langkawi magazine
To Do SECTION
Old and Rare Books in Langkawi
Nestled among tall trees at the foot of Gunung Raya with a waterfall and gentle flowing stream nearby, it is possible to find texts of more than a century old. We are talking about the Langkawi Book Village.
Being the only book village in Southeast Asia, it is also part of the international book village and book town movement. Other notable book villages and book towns include Hay-on-Wye (Wales), Redu Village du Livre (Belgium), Bredevoort Boekenstad (Holland), Becherel and Montolieu Fontenoy-la-Joute (all France), Kembuchi Hokaido (Japan), St Pierre-de-Clages (Switzerland), Fjaerland (Norway) and Stillwater Minnesota (US). There are currently 60,000 books in the Langkawi village. The goal is to have one million.
Ten buildings make up the book village but currently only six shops selling religious, magazines, languages, children books and the Popular book store are in operation due to the economic slowdown. Book selections are extensive ranging from tomes on Islam and Arabic literature, sports, travel and gender studies to books on Europe and European studies and Asian Languages. These include new, second-hand, remainder, rare and antiquarian books and prices start from RM2.
Book village manager Ahmad Zaki Ahmad says, "The rare books corner is my favourite. I can spend hours reading books up to 100 years old. It is interesting to note that some publications as early as in 1932 still show colour prints which are clear and vibrant. "There are more than 500 rare books in the corner and some are considered priceless antiques. This place is very popular with foreign tourists but, sadly, not so with locals.
"The rare books available include The Ancient Khmer Empire by Lawrence Palmer Briggs, The Real Malay by Sir F.A. Swettenham, Malay-English dictionary (Romanised) by R.J.Wilkinson, Malay Sketches by Frank Athelstane Swettenham, The Tiger of Trengganu by Lt-Col A. Locke, On jungle Trails by Frank Buck, Sacrilege in Malaya by Pierre Boulle, and A Dictionary of Malayan Medicine by John D. Gimlette.
Adjourn to the foot of the book village and you will be able to access the Lubuk Semilang recreational park for a dip in the cool stream or simply laze around in the gazebos or on one of the broad benches. This is also a great place to have a picnic.Being lulled by the soothing sounds of a running stream, children's laughter and the cool breeze make a wonderful respite. The Langkawi book village is a Kedah project and getting there from the Langkawi International Airport is a mere 10-minute drive. It is 15 minutes from the ferry terminal. Opening hours are 9.30am to 5.30pm daily.
Langkawi 22/03/2002
