My Perfect Weekend with veteran bookseller Kenny Chan

Straits Times

01-05-2025

Who: Veteran bookseller Kenny Chan, 72, was a senior director at Books Kinokuniya. He was with the Japanese-owned bookstore chain for 19 years and retired in 2019.
Mr Chan was in the book business since 1983, after leaving his role as a diplomat, with stints at publishing and retail companies such as Popular, MPH Bookstores and SNP Publishing.
He also contributed to the 2025 book Footprints In Singapore: Meandering Through Memories. The book is the sequel to 2021's Footprint On Foreign Shores, and both books contain stories from those who served as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Foreign Service Officers. Chan's chapter is called Memories Of Queenstown, where he lived from the 1950s to 1990s.
'Ideally, the perfect weekend is when I sit back and do practically nothing, but that is never going to happen.
Instead, what makes a perfect weekend is one where I can balance both relaxing and achieving. Achieving, to me, looks like reconnecting with old friends, reminiscing, piecing together elusive memories and basking in our shared glory days.
Another old friend I'd revisit is a book I've loved. I'd especially like to reread works by English author Michael Moorcock, because I miss his eternal champions like Elric and Corum.
Right now, I'm reading Katabasis by R.F. Kuang, which is, in a nutshell, about a scholar-magician's descent into hell to save her professor, whose death she inadvertently caused through a careless mistake.
Think Dante's Inferno seen through Harry Potter's glasses, set against a fantastical backdrop reminiscent of Piranesi. In cinematic terms, imagine something pulled from Japanese film-maker Akira Kurosawa's archives.
The perfect place to enjoy all this exists only in my dreams, but a nice serviced flat in Johor Bahru with internet access would do just fine. In the evening, I'd take a walk to a nearby watering hole, meet or make new friends, and simply groove to the music.
There are many great spots in Johor Bahru. I particularly like the Permaisuri Zarith Sofiah Opera House as it offers a view of the straits, Singapore and the new bridge connecting the two countries.
A bowl of soup kambing in the backstreets of Johor Bahru after a late night would be the perfect end to a Saturday.
Sunday mornings are usually reserved for a family walk and breakfast at Singapore Botanic Gardens with my granddaughters, twins Lila and Leia, who will turn two in July.
After a forest bath and a spin around Swan Lake, we'd go hunting for prata. Sadly, our favourite spots have shuttered, so we settle for breakfast at McDonald's.
Caught between the rambunctious revelry of my four-generation family – with my mother at 98, my wife Su, my son Zakee, my daughter Nadia, her peerless, long-suffering husband Fahmi and their twins – as well as a yearning for solitude, I believe the perfect weekend lies somewhere in between.'
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