Reading from young is something that the RHB-New Straits Times Spell-It-Right Challenge state champions have in common, writes NURJEHAN MOHAMED.

Nurul has a wide choice of books at the home library her parents set up.

SJK (C) Khoon Aik's Zheng Bin (left) collects himself as his opponent, Raja Nur Hanisah Raja Sulaiman from SK Jejawi, takes her turn during the final.

SM Sains Tuanku Syed Putra's Amiruddin gets a congratulatory hug from NST's mascot after a brilliant performance in winning the individual and school championship titles.

SMK Gudang Rasau's Senegai Parimala reacts as she gets a word wrong.

HAVING a small library at home helps cultivate a love for books.

The home libraries of the winners of the RHB-New Straits Times Spell-It-Right (SIR) state-level challenge in Perlis and Pahang also helped them to victory in the competition.

For 12-year-old Pang Zheng Bin, English is one of three languages spoken at home.

But when he picks up a book to read, more often than not he gravitates towards English books, rather than Mandarin or Malay ones.
His mother, science teacher Chui Say Poh, says her son is a voracious reader.

"When we take him to the library, he always borrows English books," she says.

"Science fiction, the Harry Potter series and the encyclopaedia are his favourites."

Though Chui and her husband Pang Joon Liang are not as fluent in English, they encourage Zheng Bin's love for the language.

"We used to subscribe to the Chinese version of Reader's Digest but recently switched to the English one instead," says Chui.

Zheng Bin picked up the language through reading and playing English language computer games.

English wasn't the first language for Perlis secondary school state champion Muhammad Amiruddin Ismail either.

He grew acquainted with the language by watching English language shows, reading books and playing computer games.

His mother, housewife Asrina Abdul Razak, says that Amiruddin has always been a little different from other boys.

"While most children would go for toys, he always wanted books."

Having begun with Disney books and comics, Amiruddin's tastes have now turned to the classics.

Asrina and her husband Ismail Hashim encouraged their son's fondness for books by taking him to the library and buying him books for his birthday.

"He takes after his grandmother, who loves reading and has plenty of books around the house," says Asrina.

And like his grandmother, Amiruddin enjoys reading the newspapers every day, which is how he found out about the SIR Challenge.

Kashwini Arumugam, 12, who won the Kuantan championship title in the primary school category, started reading at a very young age.

Her mother, housewife R. Ranitha, says they too have a home library. "We have a lot of books at home and subscribe to Reader's Digest and National Geographic," says Ranitha.

Kashwini's tastes have evolved from fairy tales to the Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Mr Midnight.

Reading the newspapers and speaking English at home also boosted Kashwini's love for the language.

Nurul Nadiah Nordin, 14, the secondary school Kuantan state champion, has the benefit of having two teachers as parents, who appreciated the value of a home library from the time she was young.

"I believe in investing in children's books," says Nur Amalina Chew Abdullah, Nurul's mum. "I find that in our country, families seldom have books for children."

She adds that even her secondary school students read only their textbooks. "Even if their families have books at home, these are normally the least of their priorities so there would be only a small selection."

She adds that the home library set up by her and her husband Nordin Hitam has plenty of books for their four children.

Nurul, being the most voracious reader among her siblings, would bring a book along to read even when the family goes out for meals.

A Harry Potter fan, Nurul would also be the first in the family to read her parents' subscription copies of Newsweek and Reader's Digest.