The beginning and development of a multilingual public library system in Singapore in promoting literacy to its multiracial student and adult population, : Libraries, Learning and Language The Hong Kong Library Association 50 th Anniversary Conference, 4 – 5 November 2008 Lim Peng Han Department of Information Science, Loughborough University Graduate Student Forum

Immigrant Population by Race YearMalayChineseIndiansEurasiansEuropeansOthersTotal %56.2%12.0%2.2%2.0%0.6% 97, %71.8% 7.8%1.5%1.7%1.1% 228, %75.1% 9.1%1.2%1.5% 557, %77.8%7.3%1.0% 0.8% 938, %75.4%8.6%0.7% 0.8% 1,445, %76.1%7.0%0.6%0.9%0.4% 2,074, %74.7%7.6%0.4%0.2%3.6% 3,016,400 Sources: Official census reports

Raffles’ Education Policy of 1819 and 1823 Incorporating a Multilingual Library and Museum Raffles ’ minutes in 1819: “To collect the scattered literature…of the country…and to publish and circulate…with such other works, to be useful or instructive to the people.” Raffles ’ minutes in 1823: 1.To purchase printing presses with English, Malay and Siamese fonts. 2.To set up a library and museum.

Evolution of the Raffles Library Under Colonial Rule ( ) A.Under the East India Company Phase 1: School Library ( ) Phase 2: Proprietary Library ( ) B. Under the Colonial Office in London Phase 3: Government Library ( ) Raffles Junior Library ( ) C. Under the Japanese Occupation ( ) Phase 4: Tsuzoku Tosyokan [Popular Library]

Evolution of the Raffles Library: Postwar Period ( ) D. Post Second World War Period Phase 5: Government Library ( ) Phase 6: National Library and Multilingual Public Library System ( )

Phase 1 School Library ( ) [Under the East India Company: ] Singapore Institution Free School (1823 – 1980s) Location of school library

Phase 2 Proprietary Library ( ) [Under the East India Company: ] Library kept at the Singapore Institution. 32 European shareholders each contributing $30. Monthly subscription of $2.50. “Singapore Library Museum” was established in 1849 to illustrate the “General History and Archaeology of Singapore and the Eastern Archipelago”. In September 1862 the Singapore Library was removed from Raffles Institution to the Town Hall.

Phase 3 Government Library ( ) [Singapore under the Colonial Office in London] Singapore Institution Free School (1823 – 1980s) Location of school library Location of Raffles Library from 1876 to 1887

Phase 3 Government Library ( ) [Singapore under the Colonial Office: ] : Located at the Singapore Institution Free School : Moved to (new building of the Raffles Library and Museum) Raffles Library and Museum Source: National Archives of Singapore

Phase 3 (Government Library ) British Colonial Enclave Subscribers Europeans577 (81 %) 986 (74 %) British Other Europeans Chinese 59 (8%) 196 (14%) Malay 7 (1%) 9 (1%) Indians 24 (3%) 52 (4%) Eurasians 39 (6%) 68 (5%) Others 6 (1%) 25 (2%) Total712 (100%)1,336 (100%) Sources: Annual Reports of the Raffles Museum and Library, 1921 and 1931

Phase 3 (Government Library ) British Colonial Enclave Subscribers as percentage of ethnic group Percentage of Europeans subscribers 11% 14% European population (age 15 and above)5,1296,964 Percentage of Chinese subscribers 0.02% 0.06% Chinese population (age 15 and above)249,399309,972 Percentage of Eurasian subscribers 1.1% 1.6% Eurasian population (age 15 and above) 3,568 4,298 Percentage of Indian subscribers 0.08% 0.02% Indian population (age 15 and above)27,93644,144 Percentage of Malay subscribers 0.01% Malay population (age 15 and above)37,70847,231 Sources: Annual Reports of the Raffles Museum and Library, 1921 and 1931; Official census reports in 1921 and 1931

Phase 3 (Government Library ) Raffles Junior Library ( ) Boys138 (65%)676 (85%)989 (84%)882 (88%) Girls 74 (35%)124 (15%)186 (16%)125 (12%) Total ,1751, Boys843 (84%)787 (86%) 643 (88%)654 (72%) Girls159 (16%)128 (14%) 89 (12%)142 (28%) Total1, Sources: Annual Report of the Raffles Museum and Library, (selected years).

Phase 3 (Government Library ) Raffles Junior Library ( ) All races Percentage of children age 5-14 who were members of the Raffles Jr. Library in 1931 Boys age ,620Boys subscribers 9892 % Girls age ,318Girls subscribers % Total age group ,938 Total subscribers 1,1751.2% Sources: Annual Report of the Raffles Museum and Library 1931 and official census report in

Phase 4 Tsuzoku Tosyokan [Popular Library] [Under the Japanese Military Administration: ] The Botanical Gardens and the Raffles Museum were renamed Syonan Botanical Gardens and Syonan Museum under the Department of Education. The “Popular Library” was opened 1 February 1943 in the former St Andrew’s School for the Japanese community. St. Andrew ’ s School Source: National Archives of Singapore Source: Syonan Times, 27 Jun 1943, p. 4., Syonan Times, 15 Sep, 1943, p. 4.

Phase 4 Seibudo Syoten,32 Raffles Place [Under the Japanese Military Administration: ] The first Nippon Bookstore open on 16 September Japanese story books to novels and books dealing with military matters were on sale. A wide variety of English language books are also on sale. Kelly & Walsh Bookshop Source: Syonan Times, 17 Sep 1942 Source: National Archives of Singapore

Phase 5 Government Library ( ) Postwar Reconstruction There are those who had lost four years of school life and were anxious to make good the lost as quickly as possible. There were also all those pupils who would have been admitted to primary classes during the four years. Frisby, 1946, p Ten-year Education Plan – Free primary education through the following languages – Malay, Chinese, Tamil and English. Parents have a choice to send their children to an English school or a vernacular school.

Phase 5 Government Library ( ) Raffles Junior Library subscribers 2,852 4,537 Malay school pupils 8,436 10,470 English school pupils 49,521 71,760 Chinese school pupils 72,951 73,067 Tamil school pupils 1,486 1,465 Total student population 132,394156,762 Percentage of pupil subscribers 1 %3 % Sources: Annual Report of the Raffles Museum and Library, 1950 and 1954.

Phase 5 Government Library ( ) [Beginning of a multilingual public library system in 1953] Conditions of $375,000 offer from Lee Kong Chian No charges were to be made for the loan of books. Books in the vernacular languages commonly spoken in Singapore as well as English and other European languages should be provided. Donor Lee Kong Chian Source: National Archives of Singapore

Phase 5 Government Library ( ) A Director, L.M. Harrod, was appointed in early In 1955 the Raffles Museum and Library was under the Ministry of Education. The Raffles Library was separated from the Museum the same year. L. M. Harrod (Director) and Chew Swee Kee (Minister for Education) Source: National Archives of Singapore

Phase 6 National Library and Multilingual Public Library System ( ) Raffles National Library Ordinance (No. 31 of 1957) It is a national and public library system as recommended by Unesco. Free Library. Provision of mobile library services. New library to replace the old Raffles Library. National Library Building ( ) Source: National Archives of Singapore.

Phase 6 National Library and Multilingual Public Library System ( ) “in Singapore you cannot create a truly National Library unless you take into consideration the fact that it has to cater to four language groups. You are in fact expected to operate a multi-lingual library…in the past the National Library was…primarily… an English library…only a minority of those…go to the National Library.” Mr Rajaratnam, Minister for Culture Source: National Archives of Singapore

Phase 6 National Library and Multilingual Public Library System ( ) [Percentage of Print Collection by Language Medium] Malay 7%13% 11% Chinese 19%26%27%29%27%22% Tamil 6% 8% 7% 4% 3% English 68%52%51%55%59%64% Sources: National Library Annual Report, 1963 and

From School Library in 1823 to Multilingual Public Library System in Primary school pupils 13,153222,612363,518296,608 Secondary school pupils - 29,816145,740170,316 Total school pupils 13,153252,428509,258466,924 National Library members 1,175 4,442117,491185,933 Percentage of pupils as members 4.5%1.7%23.0%40.0% Sources: Education Department 1932; Ministry of Education, 1958, 1971, 1981; Raffles Museum and Library, 1932, Raffles Library 1958; National Library 1971 and

Conclusion Although Raffles wanted his proposed Institution to be a multilingual library in 1823, it was not until 1970 that the library evolved into a multilingual public library system. From 1823 to 1941 (118 years) it was a small almost exclusive British colonial enclave. During the Japanese occupation ( ), it was opened in 1943 with a Japanese print collection. In continued to be a Government Library from 1946 to Although the Library began to acquire books in Asian languages in 1956 it was not until 1970 that there was sufficient collection to make it into a multilingual public library system.

Conclusion When the Raffles Library began to add Malay/Indonesian, Chinese and Tamil books into its collection, the staff had to learn and manage cataloguing of Malay/Indonesian, Chinese and Tamil, especially the use of Chinese and Tamil scripts. The staff acquired in depth knowledge in the acquisition of Malay/Indonesian books, Chinese books and Tamil books. The National Library had to grapple with the setting up of a multilingual in spite of the persistent shortage of professional and para-professional staff since there was no library school until Since achieving independence in 1965 Singapore was a developing country and financial and manpower resources for National Library was limited.