KUALA LUMPUR: The government’s initiative to provide RM100 book vouchers to all students starting from Year Four can strengthen reading habits among young people and ease the financial burden on the parents.
Setting the guidelines that allow only specific genres that can be purchased with the voucher ensures that students obtain quality reading materials.
A student at Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah, M. Eeswarri, 23, said certain types of reading material can build an individual’s character.
"I do not deny that most of us are more interested in reading novels...it’s not wrong but reading materials should be balanced,” she said, adding that she intends to use the voucher to get books on artificial intelligence.
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Echoing her sentiment is Muhammad Syakir Iman bin Mohd Rafiz, 19, a sixth former at Forest Heights Six Form College in Seremban, who believes the book voucher encourages students to buy quality reading materials in addition to cultivating reading culture among youths.
A parent in Putrajaya, Tuan Buqhairah Tuan Muhamad Adnan, 38, said the initiative can ease the financial burden of parents in fulfilling their children’s learning needs.
She said her daughters, aged 13 and 11, have already been searching for their preferred books at the Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair 2024, currently ongoing at the World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur, since the day that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the initiative.
In Terengganu, housewife Fatimah Jais, 47, said the giveaway was significant assistance for her as she has two daughters aged 14 and 17, especially when her husband can no longer work due to health problems.
A retired army in Gua Musang, Kelantan, Ahmad Tarmizi Dollah Ahmad, 57, whose four children are still in school, said the voucher was a relief that allows his children to buy books based on their interests.
Meanwhile, in Sabah, lecturer Christie Elbado, 41 said the mechanism to redeem the voucher that allows students to purchase books online through the DELIMa (Digital Educational Learning Initiative Malaysia) application helps more students to benefit from the initiative because of the lack of bookshops in the state and its geographical factor that limits book distribution, especially in rural areas.
A clerk in Penang, Marsyitah Abdul Halim, 36, whose children are in Year Four and Form One, hopes the book voucher can revitalise the waning reading culture among students.
A polytechnic student in Merlimau, Melaka Sharifah Nurin Amalin Syed Pakhrurazi, 20, said this initiative was a great help to her in obtaining reference books, considering some of the books she needs are expensive.
Meanwhile, a mother of two primary students in Lembah Pantai, Fatin Ainor Abdullah, 35, said the book purchase process with the DELIMa application is convenient because the books can be delivered to their home address.
On Thursday, when officiating PBAKL 2024, Anwar announced the voucher giveaway to students in Year Four and above, secondary school, higher learning institutions, and teaching institutes, starting on May 31. - Bernama
