LAST Friday's sermon highlighted the importance of reading and how it helps develop an individual's personality. With the advent of computers and Internet, many had written obituaries of the print word. Their assumption was based on the belief that a paperless world would sound the death-knell for the written world. But they all failed to realise that is the written word that is providing oxygen to the Internet and computers.

This shows how important the print word is. It's also a doorway to knowledge and the Imams have rightly pointed out that reading is one of the ways of acquiring knowledge.

We must remember that this is an age of information wherein knowledge and ideas will be the main engines of economic growth. It's the knowledge power that has produced the new economic giants of 21st Century. In this age, knowledge has become more important than land, labour, money, or any other resource. That's why the sermon called knowledge a priceless asset that should be pursued because the Knowledge Age has given birth to new forms of work patterns and business practices which require new kinds of workers equipped with new skills. The sermon emphasised on acquisition of knowledge by saying that "those who do so will be blessed with an intangible asset that cannot be lost or extinguished, as opposed to money and property, which would diminish and disappear after being used." Hence, this makes reading a crucial necessity that needs to be cultivated and developed among children because its use is not just limited to academics. It's a necessary instrument for survival in life. Most important of all, reading helps develop critical thinking among children. The sermon talked about how knowledge works as an armour against negative influences and one can only decide this through critical thinking to know whether a particular thing or claim is true or false.