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Jamilah Lim
visits Silverfish Books to have a chat with owner and all round book and
knowledge lover, Raman Krishnan, to catch up on Silverfish Books and to lament the
dying love and appreciation of thewrittenword amongstMalaysians.
50 | FireFlyz
Flipping
Pages
for Malaysian Writing
S
ilverfish
Books was
partly borne out of one
man’s exasperation with
his engineering career as
well as dissatisfaction
with the unavailability
of good titles in Malay-
sia. Books then were difficult to come by,
what more niche English titles? Eventu-
ally, and almost logically, Raman found
himself setting up shop in cosy Desa Sri
Hartamas, stocking books that have been
lovingly and painstakingly curated so that
other literature-starved readers had a local
go-to man to talk, debate and enjoy good
books with.
Going local
Due to the influx of mega bookstores at
the turn of the millennium, Silverfish had
serious competition. Going local was a
plausible choice, but Raman’s collection
of Malaysian works was at best, paltry.
Nevertheless, he solicited entries for the
anthology, Silverfish New Writing 1, in
2000. Astonishingly, he received 250
replies within the first month. Clearly,
Malaysians had quite a lot to say.
However, if a cursory view of the
writing and reading scene in Malaysia, as
well as uninspiring sales of English books
are anything to go by, it can be reasoned
that there is not much of a local market
for reading – perhaps in part due to a
lack of interest as well as its perceived
unaffordability.
If only more people were
cognizant of Malaysian literary
talent
That the Malaysian writing scene is
talentless is a grievous misconception.
In fact, we have Malaysian writers
who have gone on to achieve levels of
unprecedented fame - Tash Aw, Tan Twan
Eng and Shih-Li Kow come to mind. It is
just that the Malaysian community is not
reading enough, and that hurts, in terms
of knowledge, outlook, creativity and
not to mention, the market for Malaysian
writers and publishers.
Malaysians can be quite a creative
bunch. Rozlan Mohd Noor, for one,
authors the refreshing, liberal and
hilarious three-book series about the
maverick Malaysian cop, Inspector
Mislan and his adventures that traverse
Silverf ish Books
28-1 Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru
59100Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
(603) 2284 4837
Opening hours:
Monday to Friday: 10.30a.m. to
8.30p.m.
Saturday: 10.30a.m. to 6p.m.
Publicholidays: 10.30a.m. to6.30p.m.
Sunday and major public holidays:
Closed
A Sliver of Hope