BREEZY MONDAY
World Book Capital a cruel joke
- Published: 11/07/2011 at 09:20 AM
- Newspaper section: Life
It's so exciting to hear that Bangkok has been designated by Unesco as World Book Capital for the year 2013. The programme, established in 2001, is supposed to be a symbolic acknowledgement of the best programme dedicated to books and reading.
According to the official Unesco news release, the committee selected Bangkok "for its willingness to bring together all the various stakeholders in the book supply chain and beyond, actors involved in the publication chain for a range of projects proposed, for its community-focused and the high level of its commitment through the proposed activities".
Sounds lofty, but wait a minute! There is actually no mention of the word "reading" in there at all. And for a moment I actually thought books and reading were part of the same thing, like our morning fried patongko doughnuts, joined at the hip so to speak.
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About the author
- Writer: Usnisa Sukhsvasti
- Position: Features Editor
