Malaysia Needs 28,000 Book Titles To Be A Developed Nation

KANGAR (Malaysia), Dec 22 (Bernama) -- Writers in the country should produce about 28,000 book title per year, but the figure has yet to be achieved, said The Institute of Language and Literature (Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka - DBP) northern region director Abdul Nasir Mohd Razali. Abdul Nasir said currently between 15,000 and 16,000 titles of books were produced by writers in each year. Speaking to Bernama after launching the 'Bicara Karya' programme that is organised by the Perlis Malays Association (Pemanis), here Wednesday said that according to the criterion for a developed country, a total of 1,000 titles must be produced for every million population. "Authors in the country need to work hard to achieve the aspiration to increase the number of book titles produced," said Abdul Nasir. The Bicara Karya Programme analysed the short story anthology "Deklarasi Rimba" written by Rejab FI, who is also Pemanis deputy president, as well as the anthologies of poetry "Mengetuk Pintu Langit" written by Nahmar Jamil. Pemanis president Mohd Zain Hamzah was also present at the event. -- BERNAMA Malaysia