Abstract
Devoid of natural resources, the transformation of Singapore to become one of the world’s richest nations (in terms of per capita income) is an economic phenomenon that has fascinated many scholars and inspired many policy makers. Behind this meteoric rise is the role of education in the making of the Singapore economy. This chapter documents the thinking of Lee Kuan Yew behind the education changes that were aimed at producing Singaporeans who are capable of steering the nation towards sustained economic growth. It highlights Lee’s beliefs and perceptions of the attributes, values and competencies, which education should develop in Singaporeans. Particularly significant were the immediate decades after 1965 when nation building was punctuated with many challenges, both internally and externally. These formative decades were crucial in preparing the city-state for the technological advances arising from the rapid globalisation.
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Notes
- 1.
The export-oriented industrialisation model of industrial development became popular with many Third World countries seeking rapid industrialisation after the Second World War in 1945.
- 2.
In the early 1960s, Lee courted Japan to help Singapore achieve an economic “take-off” but the plan was thwarted by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce demands for compensation for the massacre of the Chinese committed during the war. A skilful manipulation of events and sentiments by the then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew ensured that not only the Chinese community led by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce pacified, but that Singapore was able to continue to enjoy Japanese investment into the country. See The Straits Times, 7 August 1963.
- 3.
The Japanese and the South Koreans are good examples of this kind of societal-based model of citizenship education and they have a longer national history which enhances the preservation of the “Japaneseness” and “Koreanness”.
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Goh, C.B. (2017). Education and the Making of the Singapore Economy. In: Tan, O., Low, E., Hung, D. (eds) Lee Kuan Yew’s Educational Legacy. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3525-8_10
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