THE MALAY MIDDLE-CLASS DILEMMA: A STUDY OF THE MALAY MIDDLE-CLASS APPROACH TOWARDS EDUCATION IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

This thesis investigates the Malay middle-class approach towards education in Singapore. As socio-economic status is often associated with increased access to resources and better opportunities in school, I examine if this is the case for the Malay middle-class. Drawing on insights from a group of Malay middle-class parents and children, this thesis examines their perceptions of the education system in relation to their middle-class status and how this in turn shapes parent involvement in their child’s education. Through the analysis of the Malay community’s relative deprivation, this thesis has found the Malay middle-class approach towards education is very much influenced by their ethnoreligious identity. More saliently, these methods taken to shape their child’s educational development reveal a passive resistance to dominant group practices. Findings have also shown the vulnerability of the Malay middle-class to the stereotype threat and how this has resulted in a group inferiority complex which has undermined their educational progress.