A Lifetime Among Books: Arun Chandra Singh and the 62-Year Legacy of Premier Book Centre

For Arun Chandra Singh, books have never simply been a business.

They have been his life’s work.

For the past 62 years, Singh has been at the heart of Premier Book Centre in Ba, a business he established as a 21-year-old in 1964 and has continued to run through generations of change in Fiji’s education system and the way people read.

His story, however, began before Premier Book Centre.

As a young man, Singh spent around three years working at Ba Book Centre, where he gained some of his earliest experience in the book trade.

His brother, Sashi Mahendra Singh, owner of Ba Motor Parts, later asked him to work for him as a manager.

But Arun Singh ultimately chose a different path.

In 1964, at just 21 years old, he established his own business under the name Premier Book Centre.

It was the beginning of a journey that would consume almost his entire working life.

Building a Business Around Education

Premier Book Centre grew alongside generations of students passing through Fiji’s classrooms.

From textbooks and stationery to novels, encyclopaedias and reference materials, the shelves of the Ba bookshop became familiar territory for students, parents and teachers searching for educational resources.

The book industry was considerably different when Singh started.

Many books required by Fiji’s schools were printed overseas, and sourcing the right material involved establishing relationships with suppliers locally and abroad.

As Premier Book Centre developed, books were sourced from countries including New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, Singapore and India.

Singh also worked with the Curriculum Development Unit, helping ensure the books required by schools could be made available.

Literature studied by students, including works such as Julius Caesar and Hamlet, formed part of the materials supplied over the years.

Behind it all was Singh’s belief that access to books was essential to education.

More Than Selling Books

For Singh, the purpose of Premier Book Centre has never ended at the cash register.

His passion has always been tied to what happens after someone takes a book home. They read, they learn and they gain knowledge.

That commitment has also extended to promoting Hindi education.

In 2023, Singh approached the late Vinod Patel with an idea to encourage Hindi learning from kindergarten level.

He was prepared to provide 34 Hindi books free of charge to help get the initiative started.

It was another example of a businessman whose relationship with books extended well beyond commercial considerations.

Watching Generations Change

Few people in Fiji’s book industry would have witnessed as much change as Singh has over the past six decades.

He started Premier Book Centre in an era when books were one of the primary ways young people accessed information.

Today, smartphones can provide information within seconds.

But Singh is concerned that convenience has come with consequences.

After spending a lifetime watching children learn through books, he believes mobile phones and social media are affecting reading habits, attention spans and comprehension among younger generations.

He has observed children increasingly turning to their phones rather than books and remains concerned about the long-term effect on literacy.

His message to young people is simple: technology may change, but the importance of reading does not.

62 Years and Still Going

Perhaps the most remarkable part of Singh’s story is not simply that Premier Book Centre has survived for more than six decades.

It is that the man who started it at 21 is still there 62 years later.

His daughters have encouraged him to retire, but retirement has not been an easy proposition for someone whose daily life has revolved around books for almost his entire adulthood.

He continues to wake in the morning, prepare for another day and make his way to the shop.

The shelves surrounding him today tell a much bigger story than that of a bookstore.

They represent generations of schoolchildren, changing curriculums, countless textbooks and novels, international shipments arriving in Fiji and a small Ba business adapting as the world around it changed.

Through all those changes, Singh has remained remarkably consistent in what he believes.

“Reading is important. If you want knowledge, you have to read. That is how I got the knowledge.”

From a 21-year-old starting Premier Book Centre in 1964 to a businessman who has now devoted 62 years to the book trade, Arun Chandra Singh’s story is one of longevity, discipline and an enduring belief in education.

After more than six decades surrounded by books, his greatest legacy may not be measured by how many he has sold.

It may instead be found in how many people they helped educate.