PUTRAJAYA: The Education Ministry has a long to-do list to promote reading culture in Malaysia under the 10-year National Reading Decade (DMK) 2021-2030 programme.
Its minister Dr Maszlee Malik said the DMK programme, scheduled to be launched early next year, aimed to turn Malaysia into a Reading Nation by 2030.
“Nonetheless, work will start from now until 2020, with focus on the DMK campaign,” he said at the pre-launch of the DMK programme today.
Strategies to implement DMK, he listed, would include establishing strategic networks and mobilising programmes to encourage reading at various places including schools, public interest spots, shopping centres, public transport and hospitals.
“Just imagine, if we can have reading corners at all these places, even at the petrol stations, R&R stops, the mamak shops and fast food chains, where people can access and donate books,” said Maszlee, adding that perhaps consideration should be given to the underprivileged groups, who were qualified to receive tithes and other aid, for their children to be given books.
The minister also said reading ambassadors would be appointed under the #MALAYSIAMEMBACA slogan, which would be popularised nationwide, adding the need to translate more great works to Bahasa Melayu and vice-versa as well as provide special incentives including tax exemption for programmes to encourage reading and contribution given for the development of libraries and the book industry.
He said steps would be taken to have better access to e-books via ubiquitous library, free e-book zone, digital magazines as well as libraries for audio book and braille.
On Malaysians’ reading habit, Maszlee said people read 15 books a year based on an interim report on Malaysian reading habit in 2014 compared to two books a year in 2007.
He also said Malaysians’ literacy rate stood at 94.94 per cent based on the Unesco Institute for Statistics’ Adult and Youth Literacy National Regional and Global Trends 1985-2015.
A study by the Central Connecticut State University entitled “The World’s Most Literate Nation” had ranked Malaysia at the 53rd spot, far behind neighbouring countries including Singapore which had secured 36th place, he said.
“The study has declared the Nordic nations (Finland, Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Sweden) as the most literate nations in the world,” Mazslee said, stressing on the importance of reading by saying that a great nation is a reading nation.
The government, he said, was also planning to set a target for Malaysia to publish 31,700 titles by 2020 compared to 19,713 titles published in 2017.