for city dwellers -- one to pass through quickly, not to hang-out in. If run on a pure commercial basis, the overheads will eat up any profit made (never mind the leakages). It’s entirely possible that a long-term sweetheart deal on rentals has been negotiated with the the developers of Urban Transformation Centre (UTC). However, one industry source speculates that they’ll make money ‘some other way’, and that will be the return for their national duty.
The Bernama report’s last paragraph gives a hint: “Besides books, the shop also supplies school and library stocks.” So, is the 1Malaysia bookshop about to monopolise library and school-supply market? Well, the rest of us in the book trade who have grown up in a decidedly dua Malaysia economy for decades, without expecting anything from the government (except for the occasional crumb through sales by third party vendors), are not shaking with outrage (although we should be), but it remains to be seen how those who have been surviving on this largess, will react.
(It would easy to make money if the government bought everything one published, no matter what quality, and bought all its supplies at a premium, too. It’s a no brainer. But a business is about making ends meet on a level playing field.)
Second, stories are circulating that in future Bauchar Buku 1Malaysia issued to students will be redeemable only at these stores. This will certainly affect many more traders than the first, with far more people will be pissed off. One understands how this whole 1Malaysia bookshop thing is really all about politics; but is it good politics? (Many friends, more cynical than me, do not expect the 1Malaysia bookshop to survive long after the next GE, but let’s see.)
Still, the core question is: why is the government, yet again, competing with the private sector? First, Dewan Bahasa started publishing books (though they didn’t seem interested in selling any). Then, ITNM (funded by the government, but claiming to be private) became ITBM (although they started publishing before that.) More recently, one hears of Kotabuku (the Book City) going ‘commercial’; that is, competing directly with private publishers whilst having salaries and perks paid by the government.
Yes, the Malaysian book industry is budding, but it’s not exactly thriving, not by any stretch of imagination. We are just picking ourselves up after the collapse of the global ‘mega bookstore’ madness. So, while we do not expect handouts, we would appreciate if the government did not give us the ‘pasang kaki’ either.
The government’s job is policy and governance, not business. Stick to it, and do it well. Don’t meddle in business; your track record is not good.
