The Malaysian Insight

FOREIGN trends come and go. And apart from American and British pop culture, few other nations have commanded attention from Malaysians such as the Japanese.

While the music scene, which was once dominated by the likes of Shojo Tai, Shonen Tai or Momoe Yamaguchi have since been replaced by their Korean counterparts EXO or Bangtan Boys, Japanese comics continue to dominate in Malaysia.

Talk to any Malaysian today and chances are they would have grown up following Sailor Moon, Crayon Sin-chan or Ultraman.

Nevertheless, few have managed to grip them more than a blue-coloured cat sent back in time to help the young Nobita Nobi cope with his studies and constant bullying.

But that will come to an end on May 31 as Doraemon bids sayonara to Malaysia.

At the Tora Aman office in Puchong’s Bandar Kinrara industrial centre, the lines of people grew by the hour. By lunch time, people ranging from their mid-20s to late 30s, including some in office wear, came for their last copies of Doraemon.

The company, which publishes manga translated from the Japanese to Chinese and Malay, announced on its Facebook page that it was closing, resulting in the long queues on Tuesday. Manga reader Noraini Abdul Rahman, 28, from Kedah, said she stopped by to buy Doraemon comic books in bulk, as she was in town to attend a class.

The Masters in Information Management student said she was sad to hear Tora Aman – one of the main manga publishers in the country – was shutting down, although it was not something new. 

“We get a lot of reading materials online these days, but I like the printed version. You have to buy the printed ones,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

At RM5.90, Doraemon too costly

Tora Aman owner John Baptist Chong Kok Ah said the decision to close the company was not because he ran out of money, but because there were too many websites offering comics for free. The business was no longer profitable, he said, adding that it had been “killing” his business for the past decade.

Chong said the 6% goods and services tax (GST) since April 1 two years ago did not help the situation. “Sales started to drop by 70% due to the economic crisis in 2007. After the GST was enforced, it went down to 90%.

“Children’s books are not affected by the GST but there is an indirect impact. People have started to watch every sen they spend. Their disposable income has been shrinking since. Comics used to cost RM3.50 each in 1993. The following year, the price was revised to RM4.90, although it still did not profit publishers.”

The last price was at RM5.90, which Chong thought was too much for low-income families. 

“Not at that price (RM5.90). We had to make sure even poor families can afford the comics and let their children enjoy the stories. 

“It is for them. Doraemon is a gift from heaven.”

For as long as they could absorb it, Chong said Tora Aman kept the price low but they eventually gave in when costs went up. 

Now with a plunging ringgit, he said he could no longer continue the business and make money. Chong said he did not make the call rashly, as the copyright did not belong to him and he had no access to online publishing.

“I have to get approval from Japan before I can do anything.”

Bringing Doraemon to Malaysia

What made Doraemon more fascinating than others is not that it was a futuristic tale of a robot cat sent back to help its owner, but that it was widely available in the national language.

According to Chong, he realised that local Chinese students enjoyed reading about the robot cat’s adventures. The manga series is written and illustrated by Fujiko F Fujio.

The early copies of the Doraemon comic were pirated, brought in from Hong Kong and Taiwan at the time, he said.

“I thought the comic would be popular with Malays, too, if I can get it translated. I thought I should try and meet the author,” said Chong who majored in Bahasa Malaysia and Sociology in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

“A friend told me the author was Japanese and that even in Japan, I would not get to deal with the Doraemon publisher directly. I had to go through the agent.

“But I was very lucky because my friend knew the agent, Akira Hashima,” he said, adding that he maintains good relations with the agent until today. Chong recounted how tough it was to earn the Japanese’s trust, but his perseverance paid off when he obtained the licence to translate the Doraemon series and print it in Malaysia.

“I had nothing with me in 1993. Just some samples of my published work. It was fortunate that they agreed,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Bridging the language gap

Chong started his publishing business in 1993 with a Chinese newspaper. He then ventured into publishing comic books. Among the early works he published were Western titles like Garfield, Fido Dido and Snoopy.

Most comics in the market then had broken grammar or mixed with other languages (bahasa pasar and bahasa rojak), but Chong took extra care with the language quality when he translated Doraemon into Malay. He said he felt strongly about publishing books in the Malay language for children and youth.

“Doraemon became the bridge between the different races. The story is both universal and oriental. The robot cat and his human friends became part of Malaysians for the last 20 to 30 years.”

Apart from Doraemon, other translated Japanese titles published by Tora Aman are Detective Conan, Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO) and Captain Tsubasa.

Chong said Tora Aman, which would be bidding its readers “sayonara” (goodbye) on May 31, could not have come so far without the children who grew up reading the comics. “We held on this long and lived well because of all your support,” he said.

Chong also said he felt moved that he managed to attract Malay readers all these years, being a Chinese. 

The man – who never gave an interview throughout his publishing career, choosing to remain an “invisible hand” all these while – said others would give their support if people just did their best.

“For a Chinese to be able to gain the interest of Malay readers, I feel moved. The Malays may find this hard to accept unless you can show them. I believe that if you do your best, the people will support you.

“This is also because in Malaysia, we have a culture of loving and caring for one other, among the different races.” – April 13, 2017.