A controversial secondary 3 social studies guidebook on retail at a prominent bookstore in Singapore is not on the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) approved textbook list, the ministry said on Wednesday.
A page from the book, titled “Complete Guide to GCE O-level Social Studies Volume 1”, describing people of “lower socio-economic status (SES)” has gone viral online.
Netizens have criticised the section that lists how people of lower SES use “Singlish or different dialects in daily conversation” instead of those in a higher SES commonly use “formal English”.
Other generalisations included “eating at hawker centres or at home” instead of “regular fine dining” and “taking on part-time jobs…to meet basic family needs” instead of “travelling overseas during school holidays every year”.
MOE was alerted of the post by Facebook user Ahmad Matin who posted the section on Monday and tagged the ministry.
In response, MOE commented that the book is “not on the Ministry of Education’s Approved Textbook List”. It added that “commercial learning materials approved by MOE will bear the Ministry’s stamp of approval on their front cover or inside the book”.
A teacher, who has two years of experience teaching social studies, said the book was careless in the presentation of the topic.
“This chapter is quite sensitive, and easily controversial if it is not taught properly,” the teacher told The Straits Times.
However, the book’s publisher, MarketAsia has defended the contents of the guidebook saying it has to “be read in context of the whole chapter, which discusses crucial themes pertaining to Singapore’s social mobility and inequality issues”.
"We encourage readers to read the whole chapter as well as the official textbooks on this theme to gain a more holistic and accurate picture of the context of what is discussed and, in doing so, we hope to bring about greater critical thinking and knowledge of responsible online reading," a spokesman told Channel NewsAsia.