I don't know about the majority, but I've been reading since I was 2 years old and have gone almost blind because of reading combined with genetics.
my father's family has genetic bad eyesight which I inherited ... and I aggravated it by reading in the toilet, reading in bed, reading without enough light, reading in the car, reading reading reading.

You think I got bad eyesight from TV. Nope! Reading.

This post has been edited by spunkberry: Oct 23 2010, 02:15 AM

It is not easy to read a book without commanding the language used, unless you are very passionate about the subject or you do not have other options to past time. Train network in Japan is also very comprehensive, safe and punctual. You can expect some good reading time while traveling, and not much else. Access to books is certainly a key factor, but my experience is that Malaysians read books in to comfort of their homes, only to leave the house for other businesses. The weather is either too hot or too humid, or too dark and the insect bites. If Malaysians invent the book, it is digital.

I love books. Books are awesome. Fiction, non fiction, fantasy, sci fi, comics i love reading. i got influenced by my dad. he reads everyday. and i started following in his footsteps. although his reading material is far more superior compared to mine, but i'm taking small steps. He has a huge library full of books he got from the 1970 & 80s while he was studying in the us. Most of the books I read are fiction novels. Maybe I love reading because I love English and languages in general.

EDIT

Slowly in Japan books are getting replaced with iPhones, PSP & NDS

This post has been edited by eetfukouijaaa: Nov 26 2010, 09:58 PM

Too much other entertainment. People usually prefer quick fix or visual entertainment like movies, iPhone, iPad. :/

I'm at Kedah and it is quite hard to find a good book to read... So many wonderful books are very hard to find here.. So its not i dont want to read, is i can't..

you can buy books from bookdepository, free shipping worldwide and have them delivered to you. you can get an ebook-reader and buy ebooks to read (60 seconds to download a new book on kindles)

if you rather buy from local sellers, you can get books from kinokuniya, mph and acmamall and these sellers deliver books to your doorstep.

otherwise just go to the library and read some classics.

thanks for the website.. i seriously have no exposure to good reads here~
i'm going to check it out now.. thanks so much.

here are the links to the rest of the sites i mentioned :

kinokuniya
mph
acmamall

i saw two lyn forumers selling kindle 3, you can search lyn trade zone for it

This post has been edited by juwels: Dec 6 2010, 06:05 PM

Still studying and broke

We Malaysians are NEVER lazy to read books...!!!

The reason most doesnt carry one to read is because the price is so freaking expensive..!!!!

A novel costs around USD$6.99...converted @ 3.2 rate become RM22.40...

But is our salary being converted the same way..?

If job A in USA being paid USD$2,000/month...then Job A in Malaysia is being paid RM2,000/month...it is NOT RM6,400/month...!!!!

I am sure most of you have friends/relatives/siblings working overseas...jst ask them how much they are being paid on the same job but different currency...and that is WHY..we dont read as much as we are supposed to...coz the RM34.90 could actually last most of us 1-week's lunch money...or 1-week's petrol money...~

So that, my friend, is the reason we dont read as much as we're supposed to...~

Even a 2nd hand book costs half the price as opposed to other countries...~

You bought a RM34.90 book....and decided to sell if after u have finished because it's not to your liking. How much you will sell? RM10? or RM15 if it's still in brand-new condition?

Overseas, they are selling as low as USD$1.00 per book..!!!! And putting side-by-side with a newly bought, you can't even tell the difference...!!! And yes, i sapu-ed alot of those USD$1~$3 novels...but damn those airline weight charge...!

This post has been edited by ArmorFiend: Dec 17 2010, 05:22 PM

Majority here says the main reason they dont/rarely read is cos if the high cost of book.
Do you not have access to library?
Cos I never really buy a single book (other than academic related txt books) in my life and I still read, there are tons of choices in d library..

Or do Malaysia library svck that much?
Cos I'm currently studying in uni, so perhaps I do have the advantage of having a well-stocked library. =/

Katrinah,

Going to a library to read is as good as borrowing books from your friend..and it is only goood if somehow you two are into the same category. Hence a library wont stock up books to your liking, but rather towards what our Education folks deem fit for a malaysian to read.

Even if they do, how many books do they have that's to your liking? I am sure one would finish up the books they are keen on in a library within half a year or so.

Fantasy? Horror? Thriller? Yup, they do have all those tittles..but are you into ALL of it? From cook books to personal improvement? No matter which author it is? If your answer is yes, i read whatever books being laid down in front of me regardless of genre, author, year published or format then well, i am sure you will save tons of money then. Coz public library's gonna be your personal book shelves.

For fuzzy ppl like me that's into specific category, we tend to read those that we are interested in...coz reading through Flight Control Instruments and Supply Chain Management just because it's readily available doesnt really appeal to us...

Btw, jst wondering..if someone ask you, what kind of book you like reading, what's ur usual answer?

Nothing specific? Or so long as it's in a language i understand whether it's about pregnancy or hair styling to cardiovascular related then i am okay to finish it?

i used to live in a remote town that has a small library. even that small library had enough books to keep me occupied. if you love reading, you will always find books to read. excuses about lack of books available or books being too expensive is just that - excuses. there are so many options available lah, book rental stores, second hand bookstores, book exhibition fares, warehouse book sales. please lah, stop giving excuses about not reading. you can even download ebooks and read it off the computer screen.

I must say that I feel insulted
Malaysian's don't read enough cause they are busy playing monster hunter

Seriously though, I would say that Malaysians do not read as very few have the priviledge of being brought up thirsting for knowledge. The 'want to know' feeling has been systematically crushed out of our kids (not that I have any, mind you ) by an education system that is archaic, lumbering and BORING. Many kids nowadays (at least those that I have met) see books, school and studies as a necessary evil so do you really expect them to continue reading once they turn adult?

i was brought up by that archaic education system yet i read more than 2 books per month, despite monster huntering woh

in fact i have gone through 6 books last month and this month itself and i still have time for my ds

and.....the remote town i am talking about is not the one where we lived la mozzy, am talking about another library where my grandparents were, hehe. mini library okay. i even loaned books from them moving libraries.

ok then. malaysians generally do not read cause we are a lazy bunch. satisfied now?

This post has been edited by madmoz: Dec 24 2010, 12:16 PM

noooooooooooooo. all my friends read my family reads. my colleagues read. a lot of malaysians read!! heck you read too, you were recommending me terry pratchett the last time we talked about books!

a disturbingly large percentage of malaysians dont read. that's fine, to each their own. what pisses me off is, the attitude within this percentage that thinks reading is a privilege only the rich or the upper middle class can afford. their self defeating "i am poor therefore i can't afford books therefore i dont read" really boils me. hello, can afford RM500 phone but cannot afford RM30 books? can go watch rm10 movie for 2 hours of fun cannot buy second hand rm10 book?

nonsense lah.

1stly, you're not seeing my point. 2ndly, you're comparing apples with oranges between phone and book.

Jst so you know, i love to read..and i have sufficient books to last me for the nxt 3 yrs...unless you're claiming again that you could read a 300+ pages of novel within the span of 5 days then my supply will probably last you only 9 months.

Unless you were born back in the 50's, you have to admit that phone nowadays is a necessity, not a luxury. While books on the other hand, novels and story books, are a luxury. They are only necessary if it progresses you from one position to another in term of work achievement or personal development. Anything apart from that is pure leisure.

Like what you have said, you read 3 books in a month, that's equal to RM90. Loosely put, it's around RM1080 per annum. And for someone to spend RM500 on a phone, it's obvious that said fella aint changing phones base on current trend else said fella who go for either iphone or BB, which wont cost only RM500. With that in mind, the RM500 phone's probably gonna last 2yrs or more. So is it fair to say that comparing mobile phones with books is a poor example?

Now let's go to the phrase of, "i am poor therefore i can't afford books therefore i dont read".

This statement to me is incorrect on many levels.

One, people who's lazy to read have never gave excuses of books being expensive, hence they dont read. They spell it outfront that reading is a waste of time and they would doze off faster than finishing the 1st paragraph or before one could ask 'what tittle's that book'.. They dont see the need to defend themselves from not reading because they are jst not into reading. I dont like golfing but my friends do and when they ask me why, i dont go around telling them the clubs costs more than my car petrol in half a year. I tell them straight i am not into golf. Period. What's there to defend or give excuses on when it is jst not your thing to do?

Two, complaining on books being pricey came from people who reads. From people i know and from me myself. Annually, i spent around RM1.5k on books and magazines. If the same amount of money is being converted into USD or GB, the numbers of books i could buy with that currency will be more. It's akin to paying the same amount of money except with better money's worth. Let's use RM30 for a book, with RM1.5k, i could get 50 books. Let's use USD for discussion sake with conversion rate of 3.5, albeit current rate is at 3.15, that's around USD428.50. On average a book costs USD6.99 round up to USD7.00. With the same amount of RM1.5k converted at 3.5 to USD428.50, i could buy 61 ($428.50/7) books as opposed to 50 with RM1.5k. So now, my fellow readers, you understand why i say we Malaysians are never lazy to read books. But rather because of the higher price we are getting our books, we couldn't read as abundantly as what we're seeing on other western countries. And due to the reason the price of books are higher here, we are reluctant to sell our 2nd-hand books as low as RM5 or RM2 each. And that if we are to sell it that cheap, we sell it to people we know, else we rather keep it ourselves so that we could run through those pages again in hopefully 5 yrs down the road for RM5 is truly nothing to shout for.

People who dont like reading dont care whether it's priced at RM10 a book or RM1..they rather use the RM1 to order a teh tarik or throw in another RM1 to install Monster Hunter Portable 3rd in their PSP from their Local Game Shop.

What i am trying to say on this 2nd point is that, the purchasing power is not the same between RM and USD or any other currency for this matter. People who read complaint about books being expensive because its eating into their monthly expenses. And if our gahment could lower down the taxes on novels, which is being categorized as a luxury under the customs big red book of taxes(hard-cover summore), it would benefit not jst you and me but those that are undecided what their 1st novels should be.

And lastly, my point on all of these bitc'ng is that, if the price of book could be lowered, there might jst be a glint of hope for those fence-sitter, those that have always thought and felt about starting their very 1st book but reluctant to give it a try because RM30 could mean a lot for many people. And especially so when they are unsure of the author, whether the style of writting is to their liking. It would be great if their local library has such vast titles of novel stocked, but ultimately, they will found out what category is to their liking and which isnt and the local library isnt gonna be as well equipped as having at least 1 book for every author out there. And the very 1st step in getting a book of their own from the author they suspect is good will gnaw into them. And to choose between RM30 on a book they might have faith in as a good book, versus that of other needs be it for petrol money, a monthly trip to a simple restaurant with his loved ones, or his insurance installment or saving it for rainy days, isnt it obvious which one would be more beneficial in the long run?

So that is why, you dont hear people say, "i am poor therefore i can't afford books therefore i dont read"...but rather, 'i dont read because i jst dont', or 'i dont read as much as i want because my pay doesnt jive with the price of books'.

You said that people give excuses of books being expensive hence they dont read..
But i say that people who complaint about books being expensive, are those who reads...

Hence to shrugged it off as 'nonsense la' instead of trully and carefully analysing it, is a manner i believe we all won't miss if it's not being shown.


PS : On comparing a RM10 2-hour movie with a RM10 second hand book, it's another poor example that i believe many would be able to give tell you why, or that you could visualise the reason yourself. But assuming you can't or wont, let me jst list down some 'excuses' on why it isnt a good example :
- Going to a RM10 movie is usually with your special someone or with a group of friends, it is the ambiance that matters most of the time. Yes, you can lay down next to your special someone with a book each on hand savouring the moment, but are you able to do what you did with your special someone like when you're watching a movie? A book needs concentration and imagination..a movie projects everything in front of you and what you need to do is jst absorb. You are free to do anything with your partner or group of friends and yet, still understand the flow of the movie. Try doing that when you're reading and you will be pulled into current reality instead of letting your mind wonder to where your book takes.
- If watching a 2-hour movie lets you understand what the movie wanted to convey, will reading 2 hours into a novel lets you understand what the author wants you to feel? Unless either you could read 150 pages an hour or your novels only 50 pages thick then yes, they are on equal ground for comparison.
- And most ppl go for a movie is because that's wat most people are doing. In another word, you couldnt chat with your friends about a movie or critic about it unless you have watch it. It provides a topic during a mamak gathering, albeit a short one..but something to talk about nonetheless. Try doing that with a book and most will say, 'Oh, nah..i prefer [INSERT OTHER GENRE HERE]'..you get my point..
- If Rosamund Pike is my favourite actress in a particular movie, i am not going to see the same lovely girl in the book with the same tittle..
- and the list goes on for special effects, animations, cinematography, acting skills to finally, waiting in anticipation during Grammy Awards or Golden Horse Awards on who's who...
And that my friend, is why comparing a RM10 movie with a RM10 book is again, a poor example...~

I love how the discussions in this forum take like days to progress from one salient point to the other
Mayhaps this is the problem too - reading is too slow paced for the majority of Malaysians? Personally, money isn't exactly the problem - a figurine or a videogame easily costs as much as five or more books and I make multiple purchases every month - but the amount of books I buy have in fact been steadily decreasing over the years. Perhaps I no longer get as much enjoyment out of books as I used to. A bit too jaded to let my imagination run loose? That would explain why I am gradually reading less and less fiction and more and more documentary/biography (a.k.a. the boring stuff).

But i digress - reading is still popular. Rant below!


Instead of saying Malaysians generally find that books are too expensive, would it be more apt to say that Malaysians do not believe that books offer the best value for money?

Eg. How long does a book last you anyways? A 500 - 600 page paperback probably gets done and dusted for me in 2 days tops (unless if it is a real stinker then it depends on how often i sit on the loo (pun intended )) while a hardcover book on say WW2 gets read repeatedly in small sittings. On the other hand, I paid MYR180 for Monster Hunter Tri, and at last check I have clocked in way over 700 hours.

This post has been edited by madmoz: Dec 28 2010, 11:04 AM

I like to read. I just don't feel the need to do it in public (: