Page 6 - Education Change and Economic Development: The Case of Singapore Dr. Goh Chor Boon National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University

66 ᐿ࿲ၾආӉj઺ԃٙɢඎ

and capitalised on the country’s comparatively low-cost and disciplined labour

force.
Lee and his chief economic wizard, Goh Keng Swee, then Deputy Prime
Minister had the foresight of attracting foreign multinationals (MNCs) to set

up shops in Singapore. The MNCs were seen as critical channels through
which Singapore could acquire the latest in managerial and technological
knowledge. Foreign technology became an effective means to overcome

domestic limitations, such as the lack of an indigenous technological base. Due
to the country’s extremely positive attitude towards foreign investment and the
wide range of attractive incentives to MNCs, Singapore became a favourite
site, particularly for U.S. investors. In 1966, foreign direct investment (FDI)

in Singapore’s manufacturing sector amounted to $239 million. As a result
of aggressive promotion on the part of the Government through a range of

tax and investment incentives, the figure increased to $1,575 million in 1971
3
and $6,349 million in 1979 respectively. By the early 1990s, the East Asian
Newly-Industrialising Economies (NIEs) - South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong
and Singapore - had graduated into major exporters of more mature consumer

products in microelectronics, computers and telecommunication equipment.
The success of Singapore’s EOI strategy in the late 1960s and 1970s was

dependent to a large extent on adopting modern science and technology to catch
up with the more advanced countries. But the task of closing the technological
gap was easier said than done. British colonial rule had not produced the
desired development in technical and vocational education. There was a severe
4

3 Economic Development Board, Annual Report, 1972 and 1980.
4 Goh Chor Boon, Technology and Entrepot Colonialism in Singapore, 1819 – 1940
(Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2013), Chapter 8.