Q REAZANT (pronounced kyuu-rey-zhunt) ENTERPRISE is a company set up by two sisters, Raja Ezatul Akhma bt Raja Fuaddin and Raja Nazatul Akhma bt Raja Fuaddin, with the ultimate aim of encouraging Malaysians to read and write.
Their initial step in achieving that goal was to open Q'reazant: Literary Rental Store on July 2006 at the centre of Malaysia's education, the university town of Bandar Baru Bangi. The Q'reazant store provides a wide range of local and imported books, magazines and comics for rent catered specifically for the people of Bandar Baru Bangi and its surrounding community.
"We are using the term Literary Rental Store because we do not want people thinking that we only have light and simple storybooks. Our collection of fictions and non-fictions are mostly award winners and are chosen from best-sellers lists. We also rent out reference and textbooks; as well as informative magazines like the National Geographic and the Reader's Digest. And to help our customer's wind down after a hectic day, our comics and joke books will definitely do the trick," said Q'reazant partner and Manager, Ezatul. A booklover and a great supporter of literacy, Ezatul is a graduate from LaTrobe University, Australia and has a Bachelor of Business in Human Resource.
According to the other partner and Manager of Q'reazant, Nazatul; they decided to begin with the store because books in Malaysia are so expensive and that discourage people to read. "If you look at the price printed on the covers of imported books, one book will only cost about 4 or 5 dollars in their currency. And that is affordable to THEIR people. A book by a Malaysian author will cost at least RM20. Consumers would have to choose between having ONE book; and eating four decent meals! And when Malaysians don't read, how can they write good literature worth paying RM20 for?". Nazatul, who earned her Bachelor of Engineering in Industrial Design from Takushoku University, Japan; believes strongly in "giving back" to the country and hopes her deep interest in the publishing world would help her do just that. She is now pursuing her Master in Business Administration in Universiti Putra Malaysia. |