Wang Gungwu Library Early Textbook Collection

After more than a year’s renovation and preparation work, finally the collection is ready for view. Benefited from donation of Professor Wen Daikui, Singapore Nanyang Girls’ High School, and Singapore Chinese High School, currently the collection hosts more than 2000 volumes materials. Most of them are textbooks used in Singapore, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Cambodia, and other Southeast Asian countries during 1920s to 1970s. The subjects include Chinese, English, Malay, history, geography, Mathematics, physics, civics, Buddhism, etc.

Since the Kangxi 29 years (1690), the overseas Chinese in Indonesia Jakarta set up Ming Cheng College, overseas Chinese education had gone through from grassroots to flourish, and then to decline in the past 300 years. The study of overseas Chinese education, not only helps us to understand the changes in the economic and political aspects of overseas Chinese, and also helps to clarify the transmutation of Chinese’s identity and Chinese culture awareness for overseas Chinese. Undoubtedly, these textbooks, indispensable as a teaching tool and an information carrier, provide plenty of original and unique information for the study of overseas Chinese education.

In order to server our users better and facilitate users to utilize this collection, we also installed a touch-screen TV and uploaded many digital contents, such as texts, pictures, video clips, etc., to provide more information about this collection and Wang Gungwu library. More information products, such as bibliography, QRcode tags, are coming soon.

The room is well renovated. We have tried to create an old classroom circumstance by using classic Chinese style furniture, decorations and some artifacts.

We are looking forward to seeing you there!