Earlier this year in July, a Chinese-language children's picture book was removed from shelves after a library patron said the book was "astoundingly racist" in its depiction of the story's antagonist.

The National Library Board (NLB) announced on Monday (Oct. 19) that it has completed its review of the book, Who Wins? by Wu Xing Hua, and has decided to move it from the children's section to the Adults' Collection of libraries.

Book removed from shelves after complaints

Who Wins?, published in 2018 in Singapore by Marshall Cavendish Education, was targeted at children aged seven to nine.

On Jul. 17, a 42-year-old woman named Estella Young took to Facebook to complain about the book.

She said that she had borrowed the book from Bedok Library to read to her eight-year-old son to mark Racial Harmony Day this year.

However, she discovered that the book depicts a school bully as "dark-skinned with a head of oily curls". The bully is named Mao Mao, which is Chinese for "hairy".

Young called the book "astoundingly racist", and said that it described the villain in "explicitly racialised terms", whereas the rest of the characters were depicted as fair-skinned.

On Jul. 19, NLB said that it was reviewing the book in consultation with its Library Consultative Panel — an independent and citizen-based panel — and that all copies of the book had been removed from shelves during the review period, according to The Straits Times.

Marshall Cavendish Education said in a statement to CNA that it would stop sales of the book and was recalling copies of it back, and that it had no intention to "produce content that promotes discrimination in any way".

NLB completes review, moves book to adults' section

On Monday (Oct. 19), NLB announced in a statement to media that it had completed the review of the book, in consultation with the Library Consultative Panel, which provides recommendations to NLB on its review of books that members of the public have raised concerns about.

NLB said that, after taking into consideration public feedback and the Panel's views, it decided to move the book to the Family and Parenting section of the Adults' Collection of its libraries.

"Parents and guardians can make use of this book to discuss how children can deal with bullying in schools and correct any potential misunderstandings that children may have," added NLB.

At the time of publishing, the NLB website shows that the status of the book is "under review" at many libraries across Singapore, in either the adult section or the family and parenting section.

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Top photo via Facebook / Umm Yusof.