James Kon
To give a true picture of the reading culture and the level of reading among the community in the country, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Nazmi bin Haji Mohamad called for the need to carry out studies on understanding the level of reading culture in the Sultanate.
The minister made the call at the Empowering Reading Culture Carnival read by Permanent Secretary (Culture) at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) Pengiran Haji Mohd Hasnan bin Pengiran Haji Ali Hassan yesterday.
Through the studies, he said, “Every parties can work together to increase their efforts to raise the level of reading culture in the country.
“Citizens who read and are knowledgeable will help develop a progressive and high quality nation.”
He said, “This responsibility not only falls on the shoulder of MCYS, but should be supported by all through whole-of-nation approach.
“This is the main key towards realising the mission of the Language and Literature Bureau (DBP) to create a community that reads and is of high knowledge.”
The minister also called on everyone to use the library as a focus place to obtain and spread knowledge informally.
“Get a book each time and reading will become a daily habit. The benefits may not be seen immediately but what is for sure is that people who read will not be disadvantaged as compared to people who don’t read,” he said.
The Empowering Reading Culture Carnival is an annual event by the DBP to instil a reading habit among the people of Brunei.
The carnival is held on the move to all districts based on a schedule. The libraries involved are Bandar Seri Begawan Library, Tutong District Library, Kampong Pandan Library and Temburong District Library.
The highlights of the ceremony were the launching of the e-book service of DBP, a prize presentation to library members nationwide who read the most, winners of Lost in The Library challenge, best students in Malay language and Malay literature for Brunei Cambridge GCE ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level examinations and Lantera Bahasa.
