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00:00I've known them, husband and wife team, when they only had one store.
00:06Andrew Yap, he's the co-founder and CEO of BookXcess.
00:09Big Bad Wolf is the world's largest book sale
00:13and that has gone over to 47 cities across 15 countries.
00:23What's a personal value or philosophy that guides your decision making in life and in business?
00:29I always believe myself as a very giving person.
00:31I always like to give and I always believe that giving more than you receive
00:35is something which I try to teach myself every day.
00:38And probably be kind when you don't need to be kind.
00:41That is one philosophy that I try to embody every day.
00:48Hi, this is Life Confessions Season 3 and I'm Freda Liu.
00:53This guest with me today, I've known them, husband and wife team,
00:58when they only had one store.
01:00This is Andrew Yap and Jacqueline Ng.
01:02Andrew Yap, he's the co-founder and CEO of BookXcess.
01:05One little store and also Big Bad Wolf Books.
01:08They started in 2007 and now has over 20 bookstores in Malaysia and Singapore.
01:14Big Bad Wolf is the world's largest book sale
01:18and that has gone over to 47 cities across 15 countries.
01:22You've come a long way, Andrew.
01:25I'm so glad to see you again and to be chatting with you.
01:28We had maybe this conversation years ago,
01:31but I'm just intrigued of how you got into this business
01:36and maybe we'll start from the beginning.
01:38What was it like growing up? What was your childhood like?
01:41Since this show is about confessions,
01:44I would say that whatever I say, reach out prejudice first
01:47before I get into any big trouble.
01:51I mean, childhood was definitely amazing.
01:53I grew up with very lovable parents,
01:56but sadly, many setbacks.
01:58My dad passed away when I was nine years old,
02:01so my mom had a tough time bringing us up.
02:04There were four of us.
02:05Youngest was two, oldest was 14.
02:07We all stayed in school.
02:08He didn't leave any insurance, right?
02:11So she had two jobs just to keep the family going.
02:14Right.
02:15And when you talk about this,
02:18did you have a moment or experience
02:20that sort of sparked your love for books?
02:23You know, actually jump back to the first question, right?
02:27My mom had a very weird parenting skill.
02:30Okay.
02:31I mean, it's also because she couldn't cope
02:33with two jobs and four kids, right?
02:35So she said, do whatever you want to do.
02:37Just don't get into trouble.
02:39So I played and played and played until I failed my SPM also.
02:42That's when you got in trouble.
02:44So to the second question,
02:49I think the answer would be yes and no.
02:51Books were never in my life.
02:53Textbooks were not in your life?
02:55All books were not in my life.
02:57I never grew up with books.
02:58I was very fortunate to study in St. John's.
03:02You know, at the time, the who's who in Malaysia,
03:06we went to St. John's.
03:07Even Najib went to St. John's, right?
03:09Going to a school like that,
03:11most of the kids there came from privileged families.
03:14I'm also mildly dyslexic.
03:17So up to standard three,
03:18I couldn't recite my ABCs in order.
03:21So can you imagine how tough it was?
03:23And these were not detected back then, right?
03:25Yeah, there's no such thing.
03:26I mean, if you were just deemed stupid, that's it.
03:28Or lazy, right?
03:30If you can't recite your ABC.
03:32So imagine, you know, all the mockery in school and all.
03:35And we all have different childhood traumas
03:40when we were growing up.
03:41You know, sometimes whether we were bullied or whatever, right?
03:43For me, for lack of a better word,
03:45I felt very stupid or inadequate.
03:48And one thing I realized was a huge difference
03:51between kids who grew up with books and those who didn't.
03:54Because all my classmates who grew up with books,
03:57they speak more confidently.
03:59They do better in school.
04:00Their general knowledge is better.
04:01Their English comprehension is better.
04:03Everything is just better.
04:05Right, okay.
04:06How did then, I'm going to sort of jump into that
04:08and you can sort of tell me the story.
04:10The whole entrepreneurial spirit,
04:12where did you get that?
04:14What got you into the space of books and business?
04:18I think it all started when I was really young.
04:23My dad, his duty was to do the dishes.
04:26My mom cooked and he did the dishes, right?
04:28So he didn't want to do the dishes.
04:30At five years old, he would already give me like,
04:32you know, 20, 30 cents to do the dishes at night.
04:35And I would gladly do it for that 20, 30 cents.
04:38With that money, I would go to a sundry store
04:41and buy sweets or, you know, toys.
04:43On those days, we had all the Tikam things, right?
04:46And I realized that if I accumulate more money,
04:48I can buy more things.
04:49So at a very young age, you know,
04:51I was groomed how powerful money is
04:54and what you can do with money.
04:56And so what sparked you to start Book Access?
05:00Back to the school days, right?
05:04When I never had the opportunity to grow up with books
05:06and I realized how important books were to a child
05:11who never grew up with books.
05:13So fast forward, many years later,
05:17I was running a workshop.
05:19So can you imagine?
05:20From repairing cars to selling books.
05:23It cannot be any further than that, right?
05:26That workshop, okay.
05:27All right, okay.
05:28So running a garage and someone approached me
05:33with the opportunity to sell books,
05:36great books at great prices.
05:38And I jumped at it because it brought me back
05:40to my childhood days that I can finally make a difference
05:44because I just felt that if kids like me
05:47were to grow up with books,
05:48I think Malaysia or the world would be a better place.
05:52Right, okay.
05:53You know, so this is very interesting, right?
05:55Because what intrigued me,
05:56of course, when I first went to the first bookstore,
05:58your business model and extremely affordable books.
06:01And I'm like, can make money, right?
06:02I mean, so you said someone gave you this opportunity.
06:05What made you think that this was something
06:07that could work?
06:08Because if you notice the global book industry,
06:12books are not affordable or accessible
06:15to probably 90% of the global population.
06:19And currently the book industry only sells
06:24to the 3% to 5% of the population.
06:27And I felt that that 90% is totally untapped.
06:30Can you imagine if you have,
06:33currently the book industry
06:34is already a huge industry, right?
06:38And there's just stepping on that 3% to 5%.
06:40Imagine if you can tap into the 95%.
06:44And also, I always had a confidence
06:47that this would do well
06:48because if we were to do what we do today,
06:52because we only sell English books, right?
06:54If you try to take millions of books
06:57in Indonesia, let's say, or Bangkok,
07:00I mean, Jakarta or Bangkok 20 years ago,
07:03they wouldn't want it.
07:05But today, English has never been
07:07so important to the world.
07:09It's not the most widely spoken language,
07:12but I will say that in 100 years time,
07:15English will probably be number one.
07:17Oh, is it?
07:18I think it is really number one.
07:19I think number one is Spanish.
07:23Oh, Spanish.
07:24All right.
07:25Now, when you wanted to do this as well,
07:28I was just thinking trying to,
07:31the whole business with e-books,
07:34and I'm sure I had this conversation
07:35with you earlier on,
07:37that hasn't affected the sale of books,
07:40obviously.
07:42No, no, no.
07:43In fact, the future is really bright.
07:45And I will say that books will probably
07:48be the biggest trending thing
07:50in the next few years.
07:51Right.
07:52Because as we get more technologically advanced,
07:55I think we're all just going crazy.
07:58With advancement in AI and tech,
08:01and our whole world is just so digitalized,
08:04we need to switch off.
08:05And a lot of kids nowadays
08:07are going into books.
08:09TikTok is one of the biggest
08:11social phenomena recently, right?
08:14And who hangs out on TikTok?
08:18All the kids.
08:19And I'm sure you heard of BookTok.
08:20And BookTok has literally
08:23moved the needle in the book industry
08:25for the last few years.
08:26It raised the sales for books,
08:28I think, almost 20-30% globally.
08:31And it's the kids who are driving BookTok.
08:35Okay.
08:36I want to talk about highs and lows.
08:38Let's talk about the highs, right?
08:39A moment when you felt most fulfilled
08:41in your journey with these ventures,
08:44BookXS and also Big Bad Wolf.
08:46I'm sure there are many moments,
08:47but one, I guess, significant moment.
08:49I think probably going to Africa.
08:51Africa was an amazing time for us
08:56as we were growing up.
08:58Why Africa?
08:59You know, of course,
09:00I didn't know much about Africa.
09:02The moment we had the opportunity
09:04to do Africa,
09:05I didn't care what odds there were.
09:07I just wanted to do it.
09:08When we were growing up,
09:09we always hear about poverty in Africa.
09:12You know, parents always told us,
09:14finish your food.
09:15You know, there's children starving there
09:17and all, right?
09:18And we are a mission-based business.
09:20And so I felt that if we could make
09:23a difference in the world,
09:25Africa would be one of the places
09:27that we would like to go to.
09:28And it came a lot sooner than I expected.
09:31One thing that really resonates to me
09:33was what Nelson Mandela said many years ago.
09:36And it just always stuck in my head.
09:39He said that, you know,
09:41education is the most powerful weapon
09:44to change a nation, right?
09:46And I believe that a single book itself
09:48is an education
09:49if you put it in the right kid's hands.
09:51Right.
09:52Okay, now I want to talk about the lows, right?
09:54What are the biggest challenges you faced
09:55in the early days of book access?
09:57How did you overcome them?
09:58And also leading on that,
09:59I guess, even right now,
10:01what are the challenges that you have now?
10:03But let's go back to the early days.
10:05This is an interesting question.
10:08Big Bear Wolf would not be where we are today
10:11if not for all the complaints
10:13that we have in the beginning days
10:15because when book access started,
10:17many bookstores were not happy
10:19with what we are doing.
10:20We are basically the disruptor
10:24in the book industry here.
10:26And when we did our first...
10:28There was already noise when book access started.
10:30When we did our first Big Bear Wolf sale,
10:33it was tiny, but the impact was there.
10:35All the bookstores would complain
10:37and they realized that
10:39if they individually complain,
10:41it wouldn't make a difference.
10:43So they grouped together,
10:45complained all the way
10:46to publishers in UK and US
10:48that they couldn't support it.
10:50If they support us,
10:51they will stop buying books from them.
10:53At the end of the day,
10:55when we started,
10:56we were only buying surplus books.
10:59Currently today,
11:00we are also printing and creating books
11:03or print runs together with publishers.
11:05But back then,
11:06we were very dependent on the surplus books.
11:08So they told us that,
11:10hey, we can't support you.
11:11Our main business is to sell the full price books.
11:13And if everybody's complaining,
11:15then we can't do this.
11:17So we were very disheartened
11:19because we were not profitable
11:21in the early days.
11:22We were just doing it
11:24out of our love for
11:25making Malaysia a better place,
11:27getting people to read more.
11:30So instead of giving up,
11:32we took a flight,
11:34went around the world
11:36to get support from publishers
11:37and distributors globally,
11:39told them our story.
11:40And they supported us.
11:41So that gave birth
11:43to the world's biggest book sale
11:44because I wanted to do something
11:46so huge here
11:48just to shut everybody up.
11:50So back in 2011,
11:53we did the world's biggest book sale
11:55in Kuala Lumpur
11:56with the support of
11:58a lot of publishers
11:59and distributors globally.
12:01Right.
12:02As what Michelle Obama said,
12:03Obama said,
12:04when they go low,
12:05you go high, right?
12:07Can you share a mistake
12:09you made along the way
12:10and how it shaped you,
12:11I guess, as a leader?
12:12I would say
12:14growing too fast.
12:15Okay.
12:16Because I was leading the charge.
12:18Right.
12:192015 to 2019,
12:21can you imagine
12:22we were doubling our revenue
12:23every year,
12:24year on year.
12:25So you look at the pace, right,
12:27from 30, 40 million turnover
12:29to almost 200 million
12:31in just a few years.
12:32And due to my lack of experience,
12:36I never worried about
12:39having a runway
12:40just in case there's any issues
12:42or problems that we will face.
12:44And the pandemic came,
12:45COVID-19,
12:47that literally
12:48we almost went bust.
12:49Right.
12:50Right.
12:51And the floods.
12:52Yeah, and the floods.
12:53So imagine
12:56surviving COVID
12:58almost still on our knees
13:00and we had a flood.
13:02Right.
13:03But we didn't give up
13:04and we just persevered on.
13:06So now moving forward,
13:09I'm smarter in the sense where
13:10I watch the margins more
13:12so that we could live
13:13to fight another day.
13:14Okay.
13:15And hoping to build
13:17a better runway
13:18as we go along.
13:19We are still in recovery mode.
13:20Still a lot of work to do.
13:22But I think we are
13:23in a better space today
13:25compared to before the pandemic.
13:27Right.
13:28And I guess with this,
13:29what you're trying to do
13:30is also constantly
13:31being innovative, right?
13:32So what do you feel
13:33has been the most innovative strategy
13:35you've used
13:36to grow your audience?
13:37I think that would be the pricing.
13:39Our pricing strategy
13:41is very different.
13:42Most businesses would price
13:45at the point where
13:47the market would accept.
13:48Whereas,
13:50because we are
13:51a mission-based business,
13:52we price it as low as possible.
13:55Just enough to survive.
13:56Okay.
13:57We didn't care
13:58whether you were happy
14:00to pay 15 ringgit for a book.
14:02Okay.
14:03You will happily pay for it
14:04even though the book
14:05is 40-50 ringgit out there.
14:10And you would pay 15,
14:12but we will still sell it at 12.
14:14So that was the mentality
14:16that we had
14:17and we built a cult following
14:19because of that.
14:20Right. Okay.
14:21And let's talk about
14:22working with the team,
14:23no growing and everything, right?
14:25Obviously,
14:26it started with the husband and wife,
14:27small team.
14:28How do you motivate
14:30and inspire your team,
14:31especially during the tough times?
14:33That period.
14:35I guess it's a lot to do
14:37with the mission.
14:38And I don't really have
14:42to motivate the team.
14:43It's our customers
14:45that is motivating them.
14:47They feel that
14:49the feedback that we get
14:50from customers
14:51who always
14:55leave us comments
14:56of how we have changed their lives
14:58or how we have helped them
15:00and they know
15:01it's a mission-based business.
15:02When they go to the countries
15:04that we go to like Africa,
15:05they can see for themselves
15:06the difference that they make.
15:08Most of the team members,
15:12most of them,
15:13they join us
15:14because of the mission.
15:15What qualities do you look for
15:17when building your team
15:18and why?
15:19I think heart is more important.
15:22I mean, in our line,
15:23heart is more important
15:25than qualifications
15:26because it's not easy
15:28doing what we do,
15:29especially being
15:30a mission-based business.
15:32We need world champions out there.
15:35We tend to somehow
15:40get applicants
15:42that come in
15:44and they already know
15:46what we stand for
15:47and they just want
15:48to make a difference.
15:49It helps that way
15:50but the issue is
15:51whether they can go the distance
15:53is another thing.
15:55Resilience is something
15:56which we look out for also.
15:59Any stories of team success
16:01that makes you proud?
16:04I think two really big ones
16:07for me would be
16:10going to Africa.
16:11Like I mentioned,
16:13we didn't really care
16:15the odds.
16:16We just wanted to do it.
16:18I was very surprised
16:19that after in the midst
16:21of doing it,
16:22it was really, really tough.
16:24Africa is brutal
16:25in every single sense.
16:28Up to the point
16:29where can you imagine,
16:30we were setting up the hall
16:33and there were hundreds
16:34of people just clinging
16:36on to the gates
16:38looking for a job.
16:42They said,
16:43just give me a meal.
16:44That's all I want.
16:45Imagine the worry,
16:46the security and everything
16:48in Africa.
16:50It's not funny.
16:51Poverty there is really real.
16:54We managed to finish the event
16:58and definitely we'll go back
17:01to Africa again.
17:02It was quite an amazing experience
17:04and a lot of lessons learned.
17:06We'll come back bigger
17:07and stronger there.
17:08The other one would be
17:10one of our biggest success
17:11was Jakarta 2019
17:14where we collected
17:15RM38 million in 10 days.
17:19That was our peak
17:20and something which
17:21we are building to repeat
17:23successes like that again.
17:26Have you overcome
17:27your dyslexia?
17:28What's a book you've read recently
17:30that profoundly impacted you
17:31and why?
17:32I think two books
17:33which I always read and reread.
17:35I would say it's also quite recent.
17:37One is Oprah Winfrey's
17:39Wisdom of Sundays.
17:42Why is because
17:43one of the contributors there
17:45talked about
17:47everyone's pain
17:48should be our pain.
17:50We shouldn't be
17:51passing by the street
17:53and looking at someone in trouble
17:55and thinking that
17:56that's not my problem.
17:57It should also be our problem.
17:59The other one is
18:01this particular book.
18:03It's called Way More Than Luck.
18:05It's commencement speeches
18:08from the top universities in US
18:11and Michael Lewis,
18:12one of the authors,
18:14he mentioned that
18:16we owe a debt to the unlucky.
18:20Look at the both of us
18:21and everyone here
18:22and even the listeners.
18:24We are so fortunate.
18:26We have a roof over our head,
18:28we have food,
18:29we have family,
18:30we have friends
18:32but there's so many out there
18:34who are a lot less fortunate
18:36and we actually owe a debt to them.
18:40If you were not in the book business,
18:43what would you be doing?
18:44Still with the bookshop?
18:45No, no, no.
18:46I would definitely be
18:47in the car industry
18:48because I'm obsessed with it.
18:50The car industry.
18:52Okay.
18:53And I guess
18:54how do you see Book Access
18:55and Big Bad Wolf
18:56contributing to the culture
18:57reading globally?
18:58Now you're going to Africa.
19:00How else?
19:01More countries in Africa?
19:04Definitely more countries in Africa
19:05and the MENA region.
19:07This year,
19:09we have added
19:10probably another 10 cities.
19:12We are going to Saudi Arabia
19:13in 10 days time
19:15in December this year.
19:16Next year, Egypt.
19:18We're doing Cairo.
19:19We have a goal
19:21in about 10 years from now
19:23to sell 1 billion copies of books
19:26globally.
19:27Okay.
19:28Copies, right?
19:29And if we can achieve that,
19:31I believe that
19:32the world will change.
19:34The sad reality is that
19:36books are not affordable
19:37and accessible.
19:39You know,
19:40UN's SGD plans
19:44are really amazing.
19:46We all know
19:47that the world needs to get better,
19:49needs to change.
19:50Good education.
19:51At least they came up with something
19:53that everyone could work towards too.
19:55And it says that
19:57currently
19:58almost 10% of the world
20:01is in poverty,
20:02extreme poverty.
20:03By 2050,
20:06we'll reach 10 billion
20:08in population.
20:09If nothing changes,
20:1230% of the world
20:14would be in extreme poverty.
20:16It still won't affect us.
20:17We will still be fine.
20:18Right?
20:19But can you imagine?
20:20No one cares.
20:21You know,
20:22we are just too comfortable.
20:23So,
20:24I believe that
20:25if we can achieve our goal
20:27in moving a billion copies globally,
20:30because there's no one doing what we do.
20:31Right.
20:32Right?
20:33It's become a responsibility on us.
20:35And I feel that
20:37if we can achieve that,
20:38we have played a big part in,
20:41you know,
20:42getting the poor
20:43out of the cycle
20:44that they go through.
20:45Right.
20:46How do you decide
20:47on which,
20:48you know,
20:49like you said,
20:50Egypt, Jeddah,
20:51and all that.
20:52How do you decide
20:53which part,
20:54of course,
20:55in Africa,
20:56which country?
20:57What kind of research
20:58do you do into that?
20:59I think
21:00it's always a lot of it
21:01based on
21:02the partners
21:03that approach us.
21:04Right?
21:05And they are willing to help
21:06as much as possible.
21:07Of course,
21:08it's also important
21:09how large the population is.
21:11The bigger the population,
21:12the easier
21:13for us
21:14to go in.
21:15But,
21:16it's still not
21:17the main factor.
21:18The main factor is
21:19what kind of support
21:20that we are getting
21:21in that particular country.
21:22Because
21:23what we do
21:24globally,
21:25every country needs it.
21:26Whereas,
21:27be it a first world country
21:28or a developing
21:29or third world country.
21:30Right.
21:31So,
21:32you know,
21:33when you look at the books
21:34that's being sold by you guys,
21:35what's most popular?
21:36Definitely the children books.
21:37Okay.
21:38Because you and me,
21:39I mean,
21:40how much time do we have
21:41to read?
21:42Right?
21:44Previously,
21:45when we left home,
21:46we probably got
21:47five things to do.
21:48Now,
21:49we got a hundred things to do.
21:50It doesn't end, right?
21:51Whereas,
21:52kids today,
21:53they have all the time
21:54in the world.
21:55And it's very important
21:56to get kids
21:57to learn
21:58how to read properly.
21:59Reading is a skill.
22:00And
22:01reading physically
22:02minus
22:03technology,
22:04you know,
22:05reading from a tab
22:06or a gadget,
22:07they are just so distracted.
22:08So,
22:09they need to learn
22:10the skill of reading properly.
22:11How to read deep,
22:12if they're reading
22:13from a tab,
22:14they're just so distracted.
22:15They just can't wait
22:16to get over it
22:17and check out
22:18all the games
22:19and what they can do with it.
22:20It's just like
22:21why
22:22we can't,
22:23it's very hard to read
22:24from our phone
22:25or a gadget.
22:26And
22:27we might not have
22:28the latest books.
22:29We are in a very
22:30different space
22:31of the industry.
22:32But there is no such thing
22:33as latest ABC
22:34or 123.
22:35Yes.
22:36The next 5,000 years,
22:37it will still be ABC
22:38or 123.
22:39Right?
22:40So,
22:41parents around the world,
22:42they know
22:43the importance of
22:44books,
22:45physical books
22:46for kids.
22:47Right.
22:48And
22:49books are part of
22:50an education system.
22:51So,
22:52a lot of parents,
22:53when they come to the event,
22:54they probably buy
22:55one or two books
22:56for themselves
22:57or five books.
22:58Right?
22:59But they will buy
23:00at least 30 to 50 books
23:01for the kids
23:02for the whole year.
23:03So,
23:04when you know that
23:05children's books
23:06are the top seller,
23:07was it by design
23:08or by default as well?
23:09You know,
23:10parents to buy more books
23:11for their kids
23:12and all that.
23:13Or was it
23:14requests?
23:15Definitely by design.
23:16Okay.
23:17One of the reasons
23:18why we came up
23:19with the name
23:20Big Bad Wolf
23:21is for the kids
23:22because kids can…
23:23We needed to get kids
23:24to fall in love
23:25with the brand,
23:26to fall in love
23:27with reading.
23:28We needed to make
23:29reading cool
23:30and children
23:31can only relate,
23:32you know,
23:33to a character.
23:34It's hard for them
23:35to relate to
23:36a name
23:37like ABC books.
23:38Yes.
23:39So,
23:40the character
23:41is also very important.
23:42If you come up
23:43with something
23:44that is cute,
23:45you're going up
23:46against Disney.
23:47You come up
23:48with superhero,
23:49you come up
23:50against Marvel.
23:51And currently,
23:52the last generation
23:53of kids,
23:54they grew up
23:55with all this.
23:56Yes.
23:57The Big Bad Wolf
23:58is something new
23:59to them.
24:00Right.
24:01Parents
24:02know about it
24:03because,
24:04you know,
24:05the classic
24:06story tales.
24:07Yes.
24:08There will always
24:09be an incident
24:10or something bad
24:11that happens.
24:12Even a romantic story
24:13will always
24:14have
24:15some kind of
24:16drama, right?
24:17Yes.
24:18So,
24:19it's a name
24:20that is very easy
24:21to remember.
24:22Right.
24:23So,
24:24we started with
24:25children
24:26in our minds
24:27from the very beginning.
24:28And like I mentioned
24:29before,
24:30it's a mission-based business
24:31and if you want
24:32to make a difference
24:33in Malaysia
24:34and in the world,
24:35start with the kids.
24:36You know,
24:37the success
24:38or the sale,
24:39right?
24:40How much would a person
24:41spend on average?
24:42Typically,
24:43if they were to go
24:44to a
24:45normal bookstore,
24:46they will be
24:47buying what they need
24:48or a book
24:49they are looking for.
24:50Yes.
24:51So,
24:52one or two books.
24:53Yes.
24:54When they come to
24:55Book Access,
24:56it's easily
24:57four to six books.
24:58Also,
24:59another reason
25:00not to just buy
25:01for themselves
25:02but buy as a gift.
25:03Yes.
25:04A lot of
25:05our customers
25:06don't know
25:07the price
25:08and for the sale,
25:09it's almost
25:1015 to 30 books
25:11per customer.
25:12They buy the box,
25:13right?
25:14Do you still do that?
25:15We do the box sale
25:16every once a year
25:17just to clear
25:18our odds and ends
25:19and scratch and dance.
25:20You buy the box
25:21and how many books
25:22you can still get?
25:23It's the craziest thing
25:24out there.
25:25Almost 100 ringgit
25:26for a box.
25:27Yes.
25:28And if you know
25:29how to fit the box well,
25:30you can get
25:31almost 80 books
25:32in a box
25:33per customer.
25:34So,
25:3580 books
25:36in a box.
25:37Right.
25:38It's literally free.
25:39And how many books
25:40have you sold to date?
25:41Globally,
25:42we sold more than
25:43100 million books.
25:44Wow.
25:45100 million.
25:46So, okay.
25:47Right.
25:48And I guess
25:49just a couple
25:50in terms of your philosophy
25:51and mission,
25:52right?
25:53What's a personal value
25:54or philosophy
25:55that guides
25:56your decision-making
25:57in life and in business?
25:58I always believe myself
25:59as a very giving person.
26:00So,
26:01you know,
26:02I always like to give
26:03and I always believe
26:05more than you receive
26:06is something which
26:07I try to teach myself
26:08every day
26:09and the blessings
26:10will come in
26:11in ways that you
26:12never expect.
26:13And probably
26:14the other one
26:15would be
26:17to be kind.
26:18Be kind
26:19when you don't need
26:20to be kind.
26:21Right.
26:22I think that is
26:23one philosophy
26:24that I try to embody
26:25every day.
26:26Right.
26:27Anything else
26:28you want to add on,
26:29Andrew,
26:30that I have not
26:31asked you?
26:32I would say
26:33please question
26:34a few years
26:35from now
26:36what would be
26:37the greatest achievement
26:38from this whole
26:39thing that we are
26:40trying to do
26:41is trying to win
26:42the Nobel Prize
26:43for literature.
26:44Ah,
26:45okay.
26:46Watch this space.
26:47So,
26:48what's that again?
26:49A billion books by?
26:50In 10 years time.
26:51In 10 years time.
26:52So,
26:53that's...
26:54Annually.
26:55Oh,
26:56annually.
26:57In 10 years time.
26:58So,
26:59okay.
27:00Also watch this space.
27:01You know,
27:02questions,
27:03seasons three.
27:04I'm Priya Liu.
27:05Of course,
27:06I've been speaking
27:07to Andrew Yap
27:08from Book Access
27:09and Big Bad Wolf Sale.