Education-at-Large

The first part of the book contains documentation of a groundbreaking exhibition held in 2007 on student activities and societal engagements during post-war Singapore 1945–1965 and transcripts of forums held in conjunction with it. The second half centres on oral history accounts of mostly former Chinese school students who shared about their social, cultural and political activities in complex but exciting times.

Education-at-large broadens our understanding of Singapore's educational history in the transitional period between the end of the Second World War and the country's independence; examines the ways in which student activities and activism resonated with, and contributed to, the country's wider social, political and cultural life, as well as the decolonisation process; and stimulates debates about Chinese education and student activism in Singapore.
Contents:

Forum Documentation:

A Bilingual Forum: Inhabiting Two Different Worlds — Dialogue Between Han Tan Juan and Koh Tai Ann
My Project Work Experience
My Thoughts on Participating in the Exhibition “Education at Large: Student Life and Activities in Singapore, 1945–1965”
Some Thoughts on the “Education-at-Large” Exhibition
Perspectives in Student Movement Research
A Very Brief History of Idealism in Singapore
A Historical Account of the Chinese Book Industry in the 1950s to the 1960s


Oral History:

Brief Biographies of the Interviewees
Youthful Wanderings amidst Student Movements — An Interview with Lim Chin Joo
Transfer to Chinese School — Taking a Different Road — An Interview with Tan Kok Chiang
Those Organised and Unorganised Times of Youth — An Interview with Chen Mong Tse and Chai Chu Chun
Observation as Historical Participation — An Interview with Lee Leong Seng
Growing Up with Literacy Classes — An Interview with Tan Teck Keng
The Sojourns of a Village Youth — An Interview with Chua Hiang Yong


Appendix:

The Singapore Chinese Middle School Students' Union: A Lost Echo of an Era
Thoughts of Exhibition Visitors
Participating Schools
Editors' Notes: A Collective Imagery of Youth in the Island-State
About the Editors
Organising Committee / The Tangent Committee






Readership: Students and the general public who are interested to understand the social, cultural and political activities of students during post-war Singapore 1945–1965.