Change the script to encourage reading habit
Efforts have been made to make reading fun and accessible. But why is there dwindling readership in the first place? (“Reading finally has its day”; July 30)
In fact, we have been reading for a long time. We have read volumes of textbooks and assessment materials for as long as we can remember.
No matter how arduous the task of absorbing and memorising the texts for the most part, we persevered in the hope of getting good grades, although we may not have succeeded all the time.
We were compelled to go to the library to research our school projects and gather all we could so that we could hand in a stellar piece of work — again, for good grades. Reading became a means to utilitarian ends.
We have thus become weary, if not wary, of picking up a book, and will not do so without a reason, such as helping our children with their projects.
We are spoilt for choice. Reading is not the only way to acquire knowledge. We have a proliferation of media and platforms feeding us information when we want it.
The new media deliver colours and sounds, and waste no time in delivering the gist of what we need to know. They capture our imagination vividly. We have been conditioned to have a short attention span, which makes reading unsustainable.
Besides, reading is a passive habit, something even viewed as old-fashioned. To the young, with their boundless energy, reading is lame. So, perhaps, as with knitting, only old people read.
But there is hope. We could change how and why people read. A tome between covers will not do. Let there be interactive content, besides text. Keeping it neat, tight and short would hold short attention spans.
Readers need reasons to come back for more, such as people-centric activities built around common interests, besides just reading. Let youthful spontaneity feed itself to light up a community of readers.
