This study presents an overview of the management of language in Singapore. It focuses on the use of language as a resource and as a means of furthering national cohesion. The relative positions of the two major languages, Chinese and English, are traced from colonial times to this century, with reference to education, literature, and the emergence of distinctive local speech varieties. Major government interventions in the form of the Speak Mandarin Campaign and the Speak Good English Movement are discussed against a background of ongoing changes to the education system. A major theme is the influence of Lee Kuan Yew on language policy. Another is the need to strike a balance between the concerns of the different speech communities, and the significance of this balance for the future.

Sixties children grew up in a more permissive and commercial age. They enjoyed a childhood in which new vaccines gave children protection from life threatening diseases while the contraceptive pill meant smaller family groups. A controversial programme of comprehensive education began to be rolled out while primary schools would become less rigid and more centred on the needs of the child. This was also the first young generation not to be conscripted into the armed forces. Rising prosperity and rapid technological advances meant more children lived in homes with refrigerators, washing machines and science-inspired toys. Parents had more leisure time to spend with their children and television became the norm. Sixties children routinely travelled in cars and went on family holidays, increasingly abroad. Sweets and toys were plentiful in this first full decade without rationing. Teenagers had money to spend on fashion, pop music and, worryingly, drugs. The Beatles began to dominate the vinyl record market. This book is part of the Britain's Heritage series, which provides definitive introductions to the riches of Britain's past, and is the perfect way to get acquainted with a 1960s childhood in all its variety.

Children of the 1950s have much to look back on with fondness: Muffin the Mule, Andy Pandy, and Dennis the Menace became part of the family for many, while for others the freedom of the riverbank or railway platform was a haven away from the watchful eyes of parents. The postwar welfare state offered free orange juice, milk and healthcare, and there was lots to do, whether football in the street, a double bill at the cinema, a game of Ludo or a spot of roller-skating. But there were also hardships: wartime rationing persisted into the '50s, a trip to the dentist was a painful ordeal, and at school discipline was harsh and the Eleven-Plus exam was a formidable milestone. Janet Shepherd and John Shepherd examine what it was like to grow up part of the Baby Boomer generation, showing what life was like at home and at school and introducing a new phenomenon - the teenager.

The 1970s is remembered as a decade of punk rock, the Winter of Discontent, Bloody Sunday and The Female Eunuch. The iconic images of the 70s, from the break-up of the Beatles to the striking Merseyside graveyard diggers and mountains of municipal rubbish in Leicester Square, provide a glimpse into the extraordinary contrasts of the decade. Britain in the 1970s has been painted as a country in crisis, but despite the strikes, power cuts, and stagflation, recent research has proclaimed that 1976 was the best time in Britain since 1950. The country underwent huge social and cultural shifts, with the blossoming of modern feminism, the Gay Liberation Front, and the establishment of the Commission for Racial Equality. The high street enjoyed the impact of new technology and new brands, and global travel was brought within the reach of many. In 1970s Britain, Janet Shepherd and John Shepherd will reassess a decade rich in continuities and contrasts, from different national and local perspectives.

This study presents an overview of the management of language in Singapore. It focuses on the use of language as a resource and as a means of furthering national cohesion. The relative positions of the two major languages, Chinese and English, are traced from colonial times to this century, with reference to education, literature, and the emergence of distinctive local speech varieties. Major government interventions in the form of the Speak Mandarin Campaign and the Speak Good English Movement are discussed against a background of ongoing changes to the education system. A major theme is the influence of Lee Kuan Yew on language policy. Another is the need to strike a balance between the concerns of the different speech communities, and the significance of this balance for the future.