From supermarket to superlibrary

"Wah, Sgeans really so fond of reading meh?", I thought when I saw the news last week.

From: http://news.omy.sg/News/Local%2BNews/Story/OMYStory201103120403-228860.html

实龙岗图书馆开幕　公众为抢书发生推挤

多看书可增进知识，还能提升修养，但借书时如果也能顾及其他读者的感受，相信能进一步提高读书乐趣。

实龙岗第一间大型公共图书馆昨天正式开幕，附近居民再也无需跑到宏茂桥或碧山公共图书馆借书。图书馆第一天开放应该是一件快乐的事，但是门才敞开几分钟，就有人因为抢书而发生推挤，过程中还有读者被踩伤。

设在实龙岗nex商场四楼屋顶的图书馆，昨天早上11时正式开放，排在最前面的十多名女公众抢先冲进去，图书馆人员要求公众有序进入，但她们进门后就直奔中文小说区。

人潮迅速涌入，中文小说区很快挤满了人，不少人看也不看就把架子上的数十本言情小说扫入购物袋里，有好些则用上巴刹买菜的手推车装载。过程中，有人被挤到架子边上，有人高喊“不要推！”。

图书馆借书给公众，就是为了要同大家分享知识和读书乐趣，但一些读者自私地霸占书籍，并以书本为“交换筹码”。

据记者观察，中文小说区内有大约20名妇女拿着大包小包的书籍，平均每个人有20多本书，但不是每一本都会被借走。

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Then I realised it only applies to a small group of people. Basically those kiasu aunties (and probably uncles too), who love reading Chinese novels. So typical of housewives who have a lot of time to read at home. Some even brought their shopping baskets and trolleys. Supermarket ah?!

Sad that such kiasu-ism has even spread to the library. But for a country that doesn't have a strong reading culture, it might be comforting in a sense.

Maybe I can understand their intentions a little. Who likes to read a yellowish, stinky, dusty book with torn pages and broken spines? Who knows how much germs have accumulated over the years while passing through the hands of many. Reading a new book and flipping its clean and fragrant pages feels good. After reading is done, just throw it back to the library. Just like buying a new house/car and selling it off second-hand.

Can't imagine if such phenomenon occurs at the English novel section. My impression of those who read English novels are more civilized and less uncouth. Oops...haha.

(Mango, you can probably use this for your test. Something that students might be able to relate to. Though I doubt it will spur their interest in reading Chinese books haha.)