Shih Wen's Reading Biography

Reading was never my forte. But what kind of skills do you need in reading, and does it even matter if you are good at it, or not? I guess it matters, because I was not born with the flair in language. In fact, I always thought I have some reading disabilities because I take so much more time to read a text than my peers do. I used to not be able to complete all my exam papers because I had to spend half my time understanding the texts. In other words, reading to me has always been some sort of a battle - the battle to just sit and complete a book, to read it once and get it right, to fully grasp the intention and meaning of the text after reading it several times. Yes, I was a slow reader and I still am. I like to make sure I understood every sentence before proceeding to the next and never missing out on the smallest detail (which I always suspect will come in very important later in the story).



As far as I can remember, my very first book which I read independently was the phonics book by Ladybird. Yes, the one with Peter, Jane and their Golden Retriever which I remember goes “This is Peter. This is Jane. This is their dog.” My mom had foresight and sent me to phonics class, a privilege (I think) then that not every student enjoy when they were 4 years old. I progressed from book 1a to 12c before I started reading my brother’s series of Book Worms which I very much enjoyed but can remember little of. Most of the reading materials I got when I was younger were passed down from my brother who is 5 years my senior.

   


Going on to primary school, I picked up the Sweet Valley series because that was what all the other girls (and some boys) were reading at that point of time. I used to borrow from my friends or from the library but never had the urge to own one myself. So there were Sweet Valley Kids, Sweet Valley Twins and Sweet Valley High. Sweet Valley University was off limits due to its high ‘sexual content’.  While I might frown upon them now, the Sweet Valley series were a great joy to read at our age. Other than that, there was also the Baby Sitters’ Club which brings back nostalgic memories as I am typing this now. Other books I can remember reading were those from Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine which I stole from my brother’s collection (I love horror) but I guess SV still fills the bulk of my reading list. Hence, I guess many would agree I grew up reading a lot of trash. Reading was just for pleasure anyway!

  

The memory of books read in my secondary school days is rather hazy in my mind now, perhaps because there wasn’t any specific genre or series of books which I stick to in my 4 years. Also it seems so long ago. I remember only reading books which were recommended by my English teachers. The only book I remembered reading was Animal Farm as it was one of set text for Literature and I thought it was very interesting when historical context was brought into the story. It was also the first time I was introduced to Shakespeare. Good thing was that somehow I was not put off by the language as somehow I was able to “decode” them better than my friends did and that gave me a lot of confidence as a reader.

  

In my JC days, more “intellectual” books were introduced to my list. Mitch Albom’s inspirational short reads such as Five People You Meet In Heaven and For One More Day were some of the best which left deep impressions. This was also the time when I was drawn to Literature as a subject, and I believe my Literature set texts played an important part in kindling the flame (albeit at such a late stage in my life) for reading. My school had only 2 literature classes (out of the 25 or so classes we had for our cohort) and we felt more elitist then marginalized (haha). We read books on Utopia, such as The Handmaid’s Tale and Brave New World. I loved how these utopian writings present to us a world that is so strange yet so familiar. It made me more aware of the injustices in society, opened my blinded eyes to new perspectives in life. Sounds like a inspiring epiphany? It was more like a late one. Turned out I had C for my Literature for ‘A’ levels.

There was a two year vacuum in my reading biography from after ‘A’s till before I entered NIE. That was because I was working and cannot remember reading anything except for the daily newspapers.

NIE was the place where I really learn as a reader. Having been “out there” for two years and back in a learning institute, I believe I have learnt more in my 4 years at NIE than any of the other stages in my life. NIE is where I really changed as a reader, perhaps because I am more intrinsically motivated to read. Reading is no longer just about passing exams and writing essays. Reading now is about paving my way as a Literature teacher in future. Learning to read and to read critically—that is more important than being a fast reader who reads passively. I learnt that it is not about quantity of your reading, but about the quality of your read. Here in NIE, I was also exposed to good books out of the canon, such as Waiting for the Babarians and books and plays by local writers. Reading is also not restricted to book per se. There were journals and articles related to the books that we have read to give a wider perspective of the issues in question. I have also recently subscribed to the Newsweek to keep myself up-to-date with news and happenings out of Singapore. They have news and articles which were never reported in local papers!

Today, I enjoy reading more than ever. I have learnt to be more discerning with my choice of books and also read for more reasons, and that, in itself, gives me more reason to read. Now, I prefer collecting all the books that I read as a form of satisfaction and also for the sense of ownership.