When I Was Young

From My News, Home

MY PAPER THURSDAY JUNE 26, 2008

ON THE LOST ART OF READING

MAURICE QUEK

IT STRUCK me earlier this week while jostling with the morning crowd on the MRT train on the way to work.

In the past few months, I’ve witnessed scores of commuters busy with one activity: Pounding away at a sleek PlayStation Portable (PSP), Nintendo DS or a similar hand-held gaming console.

A young, smart-suited executive whose fingers dance over a console, oblivious to the world around him; a teenager in school uniform hooked on her tiny screen. And that kid, hunched over his tiny machine while completely ignoring his distraught mother.

While there is nothing intrinsically wrong with playing these games per se, my concern is that Singaporeans appear to be developing a fondness for such gadgets at the expense of a valuable tradition: Reading.

So, what’s happened to reading a book?

As a child, I would faithfully carry a book with me wherever I go, be it an Enid Blyton or a Hardy Boys title.

En route to a relative’s place or to a shopping mall, I would whip it out whenever I felt bored on the bus or train.

With my vocabulary gleaned from years of reading the Famous Five or Stephen King, my grasp of English improved tremendously – if I may say so myself.

Till this day, I still remember my first book, The Town Mouse And The Country Mouse, one of Aesop’s fables, which took me a painful week to finish – and the amazing joy I had after reading it.

How many of you still remember your first book?

Oh wait, a more appropriate question would be: How many of you remember the last book you read?

As videogames take up our commuting time, our books are left to languish on the shelves and collect dust.

Of course, I’m not asking everyone to boycott game consoles. I do understand why some people prefer hand-held gaming consoles to books once in a while.

After a hard day’s work, some may just want to let their minds relax with a good game of Puzzle Bobble or Zelda. In fact, if I had enough money, I would buy a PSP myself for entertainment.

However, it would never, under any circumstances, replace my first love – books.

I used to get so immersed in a book that I would miss the stop on my way home from school (resulting in an unforgettable ordeal, at age seven, lost in Chinatown with no money for a cab – but that’s material for another column).

I fear that children grow up not knowing classic books that inspire many, while adults add playing with yet another gadget to their arsenal of mind-numbing activities.

I can just imagine French writer Alexandre Dumas flipping in his grave as The Count Of Monte Cristo is remembered by most as a good Hollywood movie, rather than an excellent novel.

At best, working at that console improves your motor skills.

But at its worst, it can be a terrible distraction and take time away from more rewarding pursuits such as, well, reading.

A stab of a button on the console may give you that momentary thrill, what with its dizzying, moving pictures and vivid colours.

But it pales in comparison to the life-long impact of a good book. Reading is ceaselessly educational and inspirational. A great read can take you places you never dreamt possible.

So the next time you find yourself on the train staring at your shoes, don’t turn to that gaming console to pass the time.

Pick up a book.

myp@sph.com.sg