Since young, I haven't really been exposed much to reading books, literally any kind of text. Even if it was the I-weekly, I would just flip for the sake of looking at the pictures and admiring the advertisement. Close the book, and it's the end of the story. Even in primary school, I didn't really read much, though there were opportunities for me to read, such as borrowing books from the library. However, I used to frequent the school library for the sake of the cooling wind during recess. Even if I felt like reading, I did more searching for THE book rather than to queue up at the library counter to borrow a book using my student pass. Well, blame it on laziness and perhaps the fact that I didn't had much books to read at home to cultivate the habit of reading.

I remembered that my primary school used to promote the habit of reading books through distribution of badges which students can pin on the collar of their school uniform. Each student would then receive a piece of paper to record the names of the books that they have read. Get names of 10 books (that you have read of course), record them down, show it to your teacher and the job's done - a reader's badge for you. Another badge for having read 20 books and one more for having read 50 books and so on. I could still remember that each badge stated the "level" of you've attained as a reader, depending on the number of books that you get. It goes something like "Good Reader" for having read 10 books and "Super Reader" for 20 books. Plus, those reader badges seemed like collectibles to everyone then since each type of reader badge had a different picture of an owl. A good tactic indeed to promote reading I must say.

Sadly, I didn't manage to collect all of the owl series of reader badges. I have only attained 2 of the series, namely the "Good Reader" and "Super Reader" (hope I'm correct with the names). It also means that I managed to read 20 books! Wondering how I managed to have read 20 books back then? Well, honestly, I really read 10 books (which do really exist!) wholeheartedly and for the next 10 books, they were either some really simple books for young children or names cooked up by yours sincerely. Another question: How did I manage to escape scot-free? While the school did inform us that we should be reading books pitched at our level (meaning primary school level), they didn't really enforce that. A P6 kid could just go ahead and read a P1 or P2 book and write it down in the list. My teachers didn't really check the list actually, so yup...that's the tale of my 2 reader badges.

Nevertheless, I did read some books in primary school like Charlotte's Web, which I also read again in secondary school. I kinda of "re-read" the books I had at home then. Even in secondary school, I didn't had much time to read either. Sadly, the library in my secondary school was another corner which I enjoy the howling wind and the Internet. I did try reading though, just that searching for THE book took a bigger portion of my library time instead. Nevertheless, the library was an important place for me to study and seek consultations with teachers during my Secondary 4 days.

During my secondary school days, the school also implemented the same reading programme ( both english and mother tongue languages) for all students. They initially promoted newspapers (which had me rushing to a coffeeshop every Tuesday to purchase one back then) but subsequently only books were allowed. One incident has always been etched in my mind and I don't think I would forget about it anytime soon. When I was in secondary 3, I read a book titled "The War with Grandpa", a book which most people would categorise as "a book for lower secondary". Despite all my efforts to prevent the world to know that I was reading that book, the then English Department Head (the you-know-who) caught me reading that and embarrassed me in public. She took a whole lot of effort to beat about the bloody bush to ask me which class I was from, which was seemingly so obvious from our seating arrangement. "3E1," I replied. The next moment felt like a dozen or even million of morning crows which flew past and my book was carried away from my by some nasty slimy fingers. Well, that was the last moment I stood there looking at my book for the very one last time. To my book (or rather my brother's book actually), I just wanna say that you've fulfilled your mission and hopefully, you have now been given a new lease of life.

When I entered post secondary education, there was even less time for me to read. Just to let you know, when I mean "read", I mean reading books like novels which are not related to curriculum studies and for my own pleasure. More time was devoted to curriculum and college activities I would say during that period of time. Hence, the habit of reading books for my own pleasure didn't really materialise. Nevertheless, I do read up newspapers then to keep myself updated with the times.

That's mainly my reading experience so far. The main reason I'm writing this post is due to an inspiration I've got when I went to Popular bookstore at Eastpoint Mall. Initially, I went to the bookstore to take a look at the driving books which I've yet to really take a good look at. The books I was browsing through was near the "Self Development" section so I took a quick look there too. Subsequently, I went on to other sections like "the Bestsellers", "Travel", "Comics", "Languages", "Children", "Puzzles", etc. Looking at some of the books, there was this sudden drive in me to feel like reading them, especially when I came across this book about China's History since I have always been confused about china's history during the imperial era. As I moved on, the "children" section made me think about the books I read when I was a child, which are countable with your fingers. Kids nowadays really have a whole lot of books to choose from. The shelves were full of books in the "Children" section and I also came across some familiar books like "Little Mr Men Series" and books from Enid Blyton, which should be a familiar name to everyone. I would always remember Enid Blyton's The little Brown Bear since it is one of the very few books of Enid Blyton I have at home. I was even more amazed and felt like a frog in the well when I looked at the Chinese section for children. Every book seemed so appealing and I felt like a child again, wanting to digest these books as fast as possible. It struck upon me that learning Chinese as a child must be of more fun nowadays with so many awesome books around. I mean like, those ancient Chinese stories associated with "chimology" like "Sun Tzu's Art of War" seems so simplified and easier to comprehend with those colourful cartoon books for the children. Even at my current age, I would prefer to read these books instead since it feels more refreshing and captivating. I even went on to the "Toys" section and take a look at the games kids play nowadays. Board games are still the best game for children and perhaps for all ages I must say. I cannot believe I actually stayed in the bookstore for around 2 hours until they announced the end of the day. Nice discovery today and I'm totally satisfied.

Currently, given my holidays now, I've more or less decided to start reading up more books to make up for the time I lost when I could have made time to really read. I'm looking at self development books rather than novels currently, as I find it more beneficial to read inspirational/self development books to improve myself as a person. I'm considering to continue reading even when I go into the army, hopefully I've the time and energy to do the work and, we shall see by then.