Maung Myint Kyi (Literature Hall) - Intermediate Level Myanmar Essays

( 1) Benefits of reading newspapers

One way to stay informed about the happenings in the country and the world while sitting at home is to read newspapers. If you have the habit of reading newspapers daily, you will always be aware of the current events and developments. Reading newspapers can provide you with more up-to-date knowledge than reading books, magazines, and journals.

There are two newspapers currently published in Burma. The Mirror and the Workers' Newspaper. Both newspapers often feature speeches and meetings on the front and back covers. Special foreign news is also occasionally featured on the front and back covers. The inside pages of the newspaper contain daily foreign and local news.

Newspapers can be seen as interesting reading. Before the advent of newspapers, mass communication was slow, and events in one area could not be known to other areas. Only with the advent of newspapers could people living in far-flung places quickly learn about news from one place. Therefore, newspapers are also called “the indispensable messenger of the world” or “the mirror of the world.”

The event called “news” is described in writing with “letters”, so the name “newspaper” is appropriate for the sense of informing and broadening the view. Before the advent of newspapers during the reign of ancient Burmese kings, if you wanted to send news from one place to another, you would send it by letter. In military matters, to let you know that the enemy was approaching, you would beat a bell (kalatak) to signal. The news would be sent. The news would also be spread in the towns and villages by playing the gongs.

The first newspaper-like publication in the world began more than 2,000 years ago. ( During the reign of the Roman emperor Julius Caesar, public notices were posted on the walls of the palace in public view. The edicts and news posted in this way were copied by scribes and sent to important political and economic figures far and wide. The first printed newspaper was published in China, where characters were carved into wooden blocks and printed on paper to be used as printed newspapers.

When Gutenberg of Germany introduced the printing press that could combine letters, newspapers appeared in Western European countries. In 1609, Germany, in 1616, Belgium, and in 1622, newspapers that were published regularly appeared in England. The first newspaper to be published in Myanmar was Mawlamyine, and the name of the newspaper was “Chronicle” in English and it was published in 1836. It was the only newspaper published in English. The first Myanmar newspaper was King Mindon’s “Yadanabon Newspaper” published in 1874, which can be said to be the first Myanmar newspaper.

People have developed a series of innovations to make a newspaper accessible to the public. The work of reporting and writing news is not an easy task. A newspaper is full of things to know, such as facts that need to be known to the public, unique news photos, economic, political, military issues, commercial advertisements, criminal news, obituaries, speeches, decrees, and laws issued by the state.

In the headlines, newspaper editors often write about political and economic issues that people should follow today. In a newspaper, the headlines should be read carefully. Since newspapers have to write concisely and in accordance with the rules of Burmese prose and sentence structure, a person who regularly reads newspapers has also studied the rules of Burmese and English.

Job seekers and business people can also benefit from the newspaper because it contains job vacancies announced by departments and business advertisements. You can also see the news and funerals of your relatives in distant areas in the newspaper advertisements, so by reading the newspaper daily, you can also see the matters that you need to deal with.

In addition, the newspaper also provides general knowledge because the columnists write articles on medicine, literature, culture and art from time to time. The English newspaper also provides information and information related to modern vocabulary, military, politics and education, so English writing and modern expressions can be read and memorized while sitting at home.

A person should have time to read the newspaper. Biographies and records written over the years become outdated. Newspapers are modern in keeping with the times as they cover daily events. If you want to know about a country, you should read the newspaper and keep a daily record.

Because the countries of the world are changing every day. No book can fully describe the changing countries of the world as a newspaper can. A book can only tell about a country within the time limit of the time it was written. A newspaper can tell about a country forever, up to the present day.

In addition, newspapers can also provide information needed for civil service exams and school exams. Not only are domestic economic, social, and political issues covered in newspapers, but foreign military, scientific, medical research, natural climate change, and new inventions are also covered in newspapers.

Therefore, any person should read and study the newspaper every day. By reading the newspaper, you can not only gain knowledge about domestic and foreign affairs but also modern events. If you read and study a newspaper systematically, you can become a person with general knowledge in everything. With so much knowledge and information provided by the newspaper, it can be said that the benefits of reading the newspaper are different from any other kind of literature.