No Need to Worry After All About Malaysian Reading Habits

*Phew* Just a few days after Utusan Malaysia was making dire pronouncements about the state of reading in Malaysia, and Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim talking about a new study being needed, someone seems to have russled up with some cheering facts very quickly. More Malaysians it seems, ARE reading :

...  the ministry recorded a whopping 38 million visitors to libraries nationwide, including those in public and private universities, exceeding the 28 million Malaysian population.

(Quite how it is possible to have more library visitors than there are people in the population is pretty interesting, don't you think?  Maybe it can be accounted for by enthusiastic readers joining as many libraries as is physically possible.)  Said Rais at the launch of the Mari Membaca 1Malaysia :

Reading has become an enveloping habit for Malaysians with most reading an average of eight to 12 books per year.

Which if true, is actually a huge improvement on previous reading statistics.  (Though again, how are these figures arrived at?).

Rais further declared that reading online is good but :

 ... we don't want our younger generation to be slaves to the computer monitor. Every three hours of computer usage should be balanced out with an hour of reading books.

And the search for Malaysian personalities to endorse books is on, with possible "icons" being mooted including former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Angkasawan Negara Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Sheikh Shukor; and actress Datuk Michelle Yeoh to play the Oprah role.

Postscript :

Yes, it's official :  film star Datuk Michelle Yeoh has been appointed ambassador for the Information, Communication, and Culture Ministry’s Come and Read 1Malaysia campaign. 

She will return to launch the campaign April 23rd (to nicely coincide with World Book Day) and books in Malay, English and mandarin will be handed out to more than 1,000 schools nationwide.

It will be interesting to see what kinds of books she reads. I had a google around but the only mention of her in connection with books was she apparently likes The Monk Who sold His Ferrari author, Robin Sharma.

 Also appointed - Datuk Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor who feels strongly about the subject.

Apparently now the search is on for  "a popular Indian ambassador".

Malaysians ... Still Ain't Reading

Utusan Malaysia this week laments the lack of a Malaysian reading culture. Hardly anyone's reading on the LRT (above) despite the launch of the Baca@LRT campaign on Facebook :

or in other public spots sampled.

And it seems that the branch libraries are not really attracting users either.

Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim has decided that the answer to the problem is to set up another study to find out about Malaysians' reading habits.

Readers of this blog may remember me getting very cross about the last time a large scale survey was carried out by the National Library because the results were never properly made public and questions about how the data was gathered were never revealed. It would have been useful for academics, teacher-trainers, teachers,  bookshop buyers, and other stakeholders to have had access to that data. (Some of those in the book retail industry anyway disputed the figures that did get quoted.)

One thing that does give me hope is that when you go along to a cheap book sale or to a book fair in the Klang Valley, the venue is invariably packed out. (I'm sure those of you who went to the BookXcess sale today would bear me out.) I think that a lot of people are keen to own books rather than borrow them. 

I suspect that a lot of people don't read in public because it is considered a slightly odd thing to do:  it hasn't become a part of the culture.  I'd go crazy if I were without a book for any length of time, but unless you have a pretty hungry reading habit, you are not going to think like that.

The Read While Waiting Project was a nice idea, but doesn't seem to have come to anything either despite the hype that surrounded it. Pity!

Malaysian Book Academy

So Malaysia now has a "Book Academy"? I only realised this when I read this editorial about Malaysian reading habits in the New Sunday Times :

While offering information and entertainment, books also provide an architecture to make sense of life. More importantly, reading civilises our inner self. And in a multiracial nation such as Malaysia, a passion for reading about each other's ways can help prevent cultural or religious conflict. Which is why any move to improve the reading habit among Malaysians -- such as the establishment of the Malaysian Book Academy -- is most welcome. The academy, launched on Friday, aims to train people for the book publication industry, and encourage writers. Admittedly, past efforts do not appear to have turned Malaysians into rapacious readers. Which is why, bearing in mind that the availability of more books does not equate to a greater readership, the academy must work in tandem with bodies such as the Education Ministry and libraries if it is to produce results.

Here's Bernama's report dated 29th Feb (which, forgive me, I'm quoting in full because I think it is very important) :

The country's book publishing industry has yet to reach the desired standards with its rate of publication of less than 10,000 titles a year, National Book Development Foundation Chairman Datuk Khalid Yunus said.

He said not only were there insufficient publications for general reading, the type and quality of the publications were also limited.

"Compared with Korea and Japan, we are still far behind. Taiwan, whose population size is about the same as Malaysia, has 30,000 books published a year," he said at the launch of the Malaysian Book Academy by Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim here today.

Khalid said publication companies in the country were not managed professionally and their staff were not exposed to modern technology.

"It is for this reason that the Malaysian Book Academy is set up," he added.

He said besides collaborating with the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry, the setting up of the academy would involve cooperation with the London Book House, Insitute of Book Publishing New Delhi and the School of Publishing New York.

Meanwhile, Rais, when met by reporters later, said he believed the setting up of the academy would help overcome problems in the industry, like book tax, tax on printing machine, ways to promote publications, etc.

He also hoped it would encourage people from other races to publish books in Malay, saying that the books could be sold at the more than 2,000 rural and public libraries nationwide.

If the sale of the book reached 3,000 copies, it was already a best-seller, he added.

On reading habit in the country, Rais said people read English publications more than those written in Malay as reflected in the statistics on English and Malay newspaper readers.

If this works it could be a real shot in the arm for local writers and publishers and I really am looking forward to hearing more.

A Nation That Reads ...

Last November it was announced that the government was about to launch a huge campaign to encourage reading among the young. In today's Starmag Daphne Lee reveals that it was flagged off last week. (Did anyone hear about it?)

Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim (left), in partnership with the Education Ministry and the National Library, has decided that this year’s reading campaign will last five years instead of the usual one month:

The campaign’s theme is Bangsa Membaca, Bangsa Berjaya (a nation that reads is a nation that succeeds).

“A month is hardly enough time for a reading campaign to get started. It’s too short a time to see any progress and there is also no time for the public to participate in activities,” says Dr Rais.

He adds that the campaign will last throughout the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010) and that RM40mil to RM50mil has been allocated for the entire campaign, which works out to RM10mil a year.

“We will target everyone regardless of age and make the campaign a platform for public participation. Reading of all kinds of material will be encouraged – novels, non-fiction works, magazines, newspapers – in any language. It is all equally beneficial.”

So how do you get people to read more? Dr. Rais admits that books have to be made more affordable and promises to investigate duty issues and ways of reducing local printing costs.

He also acknowledges too the role that must be played by public libraries but laments that many are not well stocked (though I am pretty sure this is an area the government will be targetting). But there are some problems you can't throw money at: librarians need to play an active role in encouraging communities to read, but Rais suspects (most probably quite rightly) that they themselves do not read and therefore are not equipped to do a good job.

(Daphne's chat with National Library’s Director-General, Dr Haji Wan Ali Wan Mamat is ... erm ... revealing.)

Daphne highlights some very effective reading campaigns for children in other parts of the world from which we can surely draw important lessons and interviews Margaret Hamilton director of the Children's Book Council of Australia about the excellent work carried out by the organisation.

..it takes much more than book fairs, theme songs and bright ideas to get children reading

says Daphne. Now if she were spearheading this campaign ...

Money Where the Mouth Is

In the Star today, news that the government is to launch a huge campaign to encourage reading among the young. Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim announced that RM25mil has been allocated to start a campaign. Details will be announced next month, and all state and local governments, universities and schools will be involved. This is very good news, but let's just see how the money is to be spent before we applaud too loudly.

The article also outlines efforts being made by bookstores and the PJ Community library, and there's a very nice picture of my friend Renee Koh, marketing manager of MPH.

On the same page there's an article on the art of storytelling, featuring tale spinners Judy Shaik and Keats Markandu.

In the Starmag section, Daphne Lee has some excellent ideas for ways that parents can organise a reading week for their kids. Not only will parents be turning their kids into happy little book addicts, but it's all relationship enhancing stuff too, isn't it? The idea I like best, a reading-week party with costumes and suitable food.