Posted by YC
Some shocking news have been making their ways into the headlines of our local dailies for the past few days. One that interests me most is the one about the banning of books.
I've actually read about this bit of news a couple of weeks back, but now it's been highlighted and comments from various parties have been sought. What is my say? Well, if you go through the list of the books banned, some surprising information will be revealed.
Spongebob Squarepants have been banned (apparently he's gay and has a relationship with Patrick??). Books by Salman Rushdie apparently has been banned, although I've encountered some copies around in the market. And sad to say, Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is on the list as well.
Why a heartfelt sadness towards the "fall apart" book? Well, I've actually read the book before when I was taking post-colonial literature as an elective paper in UM. The thing is, I went into that class expecting stuff like Shakespeare (or post-Shakespeare) but I walked out of the class not knowing any more about the great author, but I do realize a bit more about patriotism and as the Chinese saying goes, "Luo Ye Gui Gen".
It was during that class which I realized that life is not about all things great elsewhere in the world. I learnt to seek within myself and after that, eventually, love my country more than ever before. It was then that I learnt to think and perceive beyond the stereotype, and come to realize of the many illusions which was created before by TV or not-banned story books.
The thing is, I seriously do not understand why are they banning some of these titles. Even a Statistics book was on the list???
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