If we are traveling in Europe, USA or Japan and most developed countries it is not strange to see commuters in public transports like trains and buses spending their time reading books or magazines. But in Malaysia we rarely find such a habit being practiced among our people. Most would prefer to doze off while traveling in public transports instead of reading. Why is it so?

I am aware that much efforts have been done to encourage reading among Malaysians at all levels of age but this have not been very successful because we choose not to adopt reading as a culture. No doubt we have been able to create a society that is literate but we have not really created a society that is well read. Despite the many campaigns and efforts by various parties at inculcating such habit, much left to be desired.

As we move towards a developed nation status, we cannot afford to take things for granted and hope every thing would materialize by itself. We are moving more into knowledge-based economy wherein there is increasing needs to focus on knowledge as a source to develop our economy. We have no choice but to develop reading into a culture. Reading extensively would not only increase one's knowledge in various fields but would also open up his mind to new ideas and innovations, and stimulate creativity in thinking.and action.

We need to turn reading into a culture to be practiced by all. How do we do it? I cannot claim to be an expert in developing a formula or in giving solutions to the problem. However, as a layman I look at the following 4-pronged approaches which could be workable:

• at home where parents have a role to instill and encourage reading among children at early age
• at schools/tertiary institutions where teachers and educationists should take serious actions to encourage and nurture reading habits
• government agencies to promote reading materials and encourage literary development
• the aggressive role of the media (both print and electronic media) to drive the message to the readers and help publicize book reviews and literary contents in their columns or programs

These are basic outline of suggestions which I hope could be thought-provoking for those who would consider devising appropriate strategies.

Parents, particularly those who are educated, should take upon themselves the responsibilities to instill reading habit among their children at young age. They must expose them to reading and develop their interest in books that would expose them to knowledge and improve their vocabulary. Some parents would rather spend money on other personal things than on books for their children but such attitude must change.

Teachers and educationists too should take serious steps to encourage students to inculcate and nurture reading habits among children by developing and upgrading library facilities and investing on good books and reading materials, and technology, including internet. Our education system must move away from focusing on academic books alone, but students must be encouraged to venture beyond text books and lecture notes. They must be motivated and encouraged to make intelligent use of other materials to relate to subjects or course content to have a wholesome approach to education.

Generally speaking books in Malaysia are quite expensive if we were to compare to average income earned by individuals. As a result, not many people would be prepared to spend their money on books because they have other priorities to spend. This does not bade well for those who are really interested in books but could not afford to pay. Therefore if relevant government authorities could examine this problem and perhaps take steps to reduce the costs of books, this would further boost the interest of readers, at same time would promote literary development and encourage the contribution by writers.

The media can play an important role to sow the seeds of interest in reading among audience through their columns and programs. Book reviews could be published by newspapers and commentaries openly discussed and aired on television. Media must make an aggressive move and create an interest among readers not only focusing on the writers and contents but also highlighting the kind of knowledge readers would benefit.

I know that at various government departments too senior ranking civil servants are required to read 2 or 3 books per month to improve their performance and increase productivity. However, it does not mean much if this practice is imposed on them by the higher-ups or authorities. Individuals must be made to be conscious of the need to continue to improve themselves, only then they would develop a liking towards books and adopt reading habit voluntarily.

I believe reading should be turned into a culture if we want to progress. Parents, teachers, educationists, civil servants, and media practitioners certainly have as much responsibilities in fulfilling such a goal.

English is a must if we want to survive in a competitive environment and progress in a globalized world. English is important to conduct business with the outside world since Malaysia is a trading nation. English is the language for knowledge seeking as we move towards knowledge-based economy.  That is the reason why the government continues to emphasize the importance of the language particularly at the tertiary level.

When I first started lecturing at the university two years ago after my retirement from the government service, I was surprised to find the standard of English among majority of students was much to be desired. Coming from the industry myself, I am fully aware of the expectations of the industry. Apart from that graduates are expected to have good communication skills.

To be proficient in English students have no choice but to learn it the hard way, meaning they need to do it constantly and consistently. They need to read extensively. They need to improve their writing. Above all they must have the commitment and the desire to improve. I find there are a lot of opportunities now for students to improve their English, unlike during my days when I was a student. They should use opportunities available like the internet and library facilities where all kinds of information, publications and books are available. They must also take pains to think and write proper English. They should learn to express themselves in proper English and practice good writing. Practice makes perfect, so goes the saying! But sad to say some do not even read newspapers, beyond lecture notes and text books. How could they improve then?

During the number of classes that I taught in the last 6 semesters I had tried my best to motivate students to improve their English in terms of writing and speaking. I always find time to correct simple mistakes students used to make, sometimes repeatedly. Those who have attended my class would know the attention I gave to their mistakes like grammar, sentence construction, tenses, prepositions, and spellings. Yes, I am pretty serious because I feel duty bound to correct the mistakes students make so that they would learn those mistakes once and for all.

Students who graduated from universities, particularly from international university like IIUM, are expected to have a certain level of proficiency of English. Otherwise, would it not be an embarrassment to potential employers of the university that you come from? Think of that!!

This short semester I have been asked by the Head of Department to teach Diplomatic Communication. I have taught this subject in the last two long semesters, and in semester1 in the next session the subject has also been offered to me to teach. I accepted the offer to teach although I first thought I would like to take a break so that I can concentrate on reviewing my research proposal. Despite my busy schedule and my present age, I have a plan to complete my PhD degree which I have left in the limbo for some years now.

One good reason why I was asked to teach this subject is because of the experience I have gone through serving more than 20 years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and four Malaysian diplomatic missions abroad. My job then revolved largely around public diplomacy, media management and public relations at the international level. This experience is useful because I would be able to see things better and relate to reality. I wanted to share this experience.

This subject is rather wide because students need to have sufficient background of international politics, international relations, diplomacy, history, economy, contemporary issues, and culture as well as areas related to humanities, apart from strong foundation in communication. They must also have a critical mind and an ability to analyze issues holistically. They must examine communication in relations to diplomacy, negotiation, building relations, and management and avoidance of conflicts. There are also issues in relations to bilateral and multilateral context. For example, bilateral issues between Malaysia and its neighbors and friendly countries in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Americas. Multilateral issues would include human rights, environment, women, children, poverty, economy, energy, defence and security. Related to the multilateral issues will be an understanding of the roles of organizations and institutions like the United Nations, ASEAN, Organization of Islamic Conference, Commonwealth, and Non-Aligned Movement. Students are also expected to understand protocol, conventions, consular and immigration matters. All in all students should have a good grasp of a whole range of international issues and communication.

Students with a good command of the English language would have an additional strength because they would be able to express themselves better. Most importantly, they should be able to make sense of the intricacies and complexities of issues involved in diplomacy and the international context.

I guess not many people are aware that the role the Department of Information in government public relations stretched back to as early as 1940s before Malaysia achieved its independence in 1957. The department set up during the British administration became the public relations arms of the government then to disseminate information to win the hearts and minds of the people against the communist terrorists who were fighting for their cause.

If you are familiar with Grunig and Hunt theory you would realize that the model adopted by the Department at that time was press agentry/publicity and public information, which is mainly one-way information flow in the distribution of publicity and information materials to create awareness of what the authorities were doing for the people in terms of security protection.

After Independence the Department continued to play an important role to create public awareness of government policies aimed at bringing about harmony, stability and progress for the people. The approach taken by the department later was more on inter-personal communication through meet the people session in rural areas including through screening of special documentaries of films produced by Filem Negara (national film unit) to add a visual impact of what the government did or was trying to do for the people. Those of my generation would remember the tiger symbol of the film unit that became popular among the audiences. This approach was in fact a two-way asymmetrical communication model that saw feedback being gathered from various publics. However, there were more persuasive elements to tackle the targeted audiences. Indeed it has taken the Department an active role to manage public perception towards the government and in ensuring that the people supported the government's policies to bring about development for the people.

Today after more than 60 decades of its existence the Department is considered still relevant despite technological and communication advancement which to some may see the Department as redundant. However, the Department must continue to make adjustment especially in the current context of the new media where there is greater demand for transparency and openness. Unless the Department is prepared to make changes or adjustments I am afraid it might not progress the way the nation would expect it in meeting the increasing challenges of the globalized era. Its future would hinge very much on greater professionalism and commitment towards such demands!!

One of the functions of the diplomatic missions abroad is to dispel or to correct any misconception about the country's policies that are featured in the foreign media. This job is normally carried out by the Information or Press Consellor in missions abroad. This is part of media diplomacy and public diplomacy role whereby the Information man is required to make efforts to cultivate the foreign media in order to give the correct perspective of the country or the government he represents.

There is often a tendency for the foreign media to sensationalize or interpret certain issues from a perspective that is colored or based on their value judgment. More often, the media would slant the news which is biased towards their perspective and would make it appear that the country is not doing the right thing. If certain misreported, misrepresented or even twisted facts are not corrected immediately, there is a likelihood that the public will form a negative impression. This will not do good for the country as it could influence potential investors who are interested to invest in the country. In the long run, such negative impression created by the media could even affect the nation's economy.

If the image of the country continues to be wrongly perceived by the foreign media or the international public, the government may even have to resort to appointing a public relations company to deal with such situation to bring back a positive image of the country. This is called reputation management whereby certain public relations strategies need to be put in place immediately to counter the adverse image. As reported in the local media recently, circumstances have forced the Malaysian government to engage a US-based public relations consultancy Apco Worldwide to do the job. This is not the first time the Malaysian government has resorted to such an action. The services of international public relations consultancies were also engaged during the eighties and the nineties to counter adverse campaigns by NGOs and social and environmental activists against tropical timber and palm oil in Europe and USA respectively.

I too had the experience in handling media diplomacy and to put into action some of the planned public relations strategies when I was serving in two European capitals - Paris and London - during the eighties and nineties. In the final analysis it is important to put Malaysia's image in the right perspective. After all it boils down to the defence of national interest!!

Today (25 April 2010) is voting day for Hulu Selangor (P094) by-election. The people will cast their votes to decide who would be their representative in Parliament for the term ending 2013. The election is an indication of the healthy practice of democratic process in Malaysia. While I am not actively into politics, as a responsible citizen, I am somewhat politically conscious of political development in the country. It is important there is political stability to ensure that we would continue to make significant progress. For stability to be attained, there must be continuation of policies, and these policies should be acceptable to the majority. Both candidates are known to me. Datuk Zaid Ibrahim was together with me studying in UiTM in early seventies. He was an active and outspoken student leader then, and as far as I can remember, his thoughts and ideas have been very liberal from the student days. Meanwhile, P. Kamalanathan was my predecessor as Honorary Secretary of the Institute of Public Relations Malaysia (IPRM) just before me. As a public relations practitioner he too has been an active Council Member of the Institute making contribution towards the success of the profession.

In my Facebook I wrote that I could not agree more that among the good things we can learn from the Japanese society is precision. I made this comment in response to the observation by our Prime Minister during his recent visit to Japan as widely reported in the media.

Based on my personal experience having lived and worked in Japan for more than three years, I have indeed discovered this for myself. This was in the early eighties when Malaysia started the Look East policy in our effort to learn the Japanese work ethics and values to transform our industry. I remember when dealing with Japanese officials involving the visit of their delegation to Malaysia and the preparation on our side for Japanese media to cover the visit of their VIPs to Malaysia. I was the Information Counsellor, obviously the job of media relations fell on my shoulder. They refused to talk to me on telephone because they were quite skeptical about conveying the message in English over the phone for fear that the message might not be clearly understood by me. Instead, they insisted to come to the office and talked to me in person. They came with their plans written in detail. It was obvious they would not let things go. They came with an inquisitive mind asking me a lot of questions and expecting me to respond to questions, some of which were not even thought about or on something I considered rather petty. But to them it was a serious matter and they were not taking chances as they wanted to ensure precision in their job.

Precision indeed exists in almost every aspect of their life such as punctuality of appointments and events held, the train and bus schedules, organization of major events and programs, delivery of goods and services, etc. Looking back after more than 20 years since looking east, it makes me wonder how much are we learning from the Japanese. No doubt it is an on-going process which requires us to make it a continuous effort or a habit to achieve progress.

If we want to move towards a developed nation status we have no choice but to change our attitude. We need to adopt a culture of excellence and the culture excellence must begin with precision. Such precision would be reflected in the quality of products that we produce and the services that we offer. This culture particularly among the younger generation should be nurtured from early days, if not at the university before graduating and entering the job market!!!

Just a few words of welcome from me...

I look forward to exchange views and ideas on topics of common interest that would benefit us . I hope through blogging it would also give me the opportunity to develop friendship and networking, and perhaps also to renew acquaintance. Views reflected here would be from my own personal observation and interpretation on how I see and evaluate situations. Certainly I would try to put myself in the bigger picture and try to be very balanced and unbiased. I do hope my blog would attract constructive comments from readers to share information and views that would be of interest to many. I would be very delighted to respond and share my thoughts. This informal mean of meeting of minds, hopefully, would be used responsibly to tap ideas and probe our thoughts, and expand on our thinking creativity for common good!!!



Sincerely
Aznan