The Book Cartel of Malaysia!!!

..and the goverment is questioning why the reading habits in this country is so low! Accessibility! If one selling a book with easily 50% margin, do not expect many can easily fork out their doh to purchase a rm100 book in any month.

Thanks to "Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows", we Malaysian, can finally know the truth that there really is a pact (secret) among some bookshop chains to fix the price of a book sold here. No wonder all the paperback book cost about the same (the last time i checked) ie rm35. Bloody expensive is you ask any avid readers. How many can we afford to buy in any month?

So, who is the book cartel of Malaysia? It is MPH, Popular Bookstore, Times & Harris. They have all agreed to sell HP7 at rm109.90, the so-called recommended retail price (RRP). More like the recommended ripoff price to me! Tesco & Carrefour (thank goodness for budget business), selling at only rm69.90 and that's a rm40 difference! (36.39% discount). Can i safely deduce that the margin for these book cartels is easily 50%? And that's a very bloody good business one must admit. (no wonder they can AFFORD not to sell HP7 at the very last minute).

As a serious but poor (no $) reader, one can't blame me if my favourite place to buy books are flea markets that sell second-hand books at dirt-cheap price.

Nevertheless, i do support independent bookstore such as Silverfish & Skoob for their specialization in certain ranges of reading subjects. They are easily better than Arkib Negara and that wasted library along Jln Tun Kazarazak.

http://www.silverfishbooks.com/2007/07/in-malaysia-harry-potter-shit-hits-fan.html

Nostradamus is nothing.

About more than 300 years before Nostradamus was borned (14th december 1503), there was a prophet-king from the eastern world of Kediri Kingdom in the island of Bali and his name is Jayabaya (1135 - 1157). He was predicting what i believe was motor vehicle (verse 1), planes (verse 3), dams (verse 4), internet (verse 5) and even sea-water rising (verse 7).

Serat Jayabaya
Syair Jayabaya
Jayabaya’s Words

Besuk yen wis ana kreta tanpa jaran.
Kelak jika sudah ada kereta tanpa kuda.
One day there will be a cart without a horse.

Tanah Jawa kalungan wesi.
Tanah Jawa berkalung besi.
The island of Java will wear a necklace of iron.

Prahu mlaku ing dhuwur awang-awang.
Perahu berlayar di ruang angkasa.
There will be a boat flying in the sky.

Kali ilang kedhunge.
Sungai kehilangan lubuk.
The river will loose its current.

Pasar ilang kumandhang.
Pasar kehilangan suara.
There will be markets without crowds.

Iku tandha yen tekane jaman Jayabaya wis cedhak.
Itulah pertanda jaman Jayabaya telah mendekat.
These are the signs that the Jayabaya era is coming.

Bumi saya suwe saya mengkeret.
Bumi semakin lama semakin mengerut.
The earth will shrink.

Sekilan bumi dipajeki.
Sejengkal tanah dikenai pajak.
Every inch of land will be taxed.

Jaran doyan mangan sambel.
Kuda suka makan sambal.
Horses will devour chili sauce.

Wong wadon nganggo pakeyan lanang.
Orang perempuan berpakaian lelaki.
Women will dress in men’s clothes.

To read more, check out http://www.xs4all.nl/~badjasur/kreasi/no3/jayabayano3.htm