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大众书局创办人——周星衢（1905-1986），自1924年在新加坡开展书业，因处事低调，其名、其事，鲜为人知。 《百年书业话星衢：大众书局创办人周星衢纪事》分为“起步”、“承事”、“转续”、“合志”四章，记写周星衢在书业方面的奋斗历程与贡献，并透过新加坡华文书业发展的重要历史片段，勾勒周星衢与新加坡书业的时代关系。 本书以中英双语编著，献给近百年来支持大众书局的读者。
周星衢基金 由新加坡大众集团总裁周曾锷先生以其父周星衢之名，于2004年创立的非营利文化机构。 周星衢先生（1905-1986）是正兴公司、世界书局与大众书局的创办人，为20世纪东南亚华文书业的重要推手。 基金秉承其推动华文教育与文化之精神，积极发起图书捐赠、文学讲座、文史展览、故事讲演等活动，并策划与出版多套关于新加坡华文出版业发展的丛书，包括早期华文教科书图示目录《开卷有益 · 润物无声》系列、长寿儿童杂志之回顾特刊《世界儿童 · 童心永远》、《致读者：新加坡书店故事1881-2016》（中英双版），再版世界书局经典作品如《马来散记（新编注本）》、《狮城散记（新编注本）》，以及激发儿童学习华文兴趣的绘本“星衢童书”丛书、华文辅助教材“星衢教育”丛书等。更多丛书将陆续推出。
TABLE OF CONTENT
编者的话 Editor’s Note: •|致读者 •|To the Reader 周曾锷序 Foreword by Chou Cheng Ngok: •|涓流汇海忆先父 •|Where the River Flows: Remembering my Father 周星衢与新加坡书业纪事年表 Chou Sing Chu and Singapore’s Book Trade: An Overview 第一章：起步 •|狮城书业繁花开 •|星衢侧影 · 上海专访：周氏族人经商道 第二章：承事 •|（一）禁书另辟新生机 •|星衢侧影 · 大众图书馆：为民辟设图书馆 •|（二）编印教材润学子 •|星衢侧影 · 学者专访：书缘深深忆旧人 •|（三）拓荒出版育人才 •|星衢侧影 · 员工专访：“老查”低调真性情 第三章：转续 •|周家三杰承父业 •|星衢侧影 · 记晚年：心系书业退不休 第四章：合志 •|星衢精神耀大众 周星衢书业集锦 Photos Chou Sing Chu, Founder of POPULAR: Portrait of a Book Industry Titan Part One: Beginnings •|Chou Sing Chu and the Singapore Book Industry •|On Chou Sing Chu: Shanghai Interview - Entrepreneurship Runs in the Chou Family Part Two: Publishing •|1. Book Bans Stimulating to New Vitality •|On Chou Sing Chu: The Popular Library - A Reading Space to Serve Society •|2. Textbooks that Nourished the Heart •|On Chou Sing Chu: Interview with a Scholar - Recollections of an Acquaintance •|3. Pioneering Publishing, Nurturing Talents •|On Chou Sing Chu: Employee Interviews - The low-key “Gaffer-Checker” Part Three: Continuations •|The Three Sons of the Chou Family •|On Chou Sing Chu: The Later Years - Always a Part of the Book Trade Part Four: Legacy •|POPULAR and Chou Sing Chu’s Legacy 附录 · 参考 Appendices · References •|附录一：周星衢书业一览 •|Appendix 1: Chou Sing Chu’s Companies •|附录二：周星衢 < 一年来星洲之书业谈 > •|Appendix 2: A Year in the Singapore Book Industry by Chou Sing Chu •|附录三：周星衢 < 为亡儿遗作写几句 > •|Appendix 3: A Few Words for My Deceased Son’s Work by Chou Sing Chu •|鸣谢 Acknowledgements
PREFACE/READING GUIDANCE
编者的话 致读者 这是大众书局创办人周星衢的纪事，也是大众与新加坡书业的故事。 大众书局（“大众”），又或其英文名字“POPULAR”，是新马家喻户晓的书店品牌。然而，鲜少人知道大众发展的跌宕起伏，以及其创办人周星衢（1905-1986）的生平事迹。本书将周星衢超过60年辛勤耕耘的印记，放置于新加坡书业逾百年的历史当中，试图拼凑出他的书业人生，以及他对区域书业的劳绩。尽管未能原貌全还、尚有空白之处，本书侧重记录周星衢的若干贡献，并将点点滴滴铺排“起承转合”，勾勒出周星衢与新加坡书业的密切关系，以及相关时代的发展轮廓。 本书共分为四个章节，即“起步”、“承事”、“转续”、“合志”： 一、起步：呈现新加坡开埠后书业起航阶段之面貌，贯穿周星衢抵新开创书业的契机与事迹，溯流穷源； 二、承事：梳理新加坡华文教育与华文书业发展的重要片段，并聚焦周星衢在业、物、人三个方面的关键贡献： 1. 禁书期间，突破传统营运思维，走出新加坡赴香港设出版社，以“双城双向”与“更衣再版”模式避开禁令，缓解“书灾之荒”，成为同行效仿之模；亦另辟香港出口东南亚新途径； 2. 意识到新马“本土化”之势不可逆转，策略性大量出版本土化教科书、期刊、马来辞典、图书等超过4000种书刊，以文化传播培养侨民“落地生根”之意识； 3. 用人唯贤，不问代价栽培新血，自家书局被誉为“书业人才培育中心”，由前员工开设的书店、出版社等近40家； 三、转续：着墨周星衢的三名儿子在父亲书业中的角色； 四、合志：稳守周星衢事业的幼子周曾锷，服务书业近60年、经历华文书业的兴衰，以及书业与时代的碰撞，侃侃分享书业趋势的变与不变。 本书由周曾锷以父为名成立的“周星衢基金”（“基金”）编著。基金于2016年出版了记录50家新加坡书店故事的人文著作《致读者：新加坡书店故事1881-2016》，在所收集到的500家书店资料中勾勒岛国书业发展轮廓，当中亦不乏周星衢的事迹。基金再经数年挖掘资料，但关于周星衢庞大跨地书业网络的细节难寻，唯能从浩瀚信息中筛选精华、从零星线索旁敲侧击，描绘出一幅其书业概念图。周星衢处事低调，诸多关于他的事迹，亦只得口述、报章、书籍等珍贵资料，因此穿插“侧影”短文，希冀从另一角度侧写周星衢；内容未善之处，敬祈见谅。 作为第一本周星衢相关论著，本书为一般读者参看之用，亦为学界抛砖引玉，盼来日引起研究者的关注与补充，让新加坡、乃至东南亚书业研究更完整。本书感谢三位学者顾问——郭振羽教授、柯木林先生、李志贤副教授惠赐意见；亦鸣谢李金生先生授权编载其文。另感谢王赓武教授、杨贵谊博士、杨善才先生、伍振华先生及周曾钺先生等人抽空受访。 本书成书于新加坡开埠200周年、大众集团成立95年、周星衢基金创立15年之际，特以中英双语同册推出，有记录历史之责，亦有理想主义之分，期望新加坡华文书业，以及包括周星衢在内的书业先驱的精神遗产，通过更多读者，代代相传，砥砺前行。 Editor’s Note To the Reader, This is the story of Chou Sing Chu, the founder of Popular Book Company (POPULAR). This is also the story of POPULAR and the book trade of Singapore. Though POPULAR is a household name in Singapore and Malaysia, not many know its full story, as well as the life and achievements of its founder, Chou Sing Chu (1905-1986). This book aims to tell Chou Sing Chu’s story, one that juxtaposes his six-decade-plus career against the century-old history of Singapore book industry. Though our narrative is hampered by a lack of information as Chou Sing Chu was well-known for keeping a low profile in public, we seek to document his contributions to the developments of the region’s book trade and outline the close relationship between Chou Sing Chu and the Singapore book industry. This book is divided into four chapters: 1. Beginnings: We catch a glimpse of the early book industry in Singapore through the setting up of Chou Sing Chu’s first company; 2. Publishing: We look at Chou Sing Chu’s key contributions to the development of Chinese education, and the Chinese bookstore industry through the three aspects of industry, issues and people: a. Chou Sing Chu set up of publishing houses in Hong Kong as book bans hit Singapore, resulting in a mutually beneficial arrangement that alleviated the shortage of quality reading materials in Singapore and elevated Hong Kong to become the publishing and export hub to Southeast Asia. His approach became a model emulated by his peers; b. Chou Sing Chu spearheaded the localisation of Chinese books in Singapore and Malaya, which included some 4,000 titles across genres such as textbooks, periodicals, dictionaries and picture books, to spread local awareness to the migrants through the promotion of local culture; c. Chou Sing Chu recruited staff base on merits and spared no effort in staff development. Known as the talent training centre of the book industry, former staff of his bookstore went on to set up close to 40 bookstores and publishing companies; 3. Continuations: We look at the roles that Chou Sing Chu’s three sons played in his businesses; 4. Legacy: We look at how the youngest son of Chou Sing Chu, Chou Cheng Ngok, who – like his father – have spent almost six decades growing his father’s businesses through the Chinese book industry’s peaks and troughs and the challenges from the changing times. Chou Sing Chu Foundation (CSCF) was set by Chou Cheng Ngok in his father’s name. In 2016, CSCF published Passage of Time: Singapore Bookstore Stories 1881-2016, which tells the stories of 50 bookstores against the book trade’s developments in Singapore. Through our research for Passage of Time, we came across some information about Chou Sing Chu, and undertook further research in both Singapore and overseas over the next few years. Collating information about the low-key Chou Sing Chu was a huge challenge, but through first-hand interviews and meticulous searches through the archives, we managed to shed light on the life of Chou Sing Chu. This book is organised into essays that provided a unique perspective of Chou Sing Chu individually. Taken together, they present a more complete picture of Chou Sing Chu and his achievements. We hope that this book can serve to inspire further research into these pioneers of the book trade in Southeast Asia, and to bring their stories to the younger generation. We would like to express our utmost gratitude to the three advisors of this book, Professor Eddie Kuo Chen-Yu, Mr Kua Bak Lim and Associate Professor Lee Chee Hiang, for their invaluable guidance. We would also like to thank Mr Lee Ching Seng for his contribution to the content, as well as Professor Wang Gungwu, Dr Yang Quee Yee, Mr Yeo Oi Sang, Mr Ng Chun Wah and Mr Zhou Zeng Yue for their time for the interviews. The publication of this book in 2019 coincides with many significant events, like the Singapore Bicentennial and Popular Holdings Limited’s 95th anniversary, as well as CSCF’s 15th anniversary. Published in Chinese and English, we hope this book can serve as a historical record that can also pass on the noble ideals of the pioneers of Singapore’s Chinese book trade, including that of Chou Sing Chu, through the generations to more readers.
