A nation’s character is formed from its human capital, the character of its individuals. Character is abstract. The nature of changes to character is difficult to monitor, but can be felt. The formation of individual character can be facilitated through art, including literature. Folk stories are one literary genre that can be used to develop character, especially in children's education. Folk stories can be used as a medium to instil educational values in children. The tradition of storytelling has long been used in children's education in Indonesia and Malaysia. However, when the community changes rapidly due to the process of modernization and even globalization, the telling of traditional stories to children in educational practice becomes less widely embraced. Various types of games, based on digital technology, have marginalised the tradition of storytelling. In fact, folklore contains moral, religious, educational messages that cannot be replaced by digital games. The consequence of this abandonment of traditional storytelling means disadvantaging the world of children's education, especially in character education. The richness of the message, the character-forming value found in a diverse range of folklore can be used for teaching children and the younger generation of a nation. This article discusses two folktales from two neighbouring countries, namely Indonesia and Malaysia. The two stories are titled “Batu Ajuang Batu Peti” from the Province of West Sumatra, Indonesia and "Si Tanggang" from Malaysia. Both of these stories have powerful messages that are very suitable to be told to children and the younger generation to form the character of the younger generation in both nations.Keywords: characters, literature, folklore, Indonesia, Malaysia

中文翻译：

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在印度尼西亚和马来西亚通过口述故事教导人物

一个国家的性格是由它的人力资本形成的，它的个人性格。性格是抽象的。性格变化的本质很难监测，但可以感觉到。通过艺术，包括文学，可以促进个性的形成。民间故事是一种文学体裁，可以用来培养性格，尤其是在儿童教育方面。民间故事可以用作向儿童灌输教育价值观的媒介。讲故事的传统长期以来一直被用于印度尼西亚和马来西亚的儿童教育。然而，当社会因现代化甚至全球化的进程而迅速变化时，在教育实践中给孩子讲传统故事的方式变得越来越少。各种类型的游戏，基于数字技术，已经边缘化了讲故事的传统。事实上，民间传说包含了数字游戏无法替代的道德、宗教和教育信息。放弃传统讲故事的后果意味着对儿童教育世界不利，尤其是在性格教育方面。信息的丰富性，在各种民间传说中发现的塑造性格的价值可用于教育儿童和一个国家的年轻一代。本文讨论来自两个邻国，即印度尼西亚和马来西亚的两个民间故事。这两个故事分别名为印度尼西亚西苏门答腊省的“Batu Ajuang Batu Peti”和马来西亚的“Si Tanggang”。