“Shopping in Kilograms: Guide for consumers” brochure by the Singapore Metrication Board

This brochure is a simple guide for people shopping at supermarkets buying things such as frozen meats to convert the weights from imperial to metric measures. This change from an imperial and local measures to a metric system required a mental shift across the whole of Singaporean society, and affected everyone’s daily lives as illustrated by this brochure. It was a huge undertaking that took over 10 years to complete, from 1970 to 1981, but was one that the government considered necessary as most of Singapore’s international trade was with countries that were already using the metric system or intended to convert to it. Being decimal-based, it was also easier for children to learn.

See related items

Public Utilities Board (PUB) brochure titled “What’s in a bill?”

Christmas shopping guide published by The Straits Times

NTUC Welcome Plastic Bag featuring metric conversion table

Public Utilities Board (PUB) booklet titled “Piped Gas and You”