TANJUNG MALIM: Ignorance or the lack of knowledge, especially among the youths, makes them more susceptible to be influenced by some quarters, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
With limited knowledge, individuals will accept any views that come their way and get trapped in prejudiced thoughts, he said.
"(When) our knowledge is little, people say we will go to hell if we don't do this (certain things), we then ask if that is true.
"(And) because we have little knowledge, we wouldn't dare to question it further, we find ourselves trapped in old-fashioned thinking and judge others indiscriminately," he said in his speech at the 2023 National Books Awards held at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) today.
Hence, Anwar said, youths and undergraduates in particular, should improve their knowledge by instilling a love for reading, including to enhance and master new knowledge developments.
"Go back to this reminder, our culture; the Malay culture itself is our civilisation only improves with the strength of knowledge.
"(If we) want to be successful, (and) make this country a Madani country, improve knowledge, compete with other countries with the spirit of reading; Malaysia will be an excellent country."
Anwar said the culture of today's generation that is easily fazed by simplistic and incomplete explanation of ideas in social media is alarming.
He said certain ideas such as economy, the country's policies and idealism must be deciphered in depth and needed complex views to be summarised, taking into consideration the Al-Kuliyah concept.
"The concept of Kuliyah is a knowledge that must be mastered and in depth, not just a few minutes' explainer in social media and summarised in one or two minutes in Tik Tok."
He said the challenge for the youths today, is to delve deeper on the knowledge in summarising it, instead of simply accepting it at face value.
He said others must also continue to learn and never stop reading on new knowledge, in line with the current technology including the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
Also present were Menteri Besar Perak Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir and National Book Development Foundation managing board chairman Tan Sri Prof Abdul Latiff Abu Bakar.
At the same event, Anwar approved an RM250,000 allocation for the foundation. - Bernama