| Abstract: | This article traces the development since 1959 of various policies aimed at upgrading Malay educational achievement in order to close the socio-economic gap between the Malay and non-Malay communities in Singapore. It analyses the various economic and political factors that have shaped policy decisions. Several recurrent themes in official discourse on the Malays' educational problems are highlighted, along with the tensions inherent in these policies. The article concludes by discussing the extension of the strategies initiated in the 1980s to encompass the economically disadvantaged sections of the Indian and Chinese communities as well. |
