This book is a publication of doctoral dissertation. Thus, it follows the usual format of a dissertation, such as setting, purpose, scope and limitations, methodology, analysis, discussion, and conclusion. It includes tables, charts, and sample lessons from selected Chinese textbooks. This volume involves two major languages-English and Chinese. The author appears to be at least trilingual. Apparently, she has learned the traditional form of Chinese writing, as witnessed by her Chinese abstract and all the Chinese samples given in the content-except for the lessons selected from the actual textbooks, which are in the simplified form of Chinese. (The Chinese texts used in both Malaysia and Singapore ultilize the simplified form of Chinese writing.) Since the author does not explain the distinction between the two different forms of written Chinese, certain illustrations may cause confusion for someone who does not know the evolution of the Chinese language.
As the title clearly states, the author's intention is to ''compare'' moral education in Singapore and Malaysia by analyzing Chinese textbooks used in these two countries in the context of national identity and nation-building. The author has chosen an extremely difficult topic to study, because the focus of the study is a moral issue, which is very hard to define in terms of a common standard within a multicultural society. The author acknowledges this difficulty, ''It may therefore appear as an almost impossible task to create a common identity in a multiethnic, multicultural, multilingual and multi religious society'' (p. 242). ''To compare'' social phenomena in these multicultural societies would even be more difficult. In this respect, I really marvel at the author's daring to take on such a task.
It is crucial for any research study to have a representative setting and valid samples in order to have validity, particularly in the situation of ''comparing'' two