HK gets first book-guide mag

Ryan Lai Lok-man

Hong Kong people are always said to have poor reading habits. They like to read magazines, but mainly the saucy types which gossip about celebrities, according to a recent survey. Amid such a trend, would launching a magazine that talks mainly about books be deemed a failure? An “upstairs book store” in Causeway Bay has introduced “Eslite Reader”, a monthly magazine published by Eslite, a popular bookchain in Taiwan. Considered to be the “Mecca” for booklovers, the flagship store of Eslite in Taipei accommodates “pilgrims” 24 hours a day. Its publication, Eslite Reader, has published 62 issues since 2000. With authoritative book reviews and ranking, it serves as an important directory for readers. Despite its popularity in Taiwan, however it remained to be seen if it would whip up a similar cult in Hong Kong. A joint survey done by The China Times Newspaper of Taiwan and Hong Kong’s Ming Pao last year on the reading habits of students in Taipei, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai found that local students ranked the lowest in terms of volume and variety of books they read. Result from reading survey conducted by RTHK, also showed the preferences of local people were limited to popular magazines, comics, newspapers and textbooks. But James Chong, owner of Mackie Study, believed he has made the right decision to introduce the publication to readers in Hong Kong. “I don’t expect there would be a lot of book stores which would order Eslite Reader from us, but we would make it as many as possible,” he said. As a regular subscriber of the publication, Chong hoped more Hong Kong people could share his joy of reading the magazine. He started selling Eslite Reader in his own shop last May and Mackie Study has now become the sole agent in the territory. Bigger store chains here have since been ordering Eslite Reader from Chong, although often they would not give the magazine conspicuous display. Chong remained optimistic still. “I know it’s rare to find an Eslite Reader in Hong Kong but I hope more people would expose to it,” Chong said.

Edited by Michelle Chan Kin-ying