晴耕雨读 Shiawase Books
We are an independent book shop selling Mandarin books, but if you have problem with the Chinese characters, Shiawase Books works too.
In Singapore, English is our official administrative language. English is the language we are taught in school and the language we use at work and for the most part the language we use in our daily lives. In addition to English, every Singaporean child also needs to learn a mother tongue language in school. For those of us who identify as ethnic Chinese, we learn Mandarin. But because we seldom use Mandarin in our lives, we are not that great at it. Hence, this bookshop exists to solve this problem - to help Singaporeans whose mother tongue is Mandarin find their next favourite reads.
The Chinese characters of the book shop’s name literally means Sunny Toil Rain Read - which is what I hope my customers will do: Work when there’s sunshine and read on rainy days (and eventually read, any time).
Shiawase (shee-ah-waa-seh) derives from the Japanese word that loosely translates to happiness. Shiawase Books just sounds better than Happiness Books I guess? =)
I believe in the power of stories; and I hope everyone finds their happy place when they read. Writing, is just another way to articulate the slow, analogue lifestyle that we hope to embrace at the book shop.
A bookshop that sells only Mandarin books has readers who will write letters in English might sound strange in so many ways, but it authentically reflects on how diverse Singapore culture is, and really highlights how we grapple with different languages in our lives. Also, fun fact, Singaporeans love to travel - perhaps because we hold the world’s most powerful passport (is true!) that allows us to travel visa free or visa-on-arrival to 192 out of 227 destinations. I am sure our customers will enjoy writing to friends from all over the world as it gives us another way to explore the world, especially on days when we are unable cure our travel bug and when we are “stuck” on our sunny island.
=)
Send your introductory letter here:
晴耕雨读 by Shiawase Books
#02-07
Balestier Plaza
Singapore 329802
