Without enough enthusiasm, one can hardly stick to something. It is no exaggeration to say that always bearing in mind where you started drives you to move ahead with fortitude. The same is true for reading. Your very first encounter with a book that triggered your passion for reading is like falling in love with someone for the first time. When you recall it years after reading has become part of your life, it still gives you a taste of gentle sweetness. In this Feature, we interviewed four “leading characters” who are as attached to books as they always are although they take on different roles as the owner of a bookstore, a mother of two children, a retired teacher, and an initiator of a reading association. They started reading for different reasons, yet the gleam of passion in their eyes is surprisingly similar when they mention reading and books.
Reading has changed the lives of more people than these four interviewees in the Feature. Chen Jin Huo, the interviewee of the “Author’s Say” in this issue, also touched us deeply. “I am just an ordinary person” this is how Chen always describes himself. As a stranger in Macao doing something irrelevant to reading and the cultural sector, he often feels awkward as he could not find his place in the city. However, reading gave him the courage to break his boundaries and recreate the literature works he loves and creates a collection of self-published, translated poems. His story again gives us a glimpse of how far your original aspiration can take you.
The “Library Handbook” gives a rundown of an event held in the Sir Robert Ho Tung Library, titled “Whisper with Plants — Cyanotype Workshop”. Under the theme of reading and nature as the last issue, the event gives participants a chance to appreciate the beauty of the harmony and symbiosis of human beings and nature while creating their cyanotype prints and reading nature-themed picture books together. Revolving around the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the “Library Portrait” features an interview with Zhang Yan, Director of Shenzhen Library, where she shared her in-depth interpretation from multiple perspectives regarding the roles and functions of library exhibitions and the cooperation between libraries in Shenzhen and Macao.
As the new year begins, everything takes on a new look. In the very first month of 2022, let us remind ourselves of why we read before resuming our reading journey with hope and never-ending energy.