• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
    • Volunteer
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

Racial stereotype of a school bully in children’s book may negatively shape Chinese perception of other ethnicities, says Wong Chee Ming

by S.Ling
24/07/2020
in Current Affairs
Reading Time: 4 mins read
2

On Tuesday (21 July), the publisher Marshall Cavendish Education (MCE) apologised to its readers after several complaints were made that its Chinese-language children’s book, “Who Wins?” includes racist content.

The book, written by Wu Xing Hua, depicts a “dark-skinned” boy with “oily curly hair” named Mao Mao – which means “hairy” in Chinese – who is characterised as an aggressive school bully.

A Facebook user, Umm Yusof, made the first complaint on 17 July asking the rationale for publishing the book as it seems to portray the dark-skinned boy as “irredeemably nasty”, although his appearance is irrelevant to the plot.

MCE responded by saying it will cease the sale and distribution of the “Amazing Adventures of Pi Pi” series – which consists of five books – and will recall copies of the book from retail stores.

Following this, Dr Wong Chee Meng, a visiting researcher for Centre for Chinese Language & Culture at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) took to his Facebook on Wednesday (22 July) to comment on the racial stereotyping depicted in the book.

Dr Wong first said that he was shocked to read comments from a large number of citizens who expressed “why so sensitive” attitudes about this controversy.

He went on to say, “But the shock is not as great as my discovery that the book series has been included in a long list of supplementary reading material since 2018, as found on the website of the Committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning, formed under auspices of MOE.

“If National Library Board is to be deemed culpable for having included the book series in its collection, surely they are not alone in it?” he added.

Negligence from the committee for not scrutinising the content of the book

As such, Dr Wong denounced the negligence by the Committee for failing to scrutinise the content of the book, saying, “It is apparently just a form of negligence of the committee in scrutiny though, for the content of the book series as provided in the list makes no mention of the character Mao Mao, the ‘dark-skinned’ bully with ‘a head of oily curls'”.

He also expressed that the “racialised depiction of a school bully in a children’s book” may “negatively shape Chinese perception” of people of other ethnicities in diverse Singapore.

“To Singaporeans who think nothing of a racialised depiction of a school bully in a children’s book targeted at readers aged 7 to 9, we are really not overstating how such content may negatively shape Chinese perception of the ethnic other in our diverse society. It is arguably worse than how Chinese parents in the past would scare children into behaving by saying the Indian policeman would catch them,” he wrote.

Contents in the book is deemed as “racial stereotype”

Addressing several points on the contents which he deemed to be “racial stereotype”, Dr Wong said that “the dark-skinned bully” in the story “is apparently a rascal or maverick that has no respect even for the teacher” while the Chinese boy has to learn the art of self-defence to fight back.

He added, “It is one thing having a fictional character of a villain who does random mischief, like Mao Mao’s abuse of the Chinese protagonist Pi Pi’s toy dog in his initial appearance in Book 1 of the series. It is another thing when this character of the ethnic other serves to perpetuate the worst forms of racial stereotyping you can imagine in Singapore, as we see in Book 3 (Who Wins?).”

Other than this, Dr Wong also pointed out other stereotypes such as Mao Mao making Pi Pi do his homework for him, and bullying Pi Pi if the latter does not help.

“Does that not remind you of some stereotypes about Chinese people being hardworking and certain non-Chinese being lazy and hence poor in schoolwork? This is worse, because the non-Chinese here is not only lazy but a crook,” he remarked.

What’s more, Mao Mao is also said to make Pi Pi buy food for him during mealtimes, otherwise he would snatch from Pi Pi, according to Dr Wong.

He commented, “Now this is disturbing on two different levels. Not only is the non-Chinese being portrayed as a leech here, there seems to be an assumption that the Chinese knows best what is delicious, and there is nothing in the non-Chinese cuisine that may be worth trying.

“How sad and unfortunate is such representation, when Singapore has been making efforts these last couple of years to promote hawker food as a manifestation of our cultural diversity?” he noted.

This “unfortunate episode” reminds us to produce more content in children’s book that reflect multicultural ethos in Singapore

Claiming that his point is not to investigate the writer’s reason in coming up with such a negative depiction of non-Chinese individuals, Dr Wong instead suggested that both local born and recent immigrants of Chinese Singaporeans “may all need to reflect on the source of such racial stereotyping in our colonial history”.

With this “unfortunate episode”, he also believed that it serves as a reminder to the public about the need to produce more content in children’s book that reflect a multicultural ethos in Singapore, either through “nostalgia of kampung life or through celebration of the diverse cultural heritage in Singapore”.

“Perhaps there are fewer and fewer writers among Singaporeans who can produce content in ‘good Chinese’, but if we are unable even to nurture such interest, what is the whole point in inspiring the young ones to read and write in Chinese, beyond doing business with China?”

For just US$7.50 a month, sign up as a subscriber on The Online Citizen Asia (and enjoy ads-free experience on our site) to support our mission to transform TOC into an alternative mainstream press.

Related Posts

Singapore warns slower economic growth in 2023
Labour

Less than 1 in 10 jobs created in first three quarters of 2022 went to Singaporeans?

28/01/2023
Peru Congress rejects president’s plan for early elections
AFP

Peru Congress rejects president’s plan for early elections

28/01/2023
UMNO purging members as it sacks former health minister Khairy and suspended ex-defence minister Hishammuddin
Malaysia

UMNO purging members as it sacks former health minister Khairy and suspended ex-defence minister Hishammuddin

28/01/2023
WHO panel in talks on COVID emergency status
AFP

WHO panel in talks on COVID emergency status

27/01/2023
AFP

Two years after Myanmar coup, UN says situation ‘catastrophic’

27/01/2023
Grab driver supposedly earned $5,227.82 in a week prior CNY, netizens voice worries over his health
Community

Grab driver supposedly earned $5,227.82 in a week prior CNY, netizens voice worries over his health

27/01/2023
Subscribe
Connect withD
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
Connect withD
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
2 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Latest posts

Singapore warns slower economic growth in 2023

Less than 1 in 10 jobs created in first three quarters of 2022 went to Singaporeans?

28/01/2023
Peru Congress rejects president’s plan for early elections

Peru Congress rejects president’s plan for early elections

28/01/2023
UMNO purging members as it sacks former health minister Khairy and suspended ex-defence minister Hishammuddin

UMNO purging members as it sacks former health minister Khairy and suspended ex-defence minister Hishammuddin

28/01/2023
WHO panel in talks on COVID emergency status

WHO panel in talks on COVID emergency status

27/01/2023

Two years after Myanmar coup, UN says situation ‘catastrophic’

27/01/2023
Grab driver supposedly earned $5,227.82 in a week prior CNY, netizens voice worries over his health

Grab driver supposedly earned $5,227.82 in a week prior CNY, netizens voice worries over his health

27/01/2023
Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe

ICC grants new inquiry into Manila’s deadly ‘war on drugs’

27/01/2023
Minister refutes claims of Malaysia consulting Singapore on housing policy due to its inefficient civil service

Minister refutes claims of Malaysia consulting Singapore on housing policy due to its inefficient civil service

27/01/2023

Trending posts

Two Indian nationals paid about S$330 and S$730 respectively for forged certificates submitted in their S-Pass application

MOM found issuing EPs meant for foreign PMETs to PRC waitress and general worker

by Correspondent
26/01/2023
36

...

Earning only S$400 a month, delivery-rider turned hawker threw in the towel after two years of running a rojak stall

Earning only S$400 a month, delivery-rider turned hawker threw in the towel after two years of running a rojak stall

by Yee Loon
26/01/2023
23

...

Ho Ching breaks silence over Temasek’s write down of its US$275 million investment in FTX, says it “can afford to be contrarian”

US regulator questions VCs’ due diligence work prior to investing in FTX; Ho Ching says Temasek can afford to be contrarian

by The Online Citizen
24/01/2023
28

...

Indian rupee falls 60% since signing of CECA while Singapore becomes top investor in India

by Correspondent
25/01/2023
55

...

Temasek and GIC reportedly in talks with Adani Group accused of “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud

Temasek and GIC reportedly in talks with Adani Group accused of “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud

by The Online Citizen
26/01/2023
46

...

Racial stereotype of a school bully in children’s book may negatively shape Chinese perception of other ethnicities, says Wong Chee Ming

by S.Ling
24/07/2020
2

...

July 2020
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Jun   Aug »
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
  • Contact Us

© 2006 - 2021 The Online Citizen

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2006 - 2021 The Online Citizen

wpDiscuz