MPH Group Malaysia Sdn Bhd is a

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n group of companies best known for its book

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...

ing and online retailing services as well as being involved in the printing, publishing and distribution of books and library services in Malaysia and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. Its

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...

chain, ''MPH Bookstores Sdn Bhd'', headquartered in

Petaling Jaya ) , website = , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''From top, left to right:Skyline of Petaling Jaya, the 1 Utama Mall integrated with Bandar Utama Station, the Kota Darul Ehsan arch, the Petaling J ...

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

, has been among the largest in Malaysia after

Popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

. In 2020 MPH closed many of its bookstores in Malaysia and Singapore and concentrated its efforts on selling books via its online bookstore.Melissa Chan
"End Of A Chapter: Why MPH Bookstores Is Closing Its Last Two Outlets In S'pore"
vulcanpost.com. Retrieved 3 April 2022.R. Loheswar
"Readers reminisce as two MPH bookstores in Klang Valley close on June 6, others may follow suit"
''

Malay Mail The ''Malay Mail'' is a newspaper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, first published on 1 December 1896 when Kuala Lumpur was the capital of the then new Federated Malay States, making it the first daily newspaper to appear in the FMS. As of May 2014, ...

'', 3 June 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2022.Nur Haziqah A. Malek
MPH bookstores turn online for better customer's experience
themalaysianreserve.com. 4 June 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2022.Michael Arnold
Malaysian bookstore chain MPH culling stores in shift online
insideretail.asia. Retrieved 3 April 2022.

History

Captain W.G. Shellabear is recognized as the founder of MPH. In 1890, he established the ''Amelia Bishop Press'' in

, publishing

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

literature. The company eventually began publishing secular works as well, changing its name to the ''American Mission Press'' in 1893. In the 1900s, Rev. William T. Cherry expanded the organization's activities to printing, publishing, bookselling, and book distribution. He changed the company's name to ''Methodist Publishing House'' in 1906, giving rise to the acronym 'MPH', as the company is known today. Beginning in 1906 the firm published the Malay Literature Series. The administration and editor's office of the Methodist Publishing House was located in a two storey Edwardian style building at the corner of

Stamford Road Stamford Road (Chinese: 史丹福路; ms, Jalan Stamford) is a one-way road in Singapore within the planning areas of Downtown Core and Museum. The road continues after the traffic light junction of Nicoll Highway, Esplanade Drive and Raffles ...

and Armenian Street in Singapore. Constructed in 1907-08, the building housed a printing press and also served for decades as an MPH bookstore."MPH Building" (entry) in: Wan Meng Hao and Jacqueline Lau,
Heritage Places of Singapore
', Singapore: Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited, 2009, pages 85-87. Retrieved 3 April 2022.Vernon Cornelius

National Library Board (Singapore), eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 3 April 2022. MPH changed its name in 1927 to the ''Malaya Publishing House'' and in 1963 it was renamed as the ''Malaysia Publishing House'', but throughout the acronym MPH remained. The company also changed ownership multiple times, being acquired by an

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

n consortium in 1966, then a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

group, Jack Chia-MPH, in 1972 and finally by Singaporean entrepreneur Simon Cheong in 1999. In 2002, Jalinan Inspirasi Sdn Bhd, acquired the company. This was the first time MPH became a wholly Malaysian-owned company.

Bookstores

In early 2019 MPH had 29 bookstores in Malaysia and three in Singapore. It had a heavy presence in the

Klang Valley Klang Valley ( ms, Lembah Klang; zh, 巴生谷; ) is an urban conglomeration in Malaysia that is centered in the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and includes its adjoining cities and towns in the state of Selangor. It is con ...

, operating in major shopping outlets including Mid Valley. Its bookstores in Singapore were located at Raffles City, Parkway Parade, and in the SingPost Centre in

Paya Lebar Paya Lebar is a planning area located in the East Region of Singapore, bordered by Hougang to the west, Sengkang to the northwest, Tampines to the east, Bedok to the south and Pasir Ris to the north. As part of the Singapore Urban Redevelopment ...

. Following a partial lockdown from the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and several social media posts alleging the closure of nine MPH stores nationwide including four in the

, MPH staff members confirmed that their outlet in

Subang Parade Subang Parade is a shopping mall located in Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. The building has over 200 stores at a space of approximately distributed in three floors. It is located just off the Malaysian Federal Highway, and is within walking d ...

would be closing on 6 June 2020. Following the online speculation, in June 2020 the MPH Group CEO Donald Kee issued a statement outlining "its strategy as a transition into a more e-commerce-focused retail format, consolidating non-performing stores and pooling resources for a digital-business push", as well as deploying "high-tech vending machines placed in strategic locations", and launching a "social interactive e-learning platform". He added that the firm would "maintain its key physical locations".

Online bookstore

MPH branched out into the online book retailing via its MPHOnline.com website in 2000.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official websiteTriglot Vocabulary (English, Malay, Hokkien, Hakka). Methodist Publishing House, Singapore, 1913
1890 establishments in Singapore Retail companies established in 1890 Publishing companies established in 1890 Book publishing companies of Malaysia Bookstores of Malaysia Privately held companies of Malaysia Malaysian brands