ABSTRACT
The pace of political and economic change quickened from the Japanese Occupation through to the beginning of the rule of the People’s Action Party government in 1959. During this time the process of decolonization brought about a greater emphasis on vocational and technical education as the economy diversified away from its traditional colonial role of entrepot trade with its large number of white collar workers. After the Japanese Occupation, the Singapore economy began to industrialize at a faster rate than the prewar period, according to economic historian W.G. Huff.1 Contrary to Mickey Chiang’s suggestions, as outlined in Chapter 1, colonial officials established the very educational institutions that the People’s Action Party government would inherit and use to its advantage when it continued the work that had been initiated in the 1950s.
