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Chinese Education in Singapore An untold story of conflict and change Zhixiong Zhang 9789810999742 Books

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Chinese Education in Singapore An untold story of conflict and change Zhixiong Zhang 9789810999742 Books

I was prepared to open the book and immediately read about Chinese Education in Singapore. I work at a Chinese university in Indonesia and one of my lecturer colleagues is from Singapore, so I was looking forward to a pleasant read that would further social discussion with my expatriate colleague. This book will do that, but not in the way I expected.

The first chapter is devoted to a detailed discussion of the history of clans in China, their names (which have different pronunciations in different dialects) and a history of clan wars and disputes. I felt most of this could only be appreciated by a Chinese person brought up in a Chinese cultural background. For me, it was “move on, nothing to see here.”

Chapter two is about the Chinese language in its many, many forms. With maps. Even the author writes “Sorry about the hardcore use of Mandarin in this chapter. You may stay with me, or skip to Chapter Three.” [loc 234]. I didn’t take the advice, and I am glad I didn’t. This chapter will be of interest to those interested in studying Chinese and to those who work with Chinese people. There are times when two people speaking Chinese seem to not quite understand what each one is saying. This chapter will tell you why. There are also some interesting historical notes. And some humor.

And the rest of the book is on target as far as content. In the following seven chapters plus an epilogue, the author describes the struggle for linguistic diversity in education and how it can be preserved when there is also a demand for standardization that will support an end goal of an internationally recognized, accredited degree or diploma. Zhang describes the struggle of females to be educated. (Pay attention to the inequality in females studying A levels compared to males).

She describes the complex political atmosphere from the time Singapore and Malaysia were two separate British protectorates, a time when Singapore was a part of Malaysia, then Singapore independence. This is a simplification; Zhang describes it in detail. I am reviewing what I liked in the book. For details (again, well referenced) read the book.

Political conflict alone can be thought of as polite and not violent. But there can be a violent component in the form of riots or outright insurrections and war. Zhang describes these as well, both the homegrown internal conflicts as well as proxy wars.

This book is not as long as it first appears when initially opened. This is not a criticism; I appreciated the references and I clicked on the hyperlinked numbers inserted into the text frequently. I just want to point out that this is not as long as a Kindle end location of 2479 would indicate. The author begins a section titled “EXPLANATORY NOTES AND a list of References” at 65% in my mobi formatted ebook. This is followed at the 88% point with a Glossary of Chinese terms provided in characters and Romanization.

I got this book through a Library Thing Member Giveaway in return for a review. This is an informative book. I learned things. It took me a while to get through it from time of acquisition to review. Apologies to the author. But those first two chapters are daunting.


Tags : Chinese Education in Singapore: An untold story of conflict and change [Zhixiong Zhang] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <h2>Life as a coolie … sucked.</h2> <em>Strife</em> (the Chinese word tattooed on the wrist of the raised fist) summed up the coolies’ struggle to make their lives better. The story of the conflict in Singapore’s Chinese community was always told from the viewpoint of the British colonizers. A coolie’s perspective was never written down. Until now. Set between the founding of Singapore and the shuttering of Nanyang University,Zhixiong Zhang,Chinese Education in Singapore: An untold story of conflict and change,Pacific Media,9810999747,Chinese - Education - Government policy - Singapore - History - 20th century,Chinese - Education - Political aspects - Singapore - History - 20th century,Chinese language - Government policy - Singapore - History - 20th century,Schools, Chinese - Government policy - Singapore - History - 20th century,History Asia Southeast Asia

Chinese Education in Singapore An untold story of conflict and change Zhixiong Zhang 9789810999742 Books Reviews

In late 19th century Hawaii, influential descendants of missionaries decided that Hawaii should be annexed by the United States. Their ambitions were frustrated, however, by resistance from indigenous Hawaiians. Annexation advocates decided they had to suppress Hawaiian culture to achieve their goal. They tried to accomplish this through many officials acts. One of the first of these was to ban the use of the Hawaiian language in schools.
Using language as an instrument of political and cultural control was not unique to Hawaii. In 19th century Ukraine, for example, imperial Russia banned the Ukrainian language to further its objective, which was to absorb Ukraine into the empire.
In Zhixiong Zhang 's "Chinese Education in Singapore An Untold Story of Conflict and Change" we see, once again, the use of language as a political and social instrument. This book discusses various languages and dialects that have traditionally been spoken in Singapore and the role these played in the island nation's social, political and economic hierarchy.
Singapore has gone through a number of political iterations. It was once part of the British Empire. For a brief time it was part of Malaysia. It is now an independent country. The presence of a large Chinese population has been an important aspect of its history. At times immigration from China was encouraged and at times it was discouraged. Today, ethnic Chinese comprise about 75% of the population, although the Malay people are considered to be indigenous.
"Chinese Education in Singapore An Untold Story of Conflict and Change" offers a vast amount of information. The book takes us through Singapore's colonial era, its brief union with Malaysia and its state as a polyglot, multicultural and religiously diverse nation. Singapore's educational system has evolved to be one of the best in the world.
Most people in the West, particularly in the United States, know little about Singapore. Zhixiong Zhang presents material in his book that Western readers will not easily find in another source. It would be a good idea, before attempting the book, to brush up on significant events in Chinese history the various dynasties, European imperialism, the Japanese occupation and the 1949 revolution, for a start.
There are remarkable stories in Zhixiong Zhang's book. He tells, for example, about an effort to promote sterilization of poorly educated women. The response to this frankly eugenic policy was so negative that the program was quickly scrapped.
I enjoyed "Chinese Education in Singapore An Untold Story of Conflict and Change". The author is very specific about dates and facts, and these seem to be quite reliable. If you enjoy expanding your intellectual horizons and you don't know a lot about Singapore, read this book. As the world gets smaller, places such as Singapore that once seemed far away and irrelevant to every day life are increasingly becoming more like neighbors than strangers.
The book has been awarded four stars instead of five only because of the difficulty some readers might have in sorting out the very detailed account of events. Still, a job well done.
What I know about Singapore.....

1. It was once under British rule
2. It isn't part of China
3. Romesh Ranganathan's family comes from there. (turns out he doesn't come from Singapore, so I knew less than I thought)

And that's it. I work at a school so was interested to read about the education system in Singapore.

The book has been really well researched, some of the information must have been incredibly hard to gather. The amount of info thrown at you in the first couple of chapters is a bit overwhelming at times but halfway through the second chapter I got my head around things, sounding out the pronunciation of the place names really helped, I almost feel I have a slight grasp of Mandarin now. -)

I'm always shocked when I read about the sort of things the British got up to when ruling these other countries, it's complete madness.

The layout of the book works well, starting off with the early conflicts between clans, the British moving in to calm things down and the start of schools being built. It took nearly 100 years and Singapore gaining independence to get things sorted so it was fair and everybody had access to school and a future once they left school.

I found this to be a very interesting read, learnt loads and I'll be looking for more info on Singapore. One small issue with the book I have is the lack of information with all the charts, I don't know very much about statistics and didn't really get what I was looking at, a paragraph explaining each chart would have been very helpful for me.
I was prepared to open the book and immediately read about Chinese Education in Singapore. I work at a Chinese university in Indonesia and one of my lecturer colleagues is from Singapore, so I was looking forward to a pleasant read that would further social discussion with my expatriate colleague. This book will do that, but not in the way I expected.

The first chapter is devoted to a detailed discussion of the history of clans in China, their names (which have different pronunciations in different dialects) and a history of clan wars and disputes. I felt most of this could only be appreciated by a Chinese person brought up in a Chinese cultural background. For me, it was “move on, nothing to see here.”

Chapter two is about the Chinese language in its many, many forms. With maps. Even the author writes “Sorry about the hardcore use of Mandarin in this chapter. You may stay with me, or skip to Chapter Three.” [loc 234]. I didn’t take the advice, and I am glad I didn’t. This chapter will be of interest to those interested in studying Chinese and to those who work with Chinese people. There are times when two people speaking Chinese seem to not quite understand what each one is saying. This chapter will tell you why. There are also some interesting historical notes. And some humor.

And the rest of the book is on target as far as content. In the following seven chapters plus an epilogue, the author describes the struggle for linguistic diversity in education and how it can be preserved when there is also a demand for standardization that will support an end goal of an internationally recognized, accredited degree or diploma. Zhang describes the struggle of females to be educated. (Pay attention to the inequality in females studying A levels compared to males).

She describes the complex political atmosphere from the time Singapore and Malaysia were two separate British protectorates, a time when Singapore was a part of Malaysia, then Singapore independence. This is a simplification; Zhang describes it in detail. I am reviewing what I liked in the book. For details (again, well referenced) read the book.

Political conflict alone can be thought of as polite and not violent. But there can be a violent component in the form of riots or outright insurrections and war. Zhang describes these as well, both the homegrown internal conflicts as well as proxy wars.

This book is not as long as it first appears when initially opened. This is not a criticism; I appreciated the references and I clicked on the hyperlinked numbers inserted into the text frequently. I just want to point out that this is not as long as a end location of 2479 would indicate. The author begins a section titled “EXPLANATORY NOTES AND a list of References” at 65% in my mobi formatted ebook. This is followed at the 88% point with a Glossary of Chinese terms provided in characters and Romanization.

I got this book through a Library Thing Member Giveaway in return for a review. This is an informative book. I learned things. It took me a while to get through it from time of acquisition to review. Apologies to the author. But those first two chapters are daunting.