ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part argues that the government has given attention to early years education as a significant factor in education process. It describes how Singapore's negotiations with educational, social and economic changes chime with a narrative that is being played out globally. The part presents dominate policy debate and media. The young creative child is conceptualized as intellectual capital primed to contribute to economic growth and job creation, and it is this construction that underpins much of early childhood curriculum thinking both in the West and in the East. The part explores a different conflict brought about by inequalities of wealth and opportunity in the Hong Kong early years setting. It argues that the creative child is a focus in Korean educational thinking.
