Time to review national book policy - Rais Yatim

The National Book Policy needs to be reviewed and adapted according to current requirements, said Social and Cultural Affairs Advisor to the Government Tan Sri Rais Yatim. He said the policy needed to be updated as it was drafted in 1985 and its content may not be relevant to the current situation. "We need to give new inputs such as the interest of book traders, usage of Bahasa Melayu and its link to institutions of higher education so that more quality works can be produced," he told reporters here on Friday. Rais, who is also International Islamic University, Malaysia (IIUM) president, said from the aspect of productivity, the national book industry was expanding. "The development of the Malaysian book industry shows healthy growth but from the distribution of business and functions of small publishers; it needs further evaluation and analysis," he said. Rais said last year, the local industry produced 269,000 book titles as compiled by the National Library and that was an eight per cent increase compared to 2012. "Last year the book industry recorded sales of RM2.6 billion and I hope at least 30 per cent of the pie went to Bumiputra entrepreneurs," he said. Rais had earlier launched four books by Proffesor Mohamad Hatta Azad Khan at the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage (Aswara). At the same event, Hatta also received 'The Malaysia Book of Records (MBOR) recognition as the person with the most number of multi-genre artistic work produced by academician', which was presented by MBOR founder Datuk Danny Ooi. Hatta who was the former director-general of Istana Budaya has produced 171 works in arts, including television sitcoms, theatre, film, drama, academic books and scripts.