ESCAPING CLUELESSNESS
I read with with interest recent news reports about Malaysians' reading habit, which is virtually non-existent. According to the reports, a survey found that 98% of Malaysian children read only two books a year. I guess it was this very shameful fact that had led the authorities to launch the annual National Reading Campaign, with plans to spend a whopping RM10 million a year for the next five years.
Yup. Yet another noble (debatable) effort by our government. I just can't wait to see the campaign's outcome. If it turns out to be a success, well and good. If not, the government can always say: Well, we tried.
Personally, I'm not quite sure how this habit could be cultivated. It's either you love reading, or you don't. Plus, there are so many distractions nowadays.
When I was a child in primary school, books were my only source of pleasure. We were so poor we did not have a TV, and the radio made its debut in our home when I was nearly 12 years old! My mother bought our first TV (she said she wanted to wait for colour TV) when I was 16 or 17.
So, I buried myself in books. My favourites were those Enid Blyton novels -- the Famous Five series -- I found in the school library. I remember finishing all the books in the series in less than a month.
My eldest sister was a bit worried, because she felt Ms Blyton's books had no real literary value. So to please her, I started reading all those novels by the late Hamka, arguably one of the most prolific of Indonesian writers, and books by Malaysian novelists like A. Samad Said, Shahnon Ahmad and the like. My sister also introduced me to the (translated) works of Rabindranath Tagore, India's Nobel laureate poet and writer. And all this while I was still in primary school!
When I got to secondary school, my staple read included classic works of Dickens, the Brontë sisters, Steinbeck, Hemingway, Melville, du Maurier, de Maupassant etc. My all time favourites were Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird (I think I must have read it 36 times, or more!!) and Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind (I finished it in three days during a term break -- my mom threatened to consult a bomoh as I refused to put down the book even at meal times), and I read it again and again for a total of not less than 15 times.
But that was just me. I just loved reading. I still do, except that now I don't have the luxury of time to read a lot. But I still make it a habit to buy at least one book every time I go to the book store with my twin godsons, who just love book stores! Now, if only I could get them to love reading as much....
I'm not sure what the government wants to do with the proposed annual budget of RM10 million for the reading campaign. My suggestion is to stock school libraries, especially primary and secondary schools, with really good books, and not just those meant to help students pass their exams.
Which brings me to another point I'm trying to make. It seems that nowadays reading is only for passing exams, for finishing class assignments.
It's no longer for pleasure, no longer for discovery purposes, no longer for opening of the mind and imagination, no longer for moulding character and values. Especially among my Malay brethrens.
Opps. They do read for pleasure, but their top choice reading materials would be those gossip rags, and gossip rags only (how would you explain the staying power of URTV, and the sister rag Mangga?).
So, how to mould character and values like that? How to get them to discover knowledge, how to open up their minds and imagination, how to get them get over their ignorance and cluelessness?
On any weekend, if you go to the book stores, you'd hardly see any Malay people with their kids there. You go to Malay homes, how many would have a library or at least reading corner? Macamana nak terus maju?
So, rajin-rajinlah membaca, jangan terus hanyut dalam kejahilan minda. Ewahh.
MALAYSIANS ARE NOT RUDE
Like the majority of Malaysians, I totally disagree with the recent findings of a survey published by the Reader's Digest that placed Kuala Lumpur the third rudest city in the world.
Why do I disagree, you ask? Well, I disagree because I have proof that Malaysians are not like that at all. We are all such refined ladies and gentlemen. Kita kaya dengan budi bahasa, kita bangsa bertimbang rasa. We are all very considerate. The following observation proves my point:
- Malaysians ALWAYS say "Thank you" and "You are welcome" when other people do something nice for them. The most excellent examples are the sales people in our shopping malls. They are SO polite and DO NOT snigger at you even when you do not buy anything at their shops. Same thing goes to our toll booth operators. They smile and thank you ALL the time after collecting your money. And those waiters and waitresses, they are ALL gems, our little ambassadors of politeness and good manners.
- Malaysian drivers NEVER cut queues, especially during horrendous traffic congestion. Everyone will wait patiently for his/her turn. They NEVER, EVER use emergency lanes to cilok.They ALWAYS give way to other drivers who signal to change lanes. And they ALWAYS use their indicators when they want to turn. Their indicators are NOT for decoration only. They ALWAYS give way to pedestrians at zebra crossings. Slow drivers NEVER hog the fast lanes. Malaysian drivers ALWAYS adhere to speed limit, and they ALWAYS pay their speeding tickets or fines on time.
- Malaysians ALWAYS open doors, or hold open the doors for other people, especially for ladies and old people, or people with babies or small children, or people with lots of things in their arms/hands. They NEVER let the doors slam into these people's faces.
- Malaysians NEVER spit in public, in the elevators, or on the road while stuck in traffic jam. They also NEVER pick their noses or ears in the car while stuck in traffic jam.
- Malaysians ALWAYS dispose of their rubbish properly. They NEVER while driving wind down their car window and chuck out fruit peels, plastic wraps, tissue paper, drink cans, cigarette butts, empty mineral bottles etc. And these things NEVER hit the car or cars behind them. And if they live in high-rises, they will NEVER, EVER throw garbage out of their windows, especially things that could potentially hurt somebody down below.
- Malaysians also ALWAYS pick up things they drop, especially if these are the things that should go in the trash bin. And when they knock into something in a shop, they will ALWAYS pick that something up and put it back in its proper place.
- Malaysians ALWAYS smile back and ALWAYS warmly respond to greetings from airline crew when they fly. When people smile or greet them, Malaysians NEVER think that they are being hit upon.
- Malaysians NEVER rush into elevators. They ALWAYS wait for those passengers already in the elevators to come out first before they enter. And when using escalators, they NEVER stand side by side with their friend(s) on the escalator, but will ALWAYS let other people who are in a hurry to pass.
- Malaysian taxi drivers are ALWAYS honest. They ALWAYS use their metres and NEVER try to cheat or over charge their passengers, especially if the passengers are foreigners.
- Malaysians ALWAYS have impeccable table manners. They NEVER overstuff their plates at the buffet line. They NEVER speak with their mouths full. They NEVER spit out chicken bones onto the dining table, and they NEVER drink their soup with a straw. Eh, no, I'm confused. It's Singaporeans who NEVER drink their soup with a straw.
- Malaysian Muslims ALWAYS think of their Hindu brethrens when they invite them to their parties and NEVER serve beef at the parties, much like the non-Muslims who NEVER serve pork at parties they invite their Muslim friends to.
- Malaysian traders at China Town or Chow Kit are ALL so very, very polite, they NEVER curse at you or call you horrible names if you don't buy their imitation goods.
- Malaysians NEVER talk in the cinema during a movie. They ALWAYS switch off their cellphones and NEVER take calls. And if they accidentally do, they ALWAYS stop when fellow cinema-goers ask them to. They also NEVER leave behind garbage -- popcorn tubs, paper cups, etc -- after a movie.
- Malaysians NEVER bring their domestic help or maids to parties at friends', especially when they know that the parties are meant for, well, friends. And ALL Malaysians who have maids treat their maids very well. They NEVER abuse them, pour hot water on them, and NEVER, EVER hit them with hot iron.
- Malaysians NEVER bring durians into hotels or into any other buildings, for fear that other guests or their colleagues would suffer migraines or nausea upon smelling the fruit's wonderful and universally loved aroma. They ALWAYS adhere to signs at buildings that prohibit the fruit.
- Malaysians ALWAYS queue up properly at train stations or bus stops. They NEVER fight for seats and ALWAYS give up the seats to the elderly, pregnant ladies, handicapped OKUs, especially if these seats ARE already meant and marked for these people.
Well, these are some of the proof (and the list does not end here), mainly from personal observation, that I could think of. So, they prove that Malaysians are NOT rude.
Right.
IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST. REALLY.
Well, it's now officially splitsville between a certain SMS King and his (ex-) would-be Queen. What a sad end to perhaps the most scrutinised relationship in Malaya's recent history.
And bravo to the mainstream and tabloid reporters who relentlessly sought the couple (or any one of them), chewed them and spat them out like yesterday's entree. I'm sure they're now very happy their mission is accomplished. Shameless vultures!
I feel so sad and sorry for the former lovebirds. They have been used and abused by the vultures to no end. When the SMS King was just crowned, the vultures had the cheek to reprimand, via scathing articles, CD pirates and finger-happy aspiring scribes who "used" and "exploited" the poor, ignorant boy.
Yet, day after day their own newspapers and tabloids ran pages after pages of stories about him, his likes, his dislikes, what he would eat, what he wouldn't eat, how many times he would fart, etc, no matter how silly or nonsensical the stories sounded.
Ironic.
Then, as they began to run out of things to write about the boy, they tracked those close to him. His family members became instant, reluctant celebrities. So did his fiancee. They hunted her down for interviews, photo shoots, comments, what-have-you.
When these too became stale news, they created new ones, linking the boy to other celebrities. Pages after pages of fishy business. All in the name of public interest, I'm sure.
So the poor girl in the kampung naturally got worried. The bastards who called themselves managers of the boy also did not help matters. The two did not communicate for five months due to the boy's busy schedule. So she came to see him, but was stood up a few times.
So, the vultures got a drift of this, too, and pursued and pecked, pursued and pecked, until what was very private became very public. And then the boy, not so bright to begin with, retaliated, after he himself was pursued and pecked. The rest, like they always say, is history.
So, I guess the girl, now labeled gila glamour by the very vultures who had sought her, would be dropped like a sack of potatoes. She's no longer somebody, she's yesterday's news. She's stale toast.
And the vultures? They will continue pursuing other busuk things to peck and pick on. It's what they do.
TO KONGSI, OR NOT TO KONGSI
A lot of people have said a lot of things over the statement made by the Perak Mufti a while ago that the Muslim Hari Raya ought not be jointly celebrated with people of other faiths as this could erode the faith of Muslims and lead to blasphemy.
In a truly Malaysian fashion, as soon as this was reported, hundreds of Som, Nik and Mary came forward to voice their two-sen opinion on the topic. It doesn't matter that most of them are quite clueless (read not quite an authority on Islam), but thanks to the equally clueless reporters, their misinformed views get air time and column inch, and contribute further to the confusion.
Granted that the Perak Mufti is not actually a person known for making PC statements (remember not too long ago he suggested that all HIV/AIDS patients be banished to some island?), I think that this particular topic needs to be looked at within the context within which it was made/meant to be discussed.
A lot of people (including me) do not really understand the concept of Hari Raya, and why Muslims celebrate it. Who can blame them? Hari Raya today has degenerated into a highly commercialised affair of excessive consumption, wastage and stupid TV entertainment. It has been almost totally stripped off its religious meaning.
Hari Raya Aidil Fitri is to mark the end of puasa, where Muslims must also pay the zakat fitrah. These two ibadah, part of the five rukun Islam, when performed correctly and with utmost sincerity, would "purify" the Muslims. The other Hari Raya, the Aidil Adha, is part of the haj ritual, another one of the rukun Islam, and has a lot to do with the concept of one-ness of Allah, often reminded through the story of sacrifice made by Nabi Ibrahim of his son Nabi Ismail.
So, basically, the two Hari Raya have a lot to do with the doctrine and rituals of Islam and the Muslim worship. Therefore, it doesn't make any sense to kongsi them with people of other faiths. It's the same with festivities of other religions, which should be respected but not neccesarily shared by every Malaysian.
I think it was in this context that the Perak Mufti was talking about. But then again, I could be wrong, sebab saya pun tak berapa arif bab ni.
As for kongsi makan during Hari Raya (and during all other festivities)? I'm all for it, as it has become what Malaysia Truly Asia is known for.
Right.
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