The habit of reading

Thomas Carlyle once said, "what printed thing soever I could meet with I read." I wonder if he were alive today, would he make such a statement. Each age has its own challenges for us to face.

I look at my library of books, the pile of magazines; there is no shortage of printed material and it has become more and more difficult to find time to read them all. Just have to decide what to read and what to just scan through.

Of course most of the stuff I read are what we term 'religious material' to do with sermons and Bible studies. I remember the then Lieut. Colonel Fred Harvey our Officer Commanding advising me read a novel, or short stories at the end of the day. "You need a change to relax before you sleep." Good advice which I followed except for days when I was really weary and fell asleep the moment I landed in bed.

Nowadays, I cannot cope with late nights, so immediately after the 9.30 p..m news on Channel 5, I would switch off the lights and shut my eyes. It has become a habit or lifestyle to go to bed early and be up early, yes usually 4.30 or 5.00 a.m.

I love to sit at the veranda to read magazines or a book. But it gets dark very quickly in Singapore. Anyway I seize the opportunity to read as much as I can before darkness descends.
"All that mankind has done, thought or been: it is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of books." Thomas Carlyle