The Land of Words & Coffee

“Jaya Jusco is opening in Seremban this Saturday,” my dad told me when I called him a few days back.

“Cool.”

You have to live in Seremban to understand my nonchalance. Of the town’s two main malls, one has kapchai-kutus adorning its front steps and the other boasts of a variety that could only please Mowgli and gang. I’m sorry but Mid Valley and I Utama have spoiled me rotten.

“It’s got more than a hundred shops,” my dad went on. “Including MPH and Starbucks.”

My whooping would have made any Red Indian proud. I’ve always lamented the fate of book and coffee lovers in Seremban. When I was a student, I depended on the only decent bookstore SBL to satisfy my literary palate. I spent hours there reading the Sweet Valley High books my father refused to buy. Then SBL closed down and the other bookstores stocked more revision books than anything else. Those were dismal times. But finally, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

My father used to make monthly pilgrimages to Kinokuniya and MPH for his literary fix. He could have always given me his book list, but no true book lover would willingly forego the delightful opportunity to lose themselves for hours among shelves of classics and bestsellers. Nothing pleased him more than splurging on a huge bag of books. Now that pleasure is only a 15-minute drive away.

The absence of a good bookstore in Seremban also contradicted efforts to create a reading culture in Malaysia. If you want people to read, you have to bring the books to their doorstep. It’s as simple as that and the ‘great minds’ have finally realised it.

As for Starbucks, nothing makes a reading experience better than a tall latte.

Today good books and good coffee came to Seremban. And with it, a brand new future.