Instead I prefer to share the contents of this book dated 1936.
It's nostalgia, it's about the way we were (or perhaps my father's generation), it's about learning the colonial language and the methodology of those days.But for me, I love the pictures and how they imitate scenes from English textbooks and landscapes. As for the colour illustrations, the almost sepia-like features give a touch of time and dignity to simple scenes.
According to this Primer : "Before beginning this book, which deals with the commonest of the phonograms, the children should have had abundant practice in reading regular words containing those sounds. The teacher should provide this by means of large reading cards prepared as they are needed and pinned to the Blackboard. Even at this early stage she should take care to avoid sentences which arouse no interest". Blackboard ?? The teacher is assumed to be a 'she' - of the loving and caring kind.
Here's my choice from this special book which had been viciously attacked by silver fish and book worms. But it's still precious.
The last two are my favourites. Finally,
SELAMAT BERPUASA TO ALL from AsH of yore.
14 comments:
yang last tu akak eh?
huhu.
Thank you sastraboy,
Indeed that's AsH - many, many, many - in fact umpteen moons ago.
Were you carrying a puddy cat ? You looked so adorable, love those shoes.
Thank you ph,
No, I was hugging a ball which I took away by force - from a nasty little boy.
You know - "kaki gaduh"!
They're not red, those shoes.
I loved the teacher in you.. now we have a small record of that precious book
would it be too much to ask.. can we have the pictures of the whole book..
Selamat menjalani ibadah puasa
Ramadan Mubarak and salam, Wan Sharif,
I'm glad you liked the book. I'm afraid the pages I posted were the best I could retrieve.
Book worms (the creepy crawly type, not those with two legs and white hair like us) and silverfish have done great damage to the book.
But I do have other books of old Malaya.
I couldn't enlarge the photo of that little girl..
Be wary about posting the whole book online - you may face copyright issues.
is it true that you are also a blackbelter???? :) :)
Bekoo, you mean you don't know ?? Oh sorry i meant to tell you that Miss Hamid's a blackbelter but keeps on forgetting.
You better behave.
Thank you bekoo and ph,
ph got a blackeye from the blackbelter because she did not do a good job of washing the cats' plates.
Also Bek, after 30 years, no problem of copyright - I think?
You've found a treasure here. I see that the publisher was MPH, were they still the Methodist Publishing House then? The illustrations are so delightful.
If, in your travels, you find Old Lob and his farm animals, grab it. I'd love to see the old man again.
PS And thanks a zillion for the Haji's Book. A gift from the good AsH fairy. The lady artist is spelt Hamerton in the book and it was first published in 1939. Good grief.
Thank you AG,
Hope that you and the better half are in good nick.
Well, as to why Methodist Publishing House changed to Malayan Publishing House is unclear. A takeover maybe? Or it's not 'kosher' for a Christian Publishing House to be printing school books - a most lucrative enterprise.
Aaah, you're an Old Lob fan. I prefer Mr Grumps and Percy the Bad Chick though today a chick carries a very different meaning. You'll be the first to know when I find it. But it's getting harder and harder to locate these treasures.
I agree with PH...you looked adorable in that baby doll dress with that famous shoe that our mothers make us wear! I hv an old
dictionary thats falling to bits but its a darn good one! Thats where we found Aurelius (the golden
child)
Selamat menyambut Ramadan Al Mubarak!
Thank you dear mother of "the golden child",
My mum made all our clothes until I was 16! After that I made my own, despite failing Needlework at school.
If you remember the shoes, do you remember the 'terompahs' (wooden clogs)? But then you're a much younger generation.
MH, my mum sew all our dresses too (my sis and I) up till my teenage years! I tak tahu jahit lah, only straight lines, hehehe! As for the terompahs, yes I have them too.
Post a Comment