Even in Malaysia, where the 680-page memoirs have sparked controversy, the book is awaiting a second print-run. The first order of 2,000 copies has run out.

Ms Shirley Hew, vice-president and general manager of Times Publishing, said: "We had a very strong response from Malaysia. We ran newspaper advertisements, took a lot of pre-orders, and sample dust-jackets of the book with press kits were distributed to booksellers and the various media."

Times Publishing said another 6,000 to 7,000 copies of the book will be printed for the Malaysian market. The two-part memoirs are published by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), Times Publishing, and Simon & Schuster (Asia). At $32 a copy, the first print order of 35,000 copies was sold out in Singapore within two days of the launch at major bookstores.

A second print order of 36,000 copies has been released to major bookstores, but most copies have been snapped up by those who placed reservations with the stores earlier.

SPH and Times Publishing have published the memoirs for Singapore and Malaysia. Simon & Schuster publishes for all other markets, selling through its own offices in countries such as China, Hongkong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Korea and Japan.

It sold the memoirs through importers in Brunei, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan, said Mr Stephen Troth, the firm's publishing director for Asia.

Across Asia, 8,000 copies were snapped up within a week of the launch. Mr Troth noted: "The major markets so far have been Hongkong and Japan, though sales in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines are also strong."

The good sales have prompted Simon & Schuster to print another 8,000 copies, he said. "In India, we may print a low-price edition... if we find a strong demand for the higher-priced imported edition."

The company may also translate the memoirs into Korean, Japanese, Bahasa Indonesia and Malay, he said. Plans will be finalised later this month, he added.

Outside of Asia, the memoirs will be launched in Australia this week. Britain and Europe will launch the memoirs today, while The Singapore Story will hit American bookstores by late October.

The Chinese edition of the memoirs, translated by a team of journalists from Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore's major Chinese-language daily, has also seen brisk sales.

The Chinese memoirs are published jointly by SPH and Federal Publications.

Mr Mew Yew Hwa, Federal's vice-president and general manager, said his firm had already sold 30,000 copies -- of which 5,000 were sold in Malaysia.

A second print order of 20,000 copies was released last week, he added.

But even this batch will not be enough to meet the demand, he noted. "Federal has an outstanding order of 15,000 to 20,000 copies. With this second print of 20,000 copies, we see a need for a third print."