28/03/2026

SATURDAY | MAR 28, 2026

18 A store of many tales silenced I N Seremban, we do not always realise what is precious until it is gone. A few days ago, a 68-year old family-run bookstore was exam workbooks piled high, plastic wrapped comics and storybooks that promised escape from the small, familiar rhythms of town life.

It was where becoming a reader began. And then, without realising it, I returned again – this time as a mother. I bought books for my N T

reduced to ashes in a fire. For many, it was just another news report – numbers, losses and damage. But for some of us, it felt like losing a part of ourselves. Because that bookstore had a name: SBC Book Store. It was not just a shop; it was a household name – the kind you didn’t need to explain. If you grew up in Seremban, you knew it. Before the school year began, before January settled in, parents and children would find their way there. It was a ritual. Long before big chains like Popular Holdings arrived, before the polished aisles of MPH Bookstores became familiar, there was SBC – crowded, slightly chaotic but always alive. That was where my mother went first – long before I existed. She walked those aisles, choosing what she could afford, believing quietly but firmly that books mattered and her siblings did the same. It was never about abundance; it was about intention. Years later, my siblings and I followed. We did not think of it as anything special then; it was simply where you went. The shelves were close, the stacks sometimes uneven and the air filled with the smell of paper and possibility. There were P O T T U B Y H A S H I THE global economy is undergoing a profound transformation. What was once a relatively predictable, rules-based trading system is giving way to a more fragmented and politicised landscape. Trade, technology, finance and supply chains are increasingly shaped by strategic rivalry, most notably between the great powers. For middle powers such as Malaysia, this changing environment presents risks and also important policy choices. Economic interdependence, once seen as a source of stability, is now treated as a vulnerability. Tariffs, export controls, industrial subsidies and investment restrictions have become routine instruments of statecraft. Supply chains are being “reshored”, “friend-shored” and now diversified for strategic rather than purely economic reasons. Meanwhile, multilateral institutions such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) struggle to enforce global rules, further weakening confidence in the global trading system. As a result, rather than a single global market governed by shared norms, the world is drifting towards overlapping economic blocks and selective partnerships. For export dependent economies, this fragmentation raises costs, reduces predictability and complicates long term planning. This has prompted a few countries into action.

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children there too. By then, the world had already shifted. Books were easier to get, faster to buy and endlessly available online. Convenience had replaced ritual. But still, I chose SBC because some places are not about efficiency; they are about continuity. I wanted my children to stand where I once stood – to pick up a book not because it was recommended but because something about it felt right – to be part of something that existed before them. But even as I did that, I knew something was changing. Places like SBC were becoming rarer. We often speak of progress as something visible – new developments, bigger stores, modern convenience. But what we do not talk about enough is the quiet erosion that comes with it. The loss of places that cannot be replicated. SBC was not just a business; it was part of the town’s rhythm – a place where generations crossed paths without knowing it and where parents who once bought their A V I S H T R I Middle powers, countries that lack the weight to dominate the system but possess significant economic and institutional capacity are increasingly working to stabilise and reshape the global economy. The European Union, Asean members, Japan, South Korea and Australia are pursuing strategies that emphasise diversification, institutional cooperation and strategic autonomy – some prefer the term “hedging”. One emerging example is the effort to deepen economic ties between the European Union and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) economies. Such initiatives reflect a recognition that middle powers need to forge new partnerships and reduce overdependence on any single major power while preserving space for policy flexibility. At the same time, Asia’s growing engagement with Africa represents another important dimension of this strategy. Africa is undergoing a demographic and economic transformation, with expanding urban markets, digital innovation and industrial potential. Central in this development is the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to integrate African markets and strengthen regional value chains. From a policy perspective, these developments point to the potential for a broader economic architecture

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SBC was not just a business; it was part of the town’s rhythm. A place where generations crossed paths without knowing it - where parents who once bought their own schoolbooks would return years later with their children, standing in the same space, repeating the same ritual. – BERNAMA P I C

You cannot bring back the familiarity of a place that existed unchanged while the rest of the world moved on. And for our children, that loss is even more profound. My children have books – many books. But their stories arrive differently now – delivered in boxes, chosen by algorithms, detached from place. They will read. But they may never fully understand what it means to belong to a place like SBC – a place linking Europe, the Indo-Pacific and Africa. Expanding EU–Indo-Pacific cooperation to engage systematically with AfCFTA could create a powerful network that combines European technology, Asian manufacturing capacity and African resources and markets. Such a framework would enhance supply chain diversification, strengthen standard-setting influence and reinforce multilateral trade norms. For Malaysia, these trends carry direct strategic implications and also opportunities. As a highly open, trade-dependent economy, Malaysia depends on stable cross-border flows of capital, components and technology. In an increasingly fragmented world economy, there will be fewer islands of stability. Acknowledging this new reality, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries have begun reaching out to all, including Africa. Going forward, Malaysia’s policy response should focus on the following priorities. First, it should support the proposal to deepen ties between the EU and CPTPP, with the possibility of expanding it to include the AfCFTA. Not only does it make economic sense – the EU and the members of the CPTPP alone represent 32% of global GDP and 37% of global trade – but it will also would strengthen economic integration between and increase economic resilience among like-minded supporters of a rules based order. Second, Malaysia should intensify efforts to position itself as a hub for

that remembers you because it has remembered your family. And perhaps that is what makes this loss so heavy – not the fire, not the damage but the realisation that places like this do not come back the same. We will rebuild the shop but we will not get back the years. HashiniKavishtri Kannan is the assistant news editor at theSun. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com resilient and trusted supply chains, particularly in semiconductors and green technologies, to fully benefit. This requires continued investment in skills, infrastructure and regulatory quality. Third, Putrajaya should work closely with other middle powers to promote WTO reform which would protect it and other middle and small powers from indiscriminate actions of the more powerful. Preserving a rules-based environment remains essential for middle and smaller economies. The era of effortless globalisation has ended and in its place is a more complex and contested economic order. But fragmentation is not inevitable. Through continued vigilance and coordinated action, middle powers can build overlapping networks that preserve openness, stability and those qualities that made the rules-based order appealing to many for a while. For Malaysia, the challenge is not simply to adapt to this new environment but to also help shape it. By strengthening ties across the Indo-Pacific, Europe and Africa, and by investing in institutional cooperation, Malaysia can contribute to a more resilient and inclusive global economy, one in which middle powers retain agency and development remains possible despite great power rivalry. DrPeter Brian M. Wang is the deputy head of the Centre of Economics and Public Finance at

own schoolbooks would return years later with their children, standing in the same space, repeating the same ritual. When a place like that disappears, something deeper disappears with it. Yes, the shop can be rebuilt, the shelves can be replaced and the books can return but you cannot rebuild time. You cannot recreate the decades of footsteps that wore down those aisles.

Economic fragmentation and Malaysia’s strategic choices

COMMENT by Dr Peter Brian M. Wang

“Trade, technology, finance and supply chains are increasingly shaped by strategic rivalry, most notably between the great powers. For middle powers such as Malaysia, this changing environment presents risks and

also important policy choices.

National Institute of Public Administration. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com