By Amy Fong
It's time again for students in the University of Macao (Umac) to start reading textbooks. Haven't you got your books yet? Be patient; it's coming.
"It's really too late for us to get textbooks in the middle of October since chapters have been gone over," Cindy Chan, a Year 4 student of the Faculty of Business Administration (FBA) complained. "It's my fourth year to study in Umac and it seems to be the habit of our bookstore to keep us waiting for books until October."
She said that the bookstore shows no improvement in keeping a sufficient stock for Umac students even at the beginning of a new semester. She also suggested to
bring in another bookstore on campus since competition may improve the management of the present bookstore.
Eva Hong, a year 2 student of FBA agreed that the bookstore is inefficient. "The bookstore is convenient for us to buy stationery in the school, but not for buying textbooks," she said. "I am still waiting for two ordered books to arrive, even though I know they are available in another bookshop. I have already paid the campus bookstore the installment and have no choice but to wait."
Celia Chen, another Year 2 student of FBA, had a similar experience as Hong. She said that it causes her inconvenience in class, such as taking extra notes and borrowing books from classmates.
She was told to come and check if her textbooks would arrive in October since shopkeepers themselves could not tell exactly when her books would arrive.
Hong and Chen believe that the bookstore should take further action to solve this problem because it really brings inconvenience to students.
On the other hand, the bookstore claimed that they also have their own difficulties in ordering books when new semesters begin.
"We do keep a stock of textbooks, but it's difficult for us to estimate how much the stock is sufficient since the demand for textbooks changes all the time," said a shopkeeper of the campus bookstore. "We don't want to keep a large number of textbooks in the store. That is not profit-making at all."
The bookstore has already increased its stock quota for textbooks to meet the demand of a growing number of students, mostly from mainland China, the shopkeeper added.
Moreover, most textbooks used in Umac are shipped mainly from Singapore and therefore transportation remains another factor.
She also explained that it is always out of their control to know exactly when ordered textbooks could arrive, especially overseas orders. For example, they had placed an order for an accounting textbook at the end of July, but till now at the end of September, they are still waiting for it.
However, students do think that something needs to be done by the store. Cecelia Choi, a 4th year student majoring in accounting, said, "We expect the campus bookstore to bring us convenience, otherwise it may just become a 'paper store' or 'order store'. "