Almost 10 years ago, a friend of Randall Chong asked him a simple question which changed the course of his career and his outlook in life. Here, he shares his story that led to the creation of social enterprise Books Beyond Borders

In 2016, while feeling burnt out working in a startup, a friend challenged Randall Chong to do one thing that scared him in the new year. Little did he know that this challenge would change his perception of life.

The question sparked something in Chong. “I took that challenge a little bit too personally,” he shares. Although he is usually not one to take risks, he found himself taking on this challenge. The following year, he took a sabbatical and embarked on a 14-day solo trek across the Himalayas to reach the Mount Everest Base Camp.

During his trek, he noticed children who weren’t in school and working jobs with little to no pay. It was then that he decided to quit his job and spend a year raising money for these schools. This was the beginning of Chong’s journey to creating the homegrown social enterprise, Books Beyond Borders.

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As a one-time project, Chong raised money for these schools by baking and selling cookies to his friends and family. During this time, he also encouraged his friends to support his fundraising campaign instead of giving him birthday gifts. “I did that for a little while, and when I ran out of friends and family, I decided to sell my books on Carousell,” he says, adding that his loved ones would reach out to him to donate their books.

When Chong first began collecting books to sell, he started in his grandfather’s spare bedroom, where he installed his first bookshelf—a shelf he still uses in the current bookstore today. As his collection grew, he realised he could turn this passion project into a social enterprise. “Over the last few years I’ve figured that it doesn’t have to be a one off donation or a charity. It could be sustainable and I can look at it as a career,” he explains.

He moved to a small warehouse in Toa Payoh and later found a space in Marymount. There, he opened the doors on weekends, inviting people to browse and purchase books. Eventually, Chong relocated the bookstore to Maxwell, choosing the location for its convenience and making it easier for customers to buy and drop off books.