We Are What We Read Or Don T

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Growing up, friends used to make up words. One was “nato” - no action, talk only. That word applies to the prime minister’s remark at the KL International Book Fair.
He said then that the “Madani nation… is rooted in conviction and love for knowledge… (but) just look at the political and economic discourse in our country… it is not based on knowledge or reading. It is driven by sentiment, anger, hatred, judgment... even religion is turned into a platform (for political gain).”
The PM was spot on. The irony? That is how the ministers, the opposition and their minions think and do for as far back as I can recall.
Sprouts of progressive reformasi in November 2022, with hopes that they could blossom into significant change quickly, wilted and died. One of the plausible causes? A lack of a well-read body politic and populace.
ADS“Look at developed countries,” the PM said. “There are none that have progressed while lacking knowledge.”
He added: “In the next five or 10 years, we want to elevate Malaysia as a great nation in our region, and to do that, we must be prepared to compete, to work, and to truly read.”
Some books that the Home Ministry has bannedWell-intentioned. But ground reality shows otherwise. (The Home Ministry, early this year, banned certain “immoral” romance novels and comics to “maintain public morality and order”. That’s stupidity at its worst).
Obviously, Malaysians can read. Our national literacy rate hovers around 95 percent. We are well-schooled across the vernacular, national, and international systems. But well-read?
Why do we read?
It is not whether Malaysians can read, but why so many choose not to. We seldom read for knowledge, for curiosity, or for leisure. Students, for instance, read for a purpose – to pass exams.
Reading viral threads and memes is not the same as reading novels and non-fiction. Skimming headlines and captions, scrolling through Instagram and TikTok – they do not sustain deep engagement with ideas and reasons.
Reading habits are nurtured at home and subsequently in schools and wider social contexts where experience is shared. (Read here the different learning outcomes between reading a printed book and reading on-screen.)
I have seen children raised with a high degree of literacy, where parents play word games, read, write, and engage the child in such activities. These children are more likely to develop a wide range of vocabulary and reading interests.
We have fallen short in seeding reading habits early in our children. If parents don’t read books but are glued to their smartphones, children are likely to follow.
Without role models at home, without books lying around within grasp, reading habits in children will likely struggle to take root. Attention span shrinks. Digital distractions multiply. Reading a book becomes a chore.
Studies have shown that a child’s neural pathways are developed through reading and engaging in creative conversations at a young age. (Read here the benefits of reading to children in their formative years.)
ADSFact: the search to know more and to take flight through the writings of creative thinkers from another world will nurture in children a love for reading.
I know this because I have raised two children, being exposed to a world of possibilities imagined in the fantasies of Neil Gaiman, JK Rowling, Tolkien, and graphic novels.
No critical thinking
Back in Malaysian schools, teachers are trained to teach by rote. Classes are geared towards standardised assessments and passing exams. Once the exams end, the reading stops.
The consequence? Students leave schools, colleges and universities, associating books with academic pressure. Critical thinking is short-changed.
Our varied approach to teaching – and language – across the vernacular and national schools has likewise limited the eager students’ access to books in Tamil, Mandarin, Malay, and English, which in turn extends to an unprofitable publishing industry.
Where there are public libraries in the capital cities – non-existent in smaller towns – they are likely not well-funded nor well-stocked with the classics, current titles, or youth-friendly books.
Campaigns like National Reading Decade 2021–2030 are reportedly aimed at nurturing a “reading nation”, and a National Reading Index has been launched to monitor Malaysians’ reading level from 2025-30.
But top-down campaigns to foster a public reading culture can only go so far. What we need in the long term is a cultural shift – a reimagining of reading not as a school task but as a “hobby” to acquire knowledge and experience of other realities.
Without the conditions put in place – instilling reading habits at home, providing accessible public libraries, pricing affordable books, rethinking critical teaching methods – the “reading nation” campaign is merely being “syok sendiri” (self-absorbed) with vague learning outcomes.
In my travels through Japan, South Korea, and parts of the West, it is common to see commuters reading books in trains, trams, and buses.
Public libraries are easily accessible and manifestly well-funded. Reading is woven into the cultural fabric - from the home to schools and public spaces.
Reading bedtime stories is uncommon in Malaysian homes. Libraries are exclusive, and authors are less celebrated. Printed books feel peripheral to daily activities and generally costly to purchase (averaging RM50 to RM60).
Stop banning books
Raising a reading nation requires more than holding the occasional book fairs and literacy campaigns. It means encouraging reading for pleasure at home and in schools.
This is where the PM should put the money where his mouth is. Stop banning books. Desist from dictating public morality. Instead, fund better reading programs in schools. Provide convenient access to functional public libraries managed by librarians skilled in acquiring reading materials from diverse sources.
Build accessible libraries without the bureaucratic inconvenience of having to dress appropriately (covered shoulders and knees, no sleeveless tops, no short skirts, or shorts, etc) to enter the premises.
Where public libraries are not accessible, especially in rural areas, the local council should provide mobile libraries or introduce free book boxes, a sort of ‘libraries everywhere’ concept or “street libraries” such as in Wollongong, where I live.
Residents pick a book from the box to read for free, return it when completed, and contribute their own books that they no longer need. In the Malaysian context, this works only if the “street libraries” are not vandalised.
Most importantly, we need to change how we value reading, not as an elitist hobby, but as the capstone of an informed and imaginative society.
Steven Pinker in his book “Enlightenment Now” (2018) notes in a chapter on “Knowledge”, that “our understanding of who we are, where we came from, how the world works, and what matters in life depends on partaking of the vast and ever-expanding store of knowledge” published in books, printed and digital.
There’s a cost of not reading widely. Our minds will be manipulated by devious demagogues and swayed by conniving conspirators.
Consequently, we repeat history rather than learn from it.
And the nascent reformasi leading to substantial change? It will struggle to take root. Indeed, we are what we read – or don’t. - Mkini
ERIC LOO is a former journalist and educator in Australia and a journalism trainer in parts of Asia.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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