Come and get your dose from this indie book store
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IN an old pre-Merdeka building in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, runs a small and tidy local independent bookstore with more than 1,000 titles of secondhand books.
Tintabudi is not your average bookstore. Established in July 2016, it provides various genres of reading materials including philosophy, history, poems and literature.
The founder, Abdul Nazir Harith Fadzilah, 31, said his store has become a hub for book collectors to buy and sell rare books.
“It is not just a commodity or a business tool, it is a hub that connects and contributes to society.
“In this bookstore, there are sections for philosophy, history, economy, arts, religion. There are also novels, literature and poems.
“We have books that are decades old. Maybe the market for it is small but they exist here and, thank god, the community is getting bigger,” said Nazir in an exclusive interview for The Malaysian Insight’s Inspirasiku series.
There are many history books sold here, such as 10 Tahun Umno published by Daud Press in 1957, a collection of articles of the Malay rights party’s struggles.
There are also philosophical books such as The Idea of a University by theologian John Henry Newman, originally published in 1852.
Born in Batu Gajah, Perak, Nazir said his bookstore is still able to operate despite being located in the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur.
“With some sales offline and online, we are able to pay up the operational costs. Many come here on weekends.
“Sometimes we are open on public holidays,” he said.
Nazir hopes that his bookstore will continue to provide and add more rare collectible books in the near future.
“We hope we can offer more and we hope book lovers can know more about my store because I feel that my market is still small, so many bookworms are still in the dark about this place.
“We are identifying these people. We are trying to add more humanitarian related subjects as there are not many in popular bookstore,” said Nazir.
Nazir said society will have a more open mind better critical thinking by reading. – August 25, 2019.