CULTURE SHOULD BE FOSTERED IN TANDEM WITH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 (Bernama) -- Culture should be fostered in tandem with economic, political and social development for it is part of civilisation of a country, said National Library director-general Raslin Abu Bakar.

He said cultural development was very important for it encompassed ethos (values and social systems), symbols, patterns of behaviour, discourse, arts, traditions and knowledge that formed the identity of a community.

"In addition, the development of culture can also determine the thinking and behaviour patterns of a community in its daily life, which include the way it charts its economic, political and social activities," he said when opening the "Know and Love Poetry: Teromba" programme here Monday.

His text of speech was read by National Library deputy director-general Siti Rodziah Othman.

Raslin said the progress of a nation could be deemed incomplete and
imperfect if it was to marginalize its cultural development.

He said research and development on culture should be intensified by scholars, intellectuals and cultural activists for they could be capitalised by the Ministry of Information Communication and Culture and related agencies in formulating the National Culture Policy.

"If efforts by all parties involved in the implementation of the policy could be harnessed in creative and innovative manners, then the aim of achieving a high-income society according to our own cultural mould could be realised by 2020," he said.

On the poetry programme, it was aimed at elevating national culture and the traditional Malay poetry originating from the Minangkabau community, which adhered to the cultural practices of the Perpatih social system and convention.