“Books are friends to me. I still recall the other day, I wrote a poem about the bookstore. I had a sentimental moment when I came in, when I touched the edge of the books. So I started writing the poem, in Chinese. In-between the narration of the bookstore, I described it like this: This is yet another day. I take out my keys, putting it in, listening to the sounds of the key, and then I pull the door open. Wow, a whole room full of books awaits me. Waiting for me to touch them on the shoulder. One by one, to say hello to my friends, my dear friends. This is how I see them. Every book is a friend. I do my best to see a friend being here, and being, one day, passed on to someone. Every time I pass a book on to someone, I’m not selling a book to them. I’m flowing a book to them. It is like swimming in a river. The books swim from this side of the river to the other side, happily going to a new home. And my mission, in that part, is fulfilled. One book at a time; it is a kind of joy.
“Books are also like teachers. I like books about the mind, about thinking. I have learned a lot of new wisdom throughout the years. The difference between running a bookstore and not—it’s like going to a famous university. Being in this business, I meet a lot of excellent professors. And they keep coming in. That’s a very miraculous thing; you don’t know how generous people here in Hong Kong can be. They really give you the best books. They truly want to share them with other people.
“It is the same with the visitors as well; they are friends and teachers. I meet a lot of great teachers here.”
