Life-long Learning

The highlights of my Sundays are reading Mingguan Malaysia and The Sunday Times. Today, I found an interesting poem titled Sepanjang Hayat Belajar by Khadijah Hashim.

I remember when I was in Form Five, I had to read a novel Badai Semalam also penned by Khadijah Hashim where Mazni is the main character. (Got A1 in my Malay Literature for SPM). Anyway, what interests me today is Khadijah's poem on life-long learning. I'm always an advocate for life-long learning especially in my line of work dealing with School Resource Centers (SRCs) / Libraries. It is always interesting to see SRCs grow and move with time and technology even though there are constraints here and there. However, what is sometimes disheartening is how SRCs are side-lined giving focus to academic achievement because it can be measured. But how do we measure life-long learning? The students will be way out of school by the time we can see whether they become fruitful citizens. Sigh... I still love my job despite this.

Let me share with you Khadijah Hashim's Sepanjang Hayat Belajar to help me in saying why SRCs / Libraries are relevant and important.

SEPANJANG HAYAT BELAJAR

Sepanjang hayat kita belajar
dunia ini guru nan pintar
belajar bab pokok dan daun
nikmat harumnya mawar sekuntum
belajar menghargai terik matahari
aura panasnya dirasa sama rata
diterima miskin dan kaya
beralih angin musim berganti
beralih tajuk buku
beralih muka surat
beralih agenda serentak detik masa
sedenyut nyawa diberiNya percuma.

Belajar mensyukuri nikmat Tuhan
seiring pintar berbelanja
tidak boros tidak juga kedekut
barang belian sepadan nilai wang
mengurus masa tidak terburu-buru
tidak leka pada yang sia-sia
tahu mana yang patut didahulukan
setiap kata janji dikota.

Belajar menjaga kesihatan
baik yang lahir di lantai papan
atau di dalam dulang emas
bersih tubuh badan juga alam sekitar
sampah dalam dalam tangan dibawa pulang
sungai jernih udara bersih
rajin bersenam makanan seimbang
doktor dan hospital tidak diperlukan.

-KHADIJAH HASHIM

Source:
Khadijah Hashim. "Sepanjang Hayat Belajar." Mingguan Malaysia 3 Jan. 2010: 19. Print.