Sunday, July 16, 2006
Reading Campaign
...what reading campaign?!!
Yeah, what reading campaign? Kononnya, Malaysia is having this reading campaign, and actually has been running reading campaigns since 1996. Wow... was I out of the country when this happened? Because I have no fucking idea that the government gave a fucking damn if we read or not...
I have always griped about how inadequate our public libraries are. Enter the Shah Alam library and you meet with books... NON-FICTION books. And you expect these small kids to read 'Hari Ini Dalam Sejarah' and 'Sejarah Malaya' and 'Dr. Mahathir's Autobiography' and what nots.
And they say it's the parentss fault that the younger generation don't read much.
This below is an interview with the National Library's Director General, Dr Haji Wan Ali Wan Mamat. It can be found in Sunday Star, so I'm putting this up for those who did not read it and for those on the other side of SCS.
Q: Was last year's reading campaign a success?
A: Yes, I think it was a success. It was ... not bad.
Q: How did you measure the success?
A: We did not measure.
Q: So what makes you say that it was a success?
A: I guess, you could say because the use of libraries increased. Book sales also maybe increased.
Q: Do you have data on the increase of library use and book sales?
A: No, we do not have any data yet. It is my impression that the campaign was a success.
Q: What do you base your impression on?
A: For example ... there are not enough seats in the library on Saturdays nowadays. This is partly thanks to our new wing with more books.
Q: How many books are in the new wing?
A: I am no sure. More books ... maybe three times the nuumber in the old area.
Q: You also have a nice new roof! How much did it cost?
A: More than RM5mil.
Q: How much did the new books in the new wing cost?
A: I'm no sure, but very much more than what we spent the year before.
Ahh... *contemplative silence* ... Ahh...
*diplomatically*
Well, we can look at it this way. He may be the type of guy who is trying to cut down the cost spent on renovating the library while spending the money on buying books. That's why he knows the price of the roof (as he need to bargain his way down) and he just signs all the cheques to buy books blindly because he believe that as long as he buys lots and lots of books, the costs do not matter. And he doesn't know the number of books because he just loads it all in, regardless of numbers. And maybe his impression is true?
Yeah, fucking right on. What the fuck was that?!!! I can't believe I actually tried to defend that idiot's case. How the hell did this guy make it to become the top man in the National Library? Oh, I forgot. He's Malay. (Hey, no offense to Malays here. He is just that lone bad apple, like many other lone bad apples)
I can imagine the interviewer rolling her eyes as she asked the roof question, and I can imagine the asshole director grinning smugly when he answered RM5m. How can the Director not know anything about the books in his own library. Hell, surveys showed that librarians in the Public libraries do not know about books either.
And you expect the build a reading generation before year 2020.
Sure, dream on, Malaysia. Malaysia pun boleh mimpi.
Why can't our Public Libraries be like libraries of Singapore? Shucks... then I don't have to spend RM40++ to get a book that I would only read once. Sheesh.
Anyway, things I expect from this so called Reading Campaign.
- Cheaper books (good books. Not some nonsense crap)
- Book vouchers (MPH/Kinokuniya/Times. As long as not Popular)
- Top bookshops participating so WE can get cheaper books.
Somehow, I feel that I'm gonna get really disappointed with it.
Well, it was really impressive from this side, believe me!
- Bart, after accidently shooting Fei, Elly, Citan, Rico, and Hammer with a Bart Missle, Xenogears
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