The benefits of reading

   Jessie, a young primary school girl from Selangor asked her father, "daddy, who is the richest man in the world, today?" "Em, I think it's Bill Gates, my dear," answered Jonathan, her father. "Ha ha, you're wrong. Its Carlos Slim Helu, a Mexican telecommunication tycoon. I just read an article about him in today's publication of the Star!" From this scenario, we can conclude that reading does widen one's knowledge regardless of age. In a recent survey conducted by one of the local daily, it is stated that the popularity of reading among the Malaysian community especially teenagers has been reducing gradually over the decades. However, to revive the reading habit among our loved ones, the Ministry of Education has published the benefits one would enjoy by reading.
   We cannot deny the fact that reading would definitely improve one's knowledge. We can emend our general knowledge by reading the local dailies, encyclopedia, newsletters and may other reading materials. If we constantly read, we will be educated on all varsities of subjects, be it history, politics, sports, religions, businesses and other pivotal issues. It is never too late to read. Anyone can grab the newspapers instantly and read if he or she wishes to widen their general knowledge. For instance, the famous television series, "Are you smarter than A Fifth Grader", clearly depicts on how well educated the young ones are.
   If we question our English Language teacher on the ways to improve the proficiency of our language, the obvious reply would be reading. We cannot deny the fact that reading is one of the prime ways to improve the fluency and competency of any language be it English, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and others. Reading would be also emend the grammar and the sentence structures in our verbal as well as our written communication. As such, we can avoid wasting hundreds of ringgits attending courses in language centres such as Cambridge to improve the proficiency of our English language. Besides, by improving the command of English language, it would be easier for we to continue our tertiary education in world renowned universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and Howard. Everyone should understand that it would be impossible to pursue our undergraduate studies without obtaining good grades in our local examination such as SPM. The only way to pass our examination would be to read extensively and to have good understanding of our lessons. This clearly indicates the importance of reading.
   Not withstanding, reading will educate one's self on the latest issues that is happening in the country. The prime example is reading the local daily. By reading the local dailies such as The Star, Berita Harian, News Straits Time and Mandarin as well as Tamil dailies, we will know the latest cabinet line-up issues about National Reconciliation, and other political issues. It also enabled us to discover the happenings in the music industry, entertainment and also the natural disaster, precarious maladies and civil wars which would prevent us from visiting such areas.
   Apart from that, reading holy scriptures such as bible, Quran, Bhagarad Gita and other religious books, we can learn and practise the religious principals that would strengthen us to resist the temptations of our evil desires to ensure a safe and a peaceful environment. It also enables us to respect those from other religions which is essential to promote unity in our multiracial and multi religious nation. In addition, reading also helps us to motivate ourselves. When we are frustrated and demotivated by failures, we can read motivational books written by motivational gurus such as Bob Practor, Anthony Robbins and local authors as well. Reading these materials would help us to identify our hidden talents and inspire us to overcome our failure to excel in our lives.
   In a nutshell, no one can judge the benefits of reading. It is only up to an individual to make full use of the habit of reading to improve the quality of his of her life. Thus, every responsible individual in our nation should start reading to stay competitive in today's era of globalisation where people are judged by their knowledge which brings wealth and fame. If not, achieving the goals of vision 2020 would become an herculean task. Remember, knowledge is wealth. Let's not procrastinate in just opening a book to read.