First, an announcement: The Hong Kong Decentral Library Project, which I initiated last May, has officially ceased operations. However, the work of preserving books, magazines, and cultural history will not slow down. On the contrary, I’ll be reallocating resources to support and push forward other projects with similar goals.
The third episode of the Cantonese podcast GM FM is now live on Spotify and Apple Podcast. This episode is particularly worth checking out because… I’m not in it! Instead, it's a conversation between a young man and lady discussing last month’s Black Monday market crash and the emerging prediction market, Polymarket.
And to repeat: The July UBR booklist features 61 titles, selected and displayed by Hunter Bookstore. If you have the means, please visit and purchase a book to support the preservation of Hong Kong literature.
1. I have a knack for impulsive decisions— no plans, no roadmaps. Just last week, amidst a typhoon warning, perhaps influenced by Mercury in retrograde, I impulsively rented a tiny space and decided to open a micro-sized bookstore.
2. The bookstore is named 義守書店. The name reflects our mission: to guard and preserve Hong Kong's culture and history.
3. No need to worry about my living; the bookstore is incredibly tiny. Even if I lose all the rent, I’ll be fine. How small is this micro-sized bookstore? It’s 1,000 times smaller than you might imagine— just a 30cm x 30cm x 30cm cube, with a volume of 0.027 cubic meters. The measuring tape shown in the cover photo is exactly 30cm, which I used to measure the space while arranging the first batch of books.
4. In a past random chat with Hunter Bookstore's manager, Leticia Wong, a fellow "Shatin Pomelo" (those who have lived in Shatin for long), we lamented how Shatin doesn’t even have a single independent bookstore. Having lived in Shatin for half a century, I may not be able to create a bookstore as big as Hunter, but at least 義守書店 in Shek Mun gives Shatin its own independent bookstore.
5. 義守書店 sells both new and used books, and it also offers both physical and NFT ebooks. My initial idea is to slow things down, focusing on selling just one new book at a time. This approach gives me enough time to carefully select, read and properly introduce each recommended new book to readers.
6. As for used books, I will take a more laid-back approach. Books that I buy from other independent bookstores for my personal reading will, after I’ve finished them, be priced and placed on the shelves. I hope these books will find new homes and continue their lives elsewhere. Whether they do or not will depend mainly on the chemistry between the books and potential readers.
7. Don’t underestimate what you can do with 0.027 cubic meters. When it comes to NFT ebooks, the display potential is limitless. All you need is a QR code, and with a quick scan, readers can buy the books using a credit card. This aspect will take some time to design and implement. I plan to start with physical books first and add NFT ebooks later, which will be another experiment in decentralized publishing.
8. Friends in Hong Kong might be wondering: if the bookstore is called “義守”/ji6 sau2/(pronounced similarly as"second-hand"/yi6 sau2/) , why does it sell new books? Well, here’s the twist— if you pronounce the name in Mandarin, it actually sounds like "first-hand"/yīshǒu/. This story teaches us to consider things from others' perspectives, not just our own.
9. The “zeroth” book recommendation from 義守書店, naturally, is the signed edition of The Sociology of Blockchain: Reimagining Money, Media, and Democracy. As for the first book, I already have something in mind, but allow me to keep it a secret for now.
10. To sell books, even a digital introvert like me will have to make an appearance on social media. I’m even considering jumping onto Threads, despite being somewhat out of my comfort zone age-wise. They say rambling is the secret to gaining traction on Threads; let's see how my rambling performs. Stay tuned!
義守書店 officially opens on Thursday, September 12, 2024.
Address: Shop 172, 1/F, Kings Wing Plaza 1, Shek Mun, Sha Tin
Business Hours: Monday to Sunday, 13:00-21:00
p.s. A reader responded to last week's newsletter and pointed out that I missed the statement from Winnie Yu Wai Ming in the 47-person case. While my focus was on sharing the developments of the past two weeks, I still feel quite embarrassed about the oversight. So here it is: Winnie Yu said, "To this day, I still believe there is nothing wrong with attempting to change the established order through voting in the Legislative Council. Perhaps my only mistake was loving Hong Kong too much."
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