Aide to former Kedah MB hails move to relive Book Town

Feb 23: An aide to a former Kedah Menteri Besar from Barisan Nasional has hailed the current Kedah state government's move to revive the Book Village in Langkawi, first launched by former Kedah MB Sanusi Junid in 1997.

Aziz Desa (right), who served as Sanusi's press secretary, congratulated the Kedah government under Azizan Abdul Razak, saying it was proof of his administration's commitment to inculcate the reading habit.

“It shows that he is someone who lays importance on the culture of reading in keeping with the emphasis placed by Islam on reading," Aziz told Harakahdaily.

Launching the 8th International Booktown Festival recently, Azizan announced that the state was reviving the Book Village which had been in hybernation for several years.

Azizan launching the 8th International Booktown Festival (pic: Sinar Harian)

The Langkawi Book Village is built in the style of a traditional Malay village, and is part of the International Organisation of Book Towns. It is said to be the first and the only book village in Southeast Asia.

Aziz, a television personality recently appointed to head the Kelantan Trade Centre as its chief operations officer, said he was overcome with emotion upon learning that the current state government was reviving the project.

He expressed confidence that the project, which was forced to move to Melaka following its failure, would attract local and foreign tourists provided it was managed efficiently like its successful counterparts in Western countries.