Meet the man behind Poh Kim Video, Singapore’s last DVD retailer: ‘Many people gave up, but I persisted’

FROM VHS IN ORDER TO LASER DISCS IN ORDER TO VCDS

The business enterprise made hay while the sun shone but laser discs did not stick around for lengthy. In the early 2000s, VCDs began taking world by surprise.

“We were eliminated, ” Lim remembered. “The first changeover from VHS tapes to laser dvds was okay due to the fact not everyone can afford them. But during the second changeover from laser disks to VCDs, we incurred heavy failures. ”

Since VCDs price significantly less to produce, exactly the same programme that expenses S$80 on laserlight discs started choosing S$10. Piracy became rampant and Poh Kim Video was met with one lawsuit after one more. At one stage, prices dipped for an all-time low associated with S$1.

“It was a very difficult time to get Poh Kim, ” he said, including that VCDs pushed several retailers from the market. “Many individuals gave up, but I persisted because of the relationships and trust there were built with our staff. ”

His tenacity paid back when the birth of DVDs came. Having stuck the cold and bitter VCD period out, Poh Betty was ready to assist an audience that had started to prioritise quality over pricing. They later grew to become the first DVD store to make Korean episode television series accessible to Singaporeans.

You may keep in mind Dae Jang Geum, Stairway To Paradise, and Full House. In the early 2000s, K-dramas gave Hong Kong’s TVB an operate for its money, plus were to homemakers what Pokemon was in order to children. Poh Betty acquired distribution rights for these titles and marked the Korean wave’s first creation in Singapore.

WHO ARE BUYING THESE DVDS?

Now that a DVD MOVIE could cost just as much as a monthly subscription to Netflix, who is still buying them? The answer is, amazingly, both the young and old.

“To youngsters, the difference in between watching a movie on the web and on a DVD lies in its quality, ” Lim explained. “Those who are particular regarding audiovisual quality still buy from us. ”