Funny though, how the simple subject is made complicated. After all, it is our mother tongue. Somehow rather, I took for granted that one just need to add a couple of "i"s to an English word and walla!! we have a word of the same meaning in Bahasa Malaysia. Apparently though, the technique still don't work , just like it never worked during my time sitting for the major examination in school. I had to take up tuition...yes, I repeat it in a different manner; I, a Malay, who speak bahasa Melayu at home, had to undergo tuition just to come up with a "C" during my SPM!!!
It appears as though history is about to repeat itself, with my daughter and somehow rather that reality hit my panic button and as a consequence, saw me in panic mode, scouting around for books to read, of course in hope to improve her BM.
These are the books available in racks, let your eyes browse through the titles;
I've never seen so much love in like about 5 book racks in one room...I felt a tidal wave of disgust traveling from my toe up to my head, before that wave triggered another panic attack throughout my body. I could not figure out which panic was in larger magnitude. Panic because I can't seem to find any decent Malay story books that can help improve my child's Bahasa Malaysia, or panic at the kind of reading the teenagers prefer , ergo the future.
"I'm a lover not a fighter", suddenly Michael Jackson's voice rang through my brains, in a song "That girl is mine"...Then anger swept me. Damn them!!! They ban all sorts of harmless things like Yoga, and not see where this is going?!!! Bloody morons!!!
Of course you can't force writers to write stories that don't sell, and well, banning these books is totally stupid, as the act of banning itself. ( Since we're at it, banning to me, is just a short cut to management...).
Well, at least they should address this matter!!! Create some tax deduction for profit gained from writing educational stuff. Or, perhaps come up with "Kempen Jangan Membaca, dot..dot..dot...buku cinta sahaja"....or I don't know..that's why I pay tax, to let the "experts" do the things they are suppose to be expert in. No expert? Well, bloody create some then. What are the people in Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka doing then? A couple of magazines issued monthly obviously is not enough.
You are what you read, just as you are what you eat. Hmm....maybe that is why some bomohs made the last minute kids who have not been studying all year long, sitting for major exams, to drink the water from soaked text books....well, this story is not fact checked, just rumours or more likely either a myth or urban legend...but looking at some of my fellow Malays in the work force, especially those working in the government sector, I prefer, with a heavy heart, to believe that it just may be true. If I may digress, my favourite quote in fact is "if you want to get screwed, don't go to the prostitutes. Just have a dealing with the government departments and you'd get screwed good, for free".
Well, there was however, surrounded by oceans of book on how to love and be loved, one book that stood out and it was written by Azizi Ali. Yes, the Azizi Ali who wrote "How to become a Millionaire" and beyond. His book by the way, was useful to financial morons like me albeit I'm still struggling with the "death by credit card debt" part. Anyway, he wrote a new book in bahasa malaysia that has got nothing to do with love per se. "Equinox", which I bought for my daughter to read and is still waiting for her to comment on it.
A thought just occured to me. We spent billions sending the first, well, the Russians call him cosmonaut, the Americans,astraunaut and Malaysians, gay-or-not, into space to inspire the next generation. I guess these books will inspire them to spread more love beyond the universe..............Talk about "Make love not War".
When the world turn their back on you, you show your butt to them...
5 comments:
I once wrote a lyric for a song in Malay which I think would go down very well with the Malay song crowd. It goes something like this:
Izinkan aku, menggunakan tandas ini selepas mu,
agar dapat ku hidu bau yang kau tinggalkan
agar dapat ku tahu apa yang kau telah makan
Agar terubat rinduku padamu.
Izinkan aku menemanimu walaupun tanpa kau ketahui.
akan ku tunggumu di depan pintu, di bawah jampatan, di tepi tingkap, di dalam almari kamar mu, di bawah katil mu.
Jangan kau hubungi polis itu.
Mereka tidak mengerti dalamnya cintaku padamu.
I think this'll go well with the readers of those books you saw, don't you think?
There is a medical term for someone who gets turned on by the odour of urine and poop..forgot what it was..but I do remember that in layman's term, it's called a "pervert"...
maybe off topic here,
what about "bulan mencuci tangan" or so i heard, my question is what about other months??
and dont let me talk about 5M campaign bcoz i find it ......
We need libraries... well stocked and updated ones, that's what we need.
"Bulan mencuci tangan"? No idea about that...I know "Cukup bulan itu bad mood mari"....
We already have the libraries, all we need is good management. We need good books and possibly use internet for booking or extending period of borrowing, if there aren't any waiting list for those books. People are busy in this modern age. We need to dash in and out to get the books, not stand in line only to find out the book we want is not available. Did I mention wasting time in traffic and looking for parking spot just to get into the libraries?
Another thing, we need to allow children below 12 to enter the adult section. Having said that, must make sure the kids behave appropriately like how one should behave in the libraries. Not make the librarians job easier by banning kids to enter the adults section. We should stop setting a bar for our childrens' mental capacity by telling them what they can and cannot read....(of course under supervision coz it's amazing how the humans may end up at the "pornish" section)....And we wonder why we don't produce geniuses..
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