Books Are Making A Comeback Despite Popularity Of Internet
By Azaraimy HH

Bandar Seri Begawan - This year, more than 40,000 people visited the Book Fair 2008 at the International Convention Centre, representing the biggest turnout in the history of the book fair and suggesting the comeback of books as the primary reading medium in Brunei despite the advent of the internet and its associated digital phenomenon.

This year's book fair also recorded the largest participation of about 110 booths due to the increase in authors' participations from some 60 companies, including those from the Asean Book Publishing Association.

However, Pengiran Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohammad bin Pengiran Haji Abd Rahman, Deputy Education Minister, in his speech marking the closing of the book fair on March 6 said that books are treasures of knowledge and the influence ofthe internet should not reduce our need for reading materials but instead should support and widen the invaluable treasures.

He added that, "Speaking on the strength of ICT influence in today's globalising world, will it reduce our needs for reading materials? In my opinion, the role of books is eternal because reading materials, especially books, are treasures that cannot be valued in dollars, whereas ICT is a tool that can help to acquire or open those treasures.

"Hence, our new generation needs both (books and ICT). They must master ICT skills that will enable them to function efficiently and effectively in the new challenging and complex world.

"At the same time, they should not detach (themselves) from reading books as they (books) act as a reference for the mind and soul and enrich them with a variety of knowledge ..."

He also reiterated that by getting the youths as near as possible to books, it will also keep them far from the negative elements that are always lurking around looking for victims, especially the younger generation who are not wise in keeping their distance from these negative influences.

He also acknowledged the efforts carried out by the Language and Literature Bureau in availing reading materials of all stages of society, and the bureau's active involvement in arranging events that attract students to books, such as managing the mobile library.

He also urged that steps should be taken to bring back interest in reading books not only to the new generation but to all age levels of the society because there is no age limit in regard to reading books.

"Reading is a healthy and calming activity, an activity that builds one's mind.

"This is why in any developed nation; we find that they have a society that cannot live without reading. They read anywhere and everywhere, in buses, on trains, on planes, in coffee shops, in short, anywhere.

"They read for knowledge and information (found) in magazines, journals, newspapers, novels, books, etc. This is the reading culture we need to put as an example for us," he added.

It is clear, he said, a society that likes reading will become a clever society that can lift the status of the nation, making the country respected and revered, regardless of the size of the population.

"In this era, the quality of the nation is weighted much on its mental agility and not measured by the physical size such as in the past.

"Therefore, to build a quality nation, reading must be promoted as a hobby, a culture, and a daily routine," he said, adding that, "this is also in line with the teachings of Islam that encourage the faithful to read and not to waste time."

The steps that can be taken, he said, are as follows:

First, to organise reading campaigns continuously without season;

Second, to create interesting reading materials easily available in the market;

Third, to inform the media about the availability of reading topics from time to time, while informing the public why the topics are an essential reading;

Fourth, is to have a mini-library at home as a necessity for the family; and

Fifth, is to instil a mindset where every time one has time, people will read instead of do other things.

Dr Mataim bin Bakar, Director of the Language and Literature Bureau, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports told the Bulletin on the weekend that he was impressed with the turnout during the recent book fair and reiterated the importance of the theme, which is "Books are the future".

He said the event was held in conjunction with the National Day celebration and the book fair theme was pretty much in line with the National Day theme "Tunas Bangsa", which literally means the budding generation of the nation's populace. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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