Singapura Dilanggar Todak, an interactive E-book

Abstract

Introduced in 1960, Singapore’s bilingual policy is intended to promote English as the main language of communication while preserving the use of mother tongue among ethnic races. It is believed that bilingualism is fundamental in strengthening an individual's values and sense of culture as well as promoting cultural harmony and understanding among the different ethnic groups in Singapore. As the current younger generation is being brought up in a world where technology is rapidly becoming essential in the way they learn new things, incorporating tools that make use of these technological advancements is vital in ensuring that students stay engaged.

This report details the process of developing an interactive bilingual e-book to promote reading to young (7-10 years old) Malay readers. The book would be based on a popular Malay folklore, “Singapura Dilanggar Todak'' which translates to “Singapore Attacked By Swordfishes”. Quizzes and an audio component would be incorporated into the book to make it interactive.

This interactive e-book would run on the Android Operating System. The software used in the development of this mobile application is React Native, an open source UI software network created by Facebook. JavaScript is the programming language used in this project. On top of that, Android Studio has been used to set up the necessary integrated development environment (IDE) to build the e-book on. The design and visuals of this interactive e-book was made with the consideration of the target audience.

The source code of this project can be found in the Github link in Annex D