Ana Book Store Explained

The Ana Book Store is a second-hand bookstore in stall 1, floor 5 of Far East Plaza, 14 Scots Road, Singapore. The store is owned by a 70-year-old Bengali man named Mohammad Noorul Islam. It is the last second-hand bookstore in Orchard Road.[1] [2] [3] [4] The name, Ana, came from the owner's mother, Sultana.

History

The original store, known as the Modern Book Store, was founded in 1939 by M. Mohammad Aksir, who came from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1938. He set up the store on Singapore’s Bras Basah Road. In 1978, M. Mohammad Aksir and his father died, leaving Aksir's son, Mohammad Noorul Islam, to run the store. Noorul Islam later changed the bookstore's name to the Ana Book Store. In 1993, when the building housing the original shop was destroyed, the store was moved to Far East Plaza. Customers called Noorul Islam the "Mr Bean of Singapore", something that local newspapers caught on to, providing more publicity for the shop.[5] [6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: This 70-year-old S'porean runs the last 2nd-hand bookstore in Orchard Rd, ministers & judges among customers . 2024-06-28 . mothership.sg . en.
  2. Web site: Team . The Must Share News . 2019-08-15 . Ana Book Store Sells Secondhand Books Below $10; Elderly Man Runs It Alone At Far East Plaza . 2024-06-28 . Must Share News - Independent News For Singaporeans . en-GB.
  3. Web site: 2022-04-13 . 30-year-old secondhand book store survives against the odds . 2024-06-29 . The Business Times . en.
  4. News: Correspondent . Toh Wen LiArts . 2022-04-23 . A tale of two bookstores: Born in a bookshop, he keeps it going today . 2024-06-29 . The Straits Times . en . 0585-3923.
  5. The Secondhand Book Seller On The Red Dot . 2017-10-24 . 2024-06-29 . YouTube.
  6. News: Boon Lai . Hali . 1997-11-03 . eresources.nlb.gov.sg . 2024-06-29 . . 4.