Wan Phing Lim

July 23, 2012

My favourite bookstore in Singapore

There is a place I like to go to on Saturdays, and it’s a little second hand bookstore called Sultana Book Store. It’s located inside Peace Centre on Sophia Road, a walking distance from Dhoby Ghaut MRT station.

I chanced upon it in my first week of Singapore back in April 2011, and have always been back since to find books to add to my collection. There is a great write-up by Gintai on the owner and history of the store, but here I’m going to talk about why I love spending my Saturday afternoons holed up in this place.

As you can see from my pictures, the place is filled to the brim with books. Its floor to ceiling is insulated with paperbacks, magazines, travel guides, comics, self-help books – anything you can imagine. Sultana Book Store specialises in vintage and out-of-print books, so if you’re looking for something out of the ordinary, this is the place to go.

However, going in for a browse is like looking for a needle in a haystack. If you have a specific title in mind, ask the owner Mr Kwok. He is a walking catalogue who can tell if you he has the book, and if he does, knows exactly where it is.

On my last visit on Saturday 21 July 2012, there were so many books that I could hardly manouvre myself, and I am a medium-built Asian female of about 5,4”. One pull at a paperback and I risk being buried under an avalanche – the crumbling piece of a Jenga block, only with lots of dust and pulp.

Even though I’m allergic to dust, I love to spend my Saturdays here because it is my secret hideaway. It is so thrilling to rummage through the chaos, and find that gem of a title I’ve been looking for. For those who eat, breathe and die books, this is a place of refuge.

For me, it is an escape from organised life and forced creativity. Peace Centre as a shopping mall is so different from the shiny modernity of Orchard Road, because it is so old, so dingy but yet so authentic and full of character.

And I cling onto this because I fear they will take it away from me, and from Singapore. There are rumours that this place is closing soon, and it will be a sad day for the book reading world.

Sultana Book Store
1 Sophia Road #02-14 Peace Centre
Tel: 3372387

9 responses to “My favourite bookstore in Singapore”

Cassie

July 23, 2012 at 1:40 am

I love that the outside looks like it’s in a subway shop or a public transport center (and I think it is). However, I love that the inside is cluttered and books are just piled everywhere. I would love to traipse through this bookstore and dig through the piles, but where do you sit to hole up and read! : )
wanphing

August 5, 2012 at 11:46 am

Thanks Cassie, it does look like a subway shop – but it’s actually inside a very old shopping mall. And no, there is no place to sit :)
kel

December 25, 2012 at 1:44 am

I wonder if this is the same as the Sultana bookstore that i frequently go to during the 90’s. At that time it was located at the first floor of Paradiz centre.
wanphing

February 17, 2013 at 3:58 pm

Hey Kel, I’m not sure. I only moved to Singapore two years ago and I discovered this place by chance on my first day! The next time I’m there I’ll ask Mr Kwok if he used to be in Paradiz. Thanks for reading :)
SuperRandomWorld

May 24, 2014 at 1:04 am

[…] this secondhand bookstore called Sultana Bookstore located at Peace Centre on the net (Gintai and An Original Thinker did a great post on it) so I decided to try my luck there. After my visit I just felt the need to […]
Sam_Ngfam

February 2, 2016 at 7:26 pm

That’s my favorite bookstore too! Mr.Kwok is like a mind reader in “bookworm” term. You can just go in and tell him what you’re looking for and he will show you exactly what books you need or want even you has forgotten the titles. I hope it will still be there until my great grandchildren’s generation :)
Roland B. Roper

June 29, 2017 at 11:41 pm

Unable to Email Mr Kwok I am searching for an East Malaysian jungle Air Strip Directory publish by A.I.D.U. Jaric Seletar in 1968/69 used by RMAF and civilian pilots flying in Sarawak Brunei & Sabah.
10 Secondhand Bookstores In Singapore For Bookworms Pre-Loved Reads In Good Condition

August 20, 2019 at 2:45 pm

[…] Image credit: wanphing […]
Anonymous

January 28, 2024 at 4:22 pm

Yes that’s right. It used to be in Paradiz on the first floor at the front. At that time it was owned by a Mr Jamal who was a former Singapore Airlines person I believe, and they had lots of literary books from Britain, mostly overstocks of a shop carried Skoob. Then Paradiz was renovated and Jamal moved to the first level of Peace Centre and focused more on religion, philosophy and alternative therapy style books…Then I believe he got tired of the shop or fell sick or something because one day Mr Kwok had taken over and he added a side interest in martial arts and self-defence type books but kept up the focus on religion. The stacks got progressively unruly and it began to seem like the river of books would edge Mr Kwok out of the shop. I bought many, many interesting books there, mostly on history, science and fiction. Then I began to get a very claustrophobic feel in the shop so I used to visit much less often, maybe once in a few months or so rather than a couple of times a month like before. The shop also began to be closed for longer stretched of time and a few times I visited but it was closed. Then I read on the internet it had shut down.