After the Guomindang came into power, the Chinese primary school curriculum in Singapore focused on character building and developing basic literacy, while secondary school students were encouraged to contribute to society. The preface of this book urges readers to “welcome local goods, reject foreign goods”. Before World War II, most Chinese textbooks were imported from China, although some were smuggled in. The British authorities were wary of such books because of their allegedly subversive content. Eventually, the colonial government imposed a ban and began to publish their own Chinese textbooks through the Education Department, but these versions were not popular with local Chinese schools.
