Popular Holdings commonly called Popular, is a Singapore-based company that publishes, distributes, and retails books for the local education market. It has subsidiaries in countries such as Canada, the People's Republic of China, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In the financial year 2009, it had a turnover of S$450 million. The first Popular Bookstore was set up in 1936 by Chou Sing Chu in North Bridge Road, focusing on retailing Chinese books and stationery. In March 2006, Popular Holdings was the main organiser of BookFest@Singapore, the first Chinese-language book fair ever held outside of China. In May 2006, Popular Holdings staged the inaugural BookFest@Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. It is a platform for established publishers to showcase their latest publications and renowned authors to meet and interact with the readers. The inaugural BookFest@Hong Kong was organized in 2008. By 2009, the annual BookFest has become a major event of the book industries in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.