[YahooNewsKwun Tong series reports】Kwun Tong Camel Paint Building is home to over 100 small shops, one of which is a 100-square-foot corner with 5,000 second-hand books hidden, making it the only 24-hour bookstore in the district, “Prejudice Study”. The bookstore has no staff on duty most of the time, and customers pay for books by themselves. From midnight to early morning, it is a small world for insomniac urbanites and retired seniors. There are many political and historical books in the store, including works that have been removed from the shelves of the library and that other bookstores are afraid to sell. Fan Liji, the owner of the store, said that the store has no taboos in choosing books, hoping to fill the gap for the city.
Text reporter: Xie Xinyi
Photojournalist: Davies
Fan Liji, dressed in a neighborhood attire, returned to the store in the evening to sort out the bookshelves, holding two bags of books reserved by customers, including “The Umbrella Political Quartet”, “One Weekly” in 1994, and several June 4-related books. The 50-year-old Fan Liji opened the “Prejudice Study” in 2017, and initially only opened the library warehouse for people to buy on weekends. In November last year, he rented the current site in Kwun Tong, which is open 24 hours a day and only relies on a closed-circuit television to monitor the operation of the shop. After selecting books, guests can pay at the cash box by themselves, with a minimum consumption of 30 yuan per book. Casual Fan said that the change to open 24/7 is just “nothing like the whole thing”, “you can’t turn your microphone, but it’s so far so good.”
The bookstore’s name “Prejudice” was inspired by Eileen Chang’s books “Zhang Kan” and “Rumors”. Fan explained that “Zhang Kan” is “watching”, and it can also be interpreted as “Zhang Ailing’s watching”; “Rumors” can be a matter of gossip or “flowing words”. Fan pointed out that “prejudice” also has various meanings, which can be interpreted as “unluckily I see you here”, “but I met a certain book”, and it can also be extended to “reading helps to eliminate prejudice”.
In this 100-foot-long city that never sleeps, insomniacs stay late into the night, while in the early morning retirees visit from time to time, and there are also office workers in the area who stop by before work starts. Fan pointed out that the cost of running a 24-hour bookstore is relatively low. Only one part-time clerk cleans the bookstore and warehouse every two or three days, and the bookstore can break even following selling 50 books a week.
The bookstore was frequently visited by customers who behaved strangely. They turned the CCTV camera 180 degrees and turned it back before leaving. Afterwards, there were many more vacancies on the bookshelves. When a customer repeated the old trick, a nearby clerk arrived, and the “thief” was immediately frightened. He took out several books from his bag and put a 500-yuan bill into the clerk’s hand, then fled the scene. Although there was an unpleasant experience, Fan Liji said that most of the guests are very self-disciplined, “The most nervous is that there is no one, I am happy when there is someone, and I will feel that it is meaningful to spread this room. There are people who have this demand every night.”
Selling Sensitive Books: Don’t Want to Limit Yourself
He even enjoys the process of collecting second-hand books, like opening gifts, there are always surprises. Some guests donated thousands of books and movie DVDs before immigrating, including Shaw Brothers films in the 1960s and 1970s. “It’s so sharp, of course, it’s uncomfortable and treasures for life.” There are also retired professors who donated a lot of academic books and out-of-print books.
Fan Liji has worked in many bookstores over the years, and noticed that the reading ethos in Hong Kong is declining. However, following the recent political turmoil, young people seem to have regained their interest in reading, especially Hong Kong history and political books. “After the June 4th in China, suddenly many people Open a bookstore… When the political environment changes, people will be encouraged to open a bookstore to read books together. Because you may be confused, you need to read books to solve the confusion.” In recent years, public libraries have repeatedly removed “sensitive” books, Fan said. However, it does the opposite. There is absolutely no taboo in choosing books to be put on the shelves. There are books in the store that have been removed by the library or that other bookstores are afraid to sell. Since there is no express rule that a certain book cannot be sold or published, he does not want to limit himself. He hopes that the store can fill the gap for the city, and at the same time provide readers with a space to enjoy reading, “making this city a little happy.”
Hong Kong Portraits: Chasing the Time Before Death
The biggest reason for choosing Kwun Tong is that Fan Liji is a 50-year-old neighborhood. Not many places have remained unchanged for 50 years. For Fan, the biggest change in Kwun Tong is the reconstruction of Yu Man Square. There is no way to stop the government from rebuilding or developing.”
Which book reminded him of the current situation in Hong Kong? He took out “Chasing Daylight” by Eugene O’Kelly, the former CEO of KPMG in the United States. The book tells the story of an author whose career is in the middle of a sudden terminal illness, and uses only 100 days of life left to write this book to talk regarding reflection on life, and make good use of the last time to benefit readers. He pointed out that the title of the book means chasing the time before death, “To a certain extent, Hong Kong is dying, but we can still have a positive meaning, we can do things, continue to open bookstores, and continue to write.”
【Yahoo News Kwun Tong series of reports, available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday】
