Im going to talk about.. Malaysian schools’ new literature texts..

As an English language students and also an education student, on last Friday, I got my hand on the new literature texts that is currently being used in schools all over Malaysia.. OMG, how was I surprised to receive them.. it is as if it is going to be used by elementary school children.. please be noted that literature is taught in the secondary level.. it is just somehow unacceptable..

One of the most annoying features in my view is the font used in the texts.. it is huge.. it is like their mocking the eyesight of nowadays students.. whom maybe spend too much time in front of computers or video games.. for goodness sake.. it does not look like something that is going to be used by a teenager at all.. and I thought the literature component in my time was bad.. the literary texts in my time was said to be too matured for teenagers and somehow could not catch the attention for they are too abstract and touch a lot on life.. but from my first glance of the new texts.. it is as if they do not want the students to think too much and just accept the spoon-fed idea into their mind and just swallow it all.. without even bother to think about them.. and how is that going to develop the creativity and critical thinking skills in their mind??

Whatever it is.. that is the reality of the literature in Malaysian school right now.. from making up own poem (Life’s Brief Candle is NOT A POEM!!, it is part of Macbeth) to end up something so straight forward and rather childish.. although some did have put a very scary theme in them.. such as the finding of the new god, that is money.. one thing to be reminded of, in order to have a strong literature background in Malaysia, they should start teaching it in elementary level, but not formally, just a brief introduction to it.. so the students could develop the love for literature earlier and who knows, we might have our own great poet later.. ( how ironic, these come from someone who hates literature)..

*gulp and gasp*