Wrongly Educated for 7 years...

[BuiKia]

An error in a history textbook used by secondary schools in Singapore has gone undetected for seven years, until now.

In an explanation of governance in ancient China, the textbook erroneously refers to "feudal lords" during the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties as the "shi" - a glaring inaccuracy, say history academics and experts.
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The "shi", they point out, are the nobles and intellectuals who may hold positions in government and sometimes own land, but they ultimately yield to the feudal class, reported Lianhe Wanbao.

The textbook with the conspicuous mistake is "The Living Past - History of Ancient India, China and Southeast Asia", which is approved by the Ministry of Education (MOE).

Now in its second edition, the first version was approved by MOE for use back in 2006.

In one of its chapters, "The Living Past" deals with the topic of feudalism and the class of people who were rewarded with land for their support of the king.

The textbook refers to them as the feudal "shi", a mistake which is repeated 24 times over, according to a tally by Lianhe Wanbao.

In response to a Wanbao query, an MOE spokesperson said the ministry will work with the publisher to inform history teachers of the error, and will issue printed corrections.

MOE will also work with the publisher to print the corrected details in next year's edition.

The head of the Chinese humanities division at Nanyang Technological University, associate professor Cheung Chiu-Yee, said the textbook's author could have thought of the "shi" as a collective term for nobility, and hence used it interchangeably with "feudal lords".

 

[tonychat]

why the hell sinkies learn about china history.

Who wanna boycott and failed that subject purposely?

 

[erection2015]

we all know you are illiterate...who writes these posts for you? You should sack that person.

why the hell sinkies learn about china history.

Who wanna boycott and failed that subject purposely?

 

[po2wq]

did dey check ze textbooks say sg is fishing kampung wen separated from msia? ... tel dem 2 oso check hor! ... if iz not so, make sure iz quikly corrected hor! ...

 

[KNNBCCB]

why the hell sinkies learn about china history.

Who wanna boycott and failed that subject purposely?

they even learn about Indian history too .. coming soon will be pinayland .

 

[Forvendet]

Chinese history has always been mired in myths anyway. Singaporeans should study Singapore history, LKY edition - Singapore was a fishing village until 1965.

 

[tonychat]

Chinese history has always been mired in myths anyway. Singaporeans should study Singapore history, LKY edition - Singapore was a fishing village until 1965.

wahahahhahahha!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[myo539]

why the hell sinkies learn about china history.
Who wanna boycott and failed that subject purposely?

Ya hor, they should learn more about Thai history instead.

Why did the Siamese King Somdetch Paramindr Maha Chulalongkorn gave only a black (bronze) elephant statue to Singapore instead of a gold one?

Afterall, Thailand was much richer and powerful than the colony of Singapore. The statue is still on display at the Old Parliament House aka Art House.

 

[Jlokta]

Chinese history has always been mired in myths anyway. Singaporeans should study Singapore history, LKY edition - Singapore was a fishing village until 1965.

yup, I agree.

Sinkapoor history LKY Edition - Singapore was a fishing village until 1965.

Lao Lee came and transformed us into a decent country.

He handed his reign to woody, and that started the rot.

Pinky took over and returned us back to the dark ages.

20XX, Sinkapoor finally gains recognition as the new province of China and is known as Chinapore.

History of Singapore ends.

 

[hillary888]

Singapore is such a unique country, our history may be short but we can still benefit from remembering our past.

Example: Prime Minister Lee's comments

Mr Lee was responding for the first time to the recent proposal for "shock therapy" by the well-known economist and former chairman of the National Wages Council, Professor Lim Chong Yah, to raise wages of the lowest-income workers by 50 per cent over three years.

Mr Lee said: "I appreciate his good intentions, I share his concerns over this group of workers. But I do not agree with his drastic approach because the only realistic way to move is step by step, with wages and productivity going up in tandem...as fast as we can, as fast as it's possible."

The proposal stirred much debate after Prof Lim spoke about it during a public lecture organised by the Economic Society of Singapore last month.

Yesterday's event, held to commemorate Labour Day, saw some 1,600 participants, such as union leaders and labour-movement representatives, gather at Downtown East in Pasir Ris.

Mr Lee disagreed with the proposal, pointing to the 1980s when Singapore pushed up wages sharply and had "room" to do so. He said: "But even then, we ran into problems."

Mr Lee explained that in the 1980s, Singapore's economy was growing rapidly at 8 to 10 per cent a year. It also helped that the country's only competition then came from the "three little dragons" - South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. China and India were not on the scene, he added.

And during that period, the labour market was tight as multinational companies such as Philips entered the labour market, creating thousands of jobs.

He said: "In 1985, when the winds changed, when the conditions turned difficult, we plunged into a very deep recession...We had to cut wages sharply...so that the economy could recover."