Bacalah!

One thing that I miss most about leaving Plymouth is its local library. 2 minutes walk from home, weekly acitivities for all ages and always flowing with children's books. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the local library in Malaysia. I live in what I guess you can call the 'education valley of Malaysia' (surrounded by UKM, UPM, Uniten, UniKL, GMI, and various other colleges not to mention boarding schools yg berdekatan), but the quality of services is still somewhat inadequate. Brr... I shudder to think the condition of all other libraries across this country. Yang standout tu mmg hebatlah, Perpustakaan Tun Raja Uda, but just the one? Nak gi sana pun bkn nya dapat selalu? Alamatnya sedeqah amal jariah (denda lewat) la aku tiap2 kali pinjam buku sbb tak sampai2 juga nak pulangkan pada tarikhnya bcoz of the distance. 

Anyhoo... ini tidaklah sepatutnya mematahkan semangat rajin membaca. I especially tried to instil minat membaca tu dkt anak2. And although I made it sound like library kita teruk sgt, it's actually not that bad, but a lot can be improved. Here's some pics of us enjoying our day out at the library. These are quite old pics, Zayd still had his curls. Masa ni cuti sekolah kot, so bolehla beramai2 pegi. For some odd reasons, library kat Msia ni tak bukak on weekends mcm kat UK (ok fine, Sabtu pertama dan ketiga tu buka half day kot kat library yg aku pegi kt Msia ni, ke ntah mcm mana, manalah aku nak ingat, but Ahad konfem tutup). So usually, I will check the books out on their behalf during my lunch hour on a working day. Redha je lah ye buku apa yg Mummy pinjam tu...

I believe that interest in reading is still very much important today, even with all the technologies made available. I still try to read at least one book (novel, self-help, religious books, any really) every three weeks (when the book is due). I know, it's crazy trying to cram it in, but thanks to breastfeeding, I do get some window of opportunity for reading, small as it is anyway. It's good for the knowledge, and especially good for the soul.

Aisyah used to only want me or her Dad to read her storybooks, but now, slowly, she is able to read Bahasa Melayu books on her own and with some help, English books too. I can't wait for her to proclaim her love for books and discover the joy of reading through books such as the Malory Towers series or any one of Enid Blyton's or Roald Dahl's pieces which were an integral part my childhood reading experience.

Zayd has also shown a positive progress too, altho this has a lot to do with his developmental age. It used to be that he wouldn't sit through any book. He just wasn't interested. Maybe he was too young then. But now, almost everywhere he goes, he would take his book with him, and if he acts up, e.g. not wanting to be strapped in his car seat, or refusing to have his nappy put on, all we need to get him to calm down and cooperate is a book. Bgn2 tido pun dah terus cari buku. Alhamdulillah.

The only problem now is, his fav book is currently borrowed from the library. I have to keep on renewing it. It's been three times now, because he just wouldn't let it go. He's just too attached to the book. Now, who knows where I can buy an exact copy of this? Help!