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"I (a 6 year old) drew a picture that looks like a hat. Every time I asked an adult what is it? They never fail to answer 'a hat!'. The truth is, it is not. It is a picture of a boa constrictor (a type of python-like snake) swallowing a wild beast without chewing and afterwards they no longer able to move and they go to sleep for six months to digest"
ead!, that was the first word that came down from the heavens to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Why the word "Read"? The importance of that act must be truly significant worthy of such status to be mentioned first. With that divine acknowledgement, I think we ought to at least give ourselves the chance to try, if we are not fond of it. Many of us like to read. I like to read. However, there are also many who hates reading. I have a friend who used to be a "non-reader" and somehow I managed to convert him to become a "reader". Of course, this can be a menial task (pursuading) but with the right type of material, it can become rewarding. You just have to know what interests your non-reader friend(s).
In my case, he (the non-reader friend) is fond of action stories (movies) that highlights rage against Muslim extremism. I found just the perfect book to entice him a new hobby (reading) -
The Mahdi by A.J. Quinnell. It was his first time ever finishing reading a novel. He claims that it is truly a rewarding experience. He never knew reading can be interesting like any other hobbies. Subsequently, he read more and more and now he is a big fan of Jeffrey Archer. Every year, buying birthday presents for him is an easy task (choosing) - books!. You should try this on your non-reader friends. Identify their areas of interests and wham bam! shoot the jackpot in the middle of their two eyes,... and they will become a reader. Tell them that reading can be done at anywhere, anytime of the day, be it in the train, at bed, while breast feeding babies, while waiting for your kids to come out of the school gate and of course, while doing your business in the toilet!
There are many genres that you can introduce to your non-reader friends. There are compilation of short stories like those by Jeffrey Archer - to name a few:
To Cut A Long Story Short and
Cat O'Nine Tales. Archer also has other interesting titles such as
Not A Penny More Not A Penny Less,
Kane & Abel,
The Prodigal Daughter and
Shall We Tell The President. Some action materials can also be entertaining such as Mario Puzo's
The Godfather (which later had a trilogy movie adaptation) and Dan Brown's
Da Vinci Code. There are also classics such as J.D. Salinger's
Catcher in the Rhye, Harper Lee's
To Kill A Mocking Bird and Anthony Burgess'
The Malayan Trilogy. Some materials can be controversial like Erich Von Daniken's
Chariots of Gods, John Perkin's
Confessions Of An Economic Hitman and Salman Rushdie's
The Satanic Verses (Salman's - not recommended though). There are loads of good reading material. They are easy to read and really a page turner.
From the Malaysian perspective, there are also good materials that cover politics and history. With these, you will find the refreshing feeling of understanding why Malaysia is what it is today. Of course there are historical texts such as
Hikayat Hang Tuah and
Sejarah Melayu, but those are too academic or too "literature"ish. A more interesting read would be Tun Mahathir's
The Malay Dilemma and Abdullah Hussain's
Interlok. The former touches deep into the souls of the Malays and can evoke the spirit of wanting to excel in life; and the latter is truly a magnificent piece to demonstrate a 1Malaysia feeling (except the bits that caused havoc in 2011). Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye wrote many articles for the press on humanitarian concerns. His (Tan Sri Lee) writings have been compiled into a book called
Nasionalis Humanis. Dato' Johan Jaaffar (Chairman of Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka) also had his editorial columns booked in a compilation called
Nota Kaki. These are all good stuff but some may find it too heavy.
If these titles do not interest your non-reader friends, start with some elementary stuff. There are some good ones which look like kid's stuff but when read with an open mind, can touch the inner soul of an adult. For example, George Orwell's
Animal Farm is a fun kiddish story of animals at the farm; but, when interpreted correctly, it is actually talking about the ideology of communism. Antoine De Saint-Exupery wrote a beautiful piece about a lonely boy on a small planet as an imaginary tale for kids - called
The Little Prince - truly a magnificent piece as well. Antoine wrote (summarised in this version) this meaningful piece where a kid's mind is far more creative than an adult:
"I (a 6 year old) drew a picture that looks like a hat. Every time I asked an adult what is it? They never fail to answer 'a hat!'. The truth is, it is not. It is a picture of a boa constrictor (a type of python-like snake) swallowing a wild beast without chewing and afterwards they no longer able to move and they go to sleep for six months to digest".
So, let us all embrace the culture of reading. Whatever form they may be, whether it is on-line on the internet, newspapers or books. You will find it satisfying everytime you complete a novel. If you have the time, do a review of the book - a reason for you to start a blog!. Suggest good materials to friends and families. Join a book club. Be a member of libraries. Subscribe to newspapers or on-line reading. Perhaps time is of essence? In the U.K or Australia or Japan, most people travel by train - that allows them the time to read. In Malaysia, traffic jams kill that idea. Take it this way - If you can find the time to watch a pirated DVD at home, surely you can find the time to read? Perhaps you can divide your available time between DVDs, jogging, playing video games, bitching about others at
kopitiam and reading?! I am sure if you want to do it, there are 1,000 ways and if you don't want to, 1,000 reasons (Translation of a Malay proverb
"Hendak Seribu Daya, Tak Nak Seribu Dalih"). The fact that you completed reading this blog-post suggests that you are already on the right track. Go further and pick up a book at the book store - any genre of your liking - it will be a rewarding experience - I promise you! Cheers
* kopihangtuah
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