ABSTRACT
History in the colonial curriculum of Malaya and Singapore functioned according to what Martin Carnoy has called colonial education – cultural imperialism. Students learnt what their counterparts in the metropole learnt, which was the history of England and its kings and queens. The subject of history helped foster an English-educated elite that could assist in colonial rule by serving in the colonial administration or working in the European business houses. History was taught to both improve English language skills and to acquaint the students with English culture so as to develop an ‘English outlook’. However, there is strong evidence of Clive Whitehead's thesis that the students possessed agency in this form of education. They were not passively absorbing what they learnt. Students were critical of the history that they studied, but they and their parents co-operated as they saw English language education as a pathway to a good white-collar job and thus social mobility.
