TEXTBOOKS TO SUCCESS

By : SHALINA ROSENI                  Pictures : OLIVER MAJAHAM

FOR LEE Kok Kiang, 45, K of course stands for knowledge. And he has got much success from it. It’s also an initial of his name as well as his 3m-ringgit ($950,000) bookshop.

Together with three of his friends, Lee set up K Bookstore (KK) Sendirian Berhad at Bundusan Square to bring school textbooks to the doorsteps of 140,000 people in Penampang. And this has made Deputy Chief Minister Dr Yee Moh Chai happy as he opened it on June 30. He is confident that the bookshop will prove to be a boon to pupils in 111 schools in Penampang and Kota Kinabalu.

The bookshop crowns Johor-born Lee’s business success. He came to Sabah from Kuala Lumpur as a textbook salesman 20 years ago.

“I realized that Sabah was short of school books and I saw a lot of children in the outskirts who had difficulties in getting books,” he said. “They gave me ideas to set up my own business to bring school books to them at competitive prices.”

Lee opened his first K Bookstore in Tawau shortly after setting foot in Sabah. The Kota Kinabalu branch is a venture with his partners Jacky Tsui, Chong Nyen Kee and Chong Nyen Fui. The shop occupies two floors of four shops with more than 465 square metres (5,000 square feet) of floor space.

It is well stocked with kindergarten, primary and secondary school textbooks. It also sells stationery, musical instruments and sports equipment.

“Teachers and pupils no longer need to travel great distances just to buy a few books and stationery,” Lee said. “This saves them time which they can use for something else.”

The bookshop also offers newspaper and magazine subscriptions, photocopying, book-binding and fax services. It has a loyalty programme through which, for a one-time fee of 20 ringgit, a customer enjoy a 10% discount on selected books and stationery. (Insight Sabah)