1924
POPULAR’s history began in Singapore, under the trade name Cheng Hing Company. It distributed Chinese storybooks and picture books, an early start of what is now the present POPULAR Group.
1934
World Book Company was established in Singapore to distribute Chinese books and publish Chinese magazines and books. It was widely recognized as one of the leading Chinese book publishers, retailers and distributors in Singapore and Malaysia.
1936
Popular Book Company was established in Singapore as a retail channel for Chinese books.
1949
World Publishing Company was established in Hong Kong to publish magazines and Chinese books for the local and Southeast Asian markets.
1950
Educational Publishing House (‘EPH’) was established in Hong Kong, China, principally to publish pre-school and primary textbooks and teaching materials. EPH further expanded its market when it began to publish secondary textbooks in 2009. Today, EPH is one of the market leaders in Hong Kong textbook publishing. EPH set up offices in Singapore (1996), Malaysia (1998) and Macau, China (2000). All EPH publishing houses are recognised publishers of a variety of textbooks and supplementary materials.
1952
The Commercial Press, Chung Hwa Book Co., Shanghai Book Co., World Book Co. and Nanyang Book Co. joined forces to set up United Publishing House (‘UPH’) in Singapore and Malaysia to publish primary textbooks. UPH Singapore became part of POPULAR’s Educational Publishing House Pte Ltd in Singapore in 1996.
1970
The very first HARRIS bookstore was opened in Hong Kong, China and it was Hong Kong’s premier English bookstore in its time. In 2006, the next chapter began for HARRIS with the opening of stores in Malaysia and Singapore. Today, HARRIS is an established English language bookstore name in Malaysia.
1980
POPULAR flagship store, the largest bookstore in Southeast Asia, was opened in Singapore’s Bras Basah complex. It marked POPULAR’s successful venture into the bilingual retail book business. Today, POPULAR is the largest bookstore chain in Southeast Asia, with more than 100 retail stores across Singapore and Malaysia.
1984
The first POPULAR bookstore in Malaysia was opened in Kuala Lumpur. POPULAR’s expansion within Malaysia started in 1990, and by 1996, POPULAR Malaysia had extended to East Malaysia. 2003 marked the opening of its first megastore in Damansara PJ, and today, POPULAR Malaysia has a total of four megastores, all strategically located across the Klang Valley, Penang, and Johor Bharu, in response to increasing customer demand in these areas.
1991
The brand ‘CD-RAMA’ was launched for the retail sale of music and audio products by POPULAR Singapore (1991), POPULAR Malaysia (1992), and POPULAR Hong Kong (1992).
1994
Incorporated as Popular Book Company (Canada) Limited in Toronto, Canada, it is today one of the key educational workbook publishers in Canada.
1997
Popular Holdings Limited was listed on the main board of the Singapore Stock Exchange.
1998
Pan Lloyds Publishers Limited was set up to focus on supplementary materials for exam preparation and home learning. Today, Pan Lloyds is the market leader in educational supplementary publishing in Hong Kong, China, with a wide range of products serving both the primary and secondary sectors.
1999
POPULAR moved into a new headquarters at 20 Old Toh Tuck Road in Singapore, and the purchasing office in Taiwan was set up. Following healthy growth in the Taiwan business, Popular Book Company Ltd was incorporated in 2003.
2001
Popular e-Learning Holdings Pte Ltd (PeLH) was incorporated in Singapore to provide content-rich, digital educational products, and online services. In collaboration with government agencies and key industry partners, PeLH provides a variety of digital and multimedia resources to integrate IT into the curriculum.
2004
POPULAR formed a joint venture with the former China National Publishing Industry Trading Corporation and set up Popular Modern Books Company Limited to distribute Chinese publications to overseas market. POPULAR is currently the single largest Chinese book exporter in China, coordinating the purchase of Chinese books for POPULAR’s bookstores and various distribution channels.
PopularWorld (Beijing) Limited, a wholly-subsidiary, was set up to start the development of pre-school education in the China market.
2006
POPULAR successfully organised the inaugural BookFest@Singapore and BookFest@Malaysia, followed by BookFest@Hong Kong in 2008. Today, the BookFest is a major annual book industry event in Singapore and Malaysia.
2007
Seashore Publishing (M) Sdn Bhd was established in Malaysia to strengthen POPULAR’s presence in Southeast Asia through the publishing of bilingual general books.
2009
POPULAR opened UrbanWrite, a new concept-stationery store. In the same year, POPULAR also launched a new concept-bookstore, {prologue}, in the prestigious ION Orchard mall in Singapore.
2011
Popular Holdings Limited was ranked as a ‘Singapore International 100 Company’.
2012
JumpStart Publishers was established in July to increase POPULAR’s market share in the educational supplementary materials market in Hong Kong.
Kam Pui’s new imprint, ‘Ichiban’, was launched. Targeting young people, it publishes titles on contemporary topics, achieving excellent sales results.
2013
EduSmart Learning Centre was set up to develop the new business of child education in Hong Kong, China.
POPULAR Card membership in Malaysia reached the 1,000,000 mark in August.
Acquired Borders and renamed as POPULAR.
2014
POPULAR finalised a licensing agreement with BBC Worldwide (‘BCCW’) for some BCCW brands and intellectual property to be used in POPULAR-run English language learning centres in Hong Kong and Mainland China. To facilitate the smooth operation of the business, Popular (Shanghai) Company Limited — a wholly-owned foreign enterprise was incorporated and started its operation in Pudong, Shanghai.
A & I published Interactive General Studies in May for primary schools in Hong Kong. It was among the first batch of e-textbooks to be officially incorporated into the Hong Kong Education Bureau’s Recommended e-Textbook List.
POPULAR Taiwan established Polis Press in August in 2014, embarking on the journey to disperse the seeds of Chinese culture far and wide.
2015
POPULAR was ranked among the Top 100 Brands in Singapore by Brand Finance for four consecutive years since 2012.
The first CBeebies English Learning Centre was officially opened in September 2015 in Shanghai, which marked a new chapter in the Education business for POPULAR.
2017
Educational House Publishing Limited launched its online shopping platform ‘EPH Mall’ in Hong Kong, providing a convenient and quality shopping service to parents and customers.
POPULAR Hong Kong, which includes the Pan Lloyds Group, Kam Pui Enterprises Limited and Popular Book Company Limited, was the key largest exhibitor in the Hong Kong Book Fair.
2018
POPULAR Singapore launched a network of New Generation stores in 15 locations across Singapore. The New Generation stores boast sleek and modern furnishings, unparalleled service, and a rejuvenated range of merchandise. The new POPULAR Bookstore in Singapore Management University kickstarted the launch of self-checkout kiosks across our all our retail stores.
Pan Lloyds in Hong Kong, China marked its 20th Anniversary with celebrations embracing the theme, ‘Soaring beyond 2.0, Pan Lloyds’ New Milestone’.
2019
The launch of the POPULAR SG App, with the POPULAR e-Card subsequently launched on the app in 2019. POPULAR Malaysia also launched its own POPULAR MY App, as well as the 95th Anniversary Limited Edition on POPULAR Membership Card.
POPULAR Malaysia opened its 100th store in AEON Mall Taman Maluri, Kuala Lumpur, in August 2019. As the first ‘AEON Style’ mall in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, the newly-refurbished modern mall is strategically located in an integrated development area with a potential market reach of more than 700,000, alongside an accessible public transport system.
POPULAR USA published its first ‘365 Fun Days’ workbook series. Alongside the evergreen products of POPULAR Canada, POPULAR formally ventured into the US market.
2020
EduSmart was officially renamed Popular Learning. Positioning itself as “Hong Kong’s Education Curricula Expert’s”, Popular Learning offers pre-school and primary Chinese, English, and Mathematics programmes that are closely aligned with Hong Kong’s education curricula.
2021
POPULAR launched e-commerce in Singapore, PopularOnline.com.
2023
Mr Chou Cheng Ngok, son of POPULAR’s founder, Mr Chou Sing Chu, retired officially and stepped down from his positions as Group CEO and Executive Director of Popular Holdings Limited. Mr Yiu Chi Shing assumes as Chairman & Group CEO.
2024
POPULAR Bookstore celebrates its 100th Anniversary with the theme, ‘A Century of Wisdom 百年树人’.