Encourage children to read books about racial, religious diversity to promote unity, says Fahmi

KUALA LUMPUR, April 23 — Children should be exposed to reading culture, especially books on the diversity of races and religions in this country, as an effort to cultivate an informed generation and celebrate differences, Fahmi Fadzil said.

The Communications Minister said this is to provide them with opportunities to understand the stories of different communities in the country, thereby promoting a spirit of unity that drives the nation forward.

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“We must take this opportunity to delve into the stories of the different communities in our country, and from there we can understand and celebrate differences from an early age,” he told reporters at Wisma Bernama today.

He said this after attending the program ‘Let’s Read Together for 10 Minutes@Bernama: Reading Preserves Unity’, organized in collaboration with the Swedish Embassy in Malaysia in conjunction with World Book and Copyright Day, celebrated on April 23 every year .

Fahmi said that given the era of digitalization, he understands the challenge for parents to promote the culture of book reading among children as they have been exposed to gadgets and devices from an early age.

However, parents have a role to play in sparking their interest and spending time together reading books.

“I feel like even for my kids, sometimes it’s not easy to get them to read books, but it starts with parents saying no to devices.

“We need to start buying books, have the culture of going to bookstores, spending time together and finding books that they are interested in. So these books will eventually be opened; if we ask them not to use gadgets, they will open,” he said.

Earlier, Fahmi, along with students and teachers from Sri Aria School and Bernama staff, spent ten minutes reading books of their choice in the lobby of Wisma Bernama.

Others who participated in the program included Swedish Ambassador to Malaysia Dr Joachim Bergstrom, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Adam Adli Abd Halim, Bernama Chairman Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai, Chief Executive Officer Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin and editor-in-chief Arul Rajoo Durar. Raj. – Bernama