Books in Malaysian language in Kuala Lumpur

Upvote:2

The range of books available in the Malaysian language is quite restricted. Probably because people wanting to read beyond a certain level can and do read in a world language such as English or Chinese.

Books in Malaysian seem to fall into categories such as Religion, Children's, language study, local paperbacks, etc.

I was actually looking for world literature in Malaysian translation. I'm sure there's some of this in existence, but it must be very little since I did not see a single world author in Malaysian translation in any bookshop. I did see plenty of them in English.

Upvote:2

The reason why foreign books are seldom translated is simply that in Malaysia majority of book readers speak English very well. But there are books in Malaysian (Bahasa Malaysia) as well.

You can buy books in Bahasa Malaysia in every large bookstore including Kinokuniya, simply ask the staff. But your best bet is to visit MPH bookstore. They have by far the largest collection of local literature. You can find MPH in some shopping malls including the new mall near KL Sentral train station. There is one at Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (BTS-TBS), the newest and biggest bus terminal in KL. For more locations check the official page.

Other locations where you can buy books are KL Sentral 1st level, where you can often find a temporary book market. These are often found in some smaller malls as well. Most of the stations will have convenient stores that sell cheap Romance literature.

Source: I lived four years in Malaysia and can speak survival BM.

Upvote:4

Kinokuniya (I think in KLCC but it might have been Pavilion Mall on Bukit Bintang) has books in Malaysian.

In Utama Mall (aka 1 Utama) there is a bookstore named "Popular". It has books in Malaysian too. It seemed a bit larger than Kinokuniya.

The language of higher learning in Malaysia is English, it's required in the public schools and unites the three cultures. Consequently, it's easier to find books in English than in Malaysian or Tamil.

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