Even a boring bookseller has to be a bit of a showman.” So says Kenny Chan, a fixture of the Singaporean branch of Books Kinokuniya. For almost two decades, Chan served as the major Japanese chain’s Asia-Pacific senior store and merchandising director. He supposedly retired in 2019, but the seventy-year-old continues to roam the store as a consultant, doing everything from social media to public relations. With this level of devotion to his profession, he’s built a space that has provided many Singaporean readers with cherished memories, turning the bookstore into a beloved cultural institution in its own right.

I meet him at ten in the morning outside Books Kinokuniya’s flagship store in a mall on Singapore’s Orchard Road shopping belt. The shutters aren’t up yet, but a father and son are already waiting outside.

• Tags: Books Kinokuniya, Kenny Chan, Singapore, Toh Ee Ming