Reading: A pathway to success
05 November 2019
JUSTIN KUNDALIN
PORT MORESBY – I believe that many people just don’t realise that reading is a path to success.
The world is replete with stories of how people have reached the zenith of their achievement and success only through reading.
Many self-made people who have become influential and affluent were voracious readers.
As movie producer Walt Disney affirmed, “There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.”
Reading is not only healthy exercise for the mind but it can also mine great knowledge and even wealth.
A bit of an internet search shows that Microsoft’s Bill Gates reads about 50 books a year. Billionaire investor Mark Cuban reads for three hours every day. South African billionaire technology entrepreneur is an avid reader (when asked how he learned to build rockets, he said, “I read books”).
Television celebrity Oprah Winfrey started a famous TV book club, saying, “Books were my passport to personal freedom”. President Obama said his secret to live with the pressures of the US presidency was to read great books. And Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg resolved in 2015 to read a book every two weeks (not so impressive but he’s a busy man).
If you think picking up a book and spending time reading is a waste of time…. think again!
One of the great tragedies of Papua New Guinea PNG is that many of us go to school and still end up illiterate.
I have observed this in my own life as I interact with peers. This article is also my challenge to PNG graduates to read and stay fresh because the true measure of people is the measure of their mind.
PNG’s greatest need of PNG is not more mines or tall buildings but well-educated minds. The nation’s destiny depends on how we unleash the potential of the mind.
I recently discovered that one of the common characteristics of most past American presidents was that they were readers. Oh how different PNG would be if all the young graduates would invest some time reading to sharpen their minds.
A nation blessed with great minds is a privileged nation. Papua New Guinea, let’s read!
Thanks my fellow writers for your excellent comments.
Posted by: Justin Kundalin | 06 November 2019 at 11:57 AM
In Iraq, in the book market, books remain in the street at night because Iraqis say, “The reader does not steal and the thief does not read.’ Blowingfacts.org
Posted by: Daniel Kumbon | 05 November 2019 at 02:04 PM
True Justin. We should start by giving our people something they should read and be interested in reading is that we need to have our own things, references, aids and stories to read about.
This calls for writers to come out en masse and produce materials that can be read.
We have 860 languages and cultures and many more stories. If we can have have 10 writers from each language and culture we can have 8,600 stories and many, many more over time.
How do you generate interest? Talk about something they know, like mention their village, river, school, the name of the known clown in the area, that would definitely make someone from that language group read that article/story.
The possibilities are many, the writers very few.
One thing that is very true is that we have a lot of educated illiterates. Even at work I encounter a lot of working illiterates.
Posted by: Baka Bina | 05 November 2019 at 01:32 PM
Sean Connery on receiving the AFI award in 2006 had this to say: "At five I got my big break. At five I learnt to read and it has taken me more than 70 years to realise that."
Posted by: Paulus Ripa | 05 November 2019 at 12:31 PM
I wonder what James Marape reads and how often.
Posted by: Philip Fitzpatrick | 05 November 2019 at 08:40 AM