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English: Long Hwee Book Store has been serving the community at Mei Ling Street for almost 50 years. Mdm Ker Ah Kin has been manning the store selling bags, shoes, cassette tapes in addition to a wide collection of Chinese novels and literature.

Married in 1969, Mdm Ker and her husband initially rented a small retail space at Beauty World Shopping Centre for their book store. As their business expanded, they bought over the shop house at Mei Ling and started their business.

In the early 1970s, Mei Ling was an undeveloped hill covered by graves and farms. There were no schools; Mei Chin Primary was only built in the late 1970s. Residents used a mud road to travel to Queensway. As the Mei Ling township grew, business at Long Hwee became brisk as the pioneer book store served a growing number of students in the estate.

Long Hwee Book Store quickly became an icon where students from all walks of life would congregate and purchase their stationery supplies and books. Recalled Eric Low, 42, a former student from Hua Yi Primary and Queensway Secondary School, “This was where I bought my school bag when I was studying at Hua Yi.” As the population aged, the book store began diversifying and started selling an array of other goods. Today, the shop shares its space with a seamstress offering alteration services to meet rising rental costs. Despite this transformation to the shop front, Long Hwee Book Store remains a familiar landmark for many former residents with its original blue metal grilles and hand-cranked cash register at the counter dating from the 1960s.

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