QUOTE(juwels @ Dec 24 2010, 12:24 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...~