Negotiating the school curriculum for the Malay Muslims in Singapore

Abstract

This chapter examines how the Malay Muslim community in Singapore negotiated their objective situation and their subjective everyday practices in the school curriculum. We begin with a brief historical survey of the Malay Muslims in Singapore and their schooling experiences during the colonial period under the British. This is followed by an analysis of how they negotiated their curriculum since Singapore’s self-government from the British in the late 1950s. The next section focuses on current efforts to ‘modernise’ the madrasah curriculum, with a case study of the recent changes that have taken place in one madrasah in Singapore. The chapter ends with some observations about the negotiation processes and outcomes for the Malay Muslims as well as the prospects for madrasahs in Singapore.