The transformation of Singapore from a stagnating colonial port city in the late 1950s into a newly industrialized city-state in the early 1990s was the outcome of planned adjustments to changing internal and external conditions. Training and retraining programs played a role in these adjustments. Although full employment prevailed in 1979, the government was concerned about the labor displacement impact of its restructuring program. Beginning in 1980, both the Institute of Technical Education and the National Productivity Board developed a variety of adult education programs to meet the diverse education and training needs of workers. Six were of particular importance to the industrial restructuring strategy: Basic Education for Skills Training, Worker Improvement through Secondary Education, Modular Skills Training, Core Skills for Effectiveness and Change, Training Initiative for Mature Employees, and FAST FORWARD. Their positive contributions were a shift to a more highly skilled work force, rise in average wages, full employment, and alternative employment for workers affected by structural change. Lessons from Singapore's experience include the following: a flexible, responsive training system that facilitates skill acquisition; the development of effective institutions to guide the establishment of an employer-based training system as part of a total human resource development strategy; and Singapore's approach to problems which combines a strong belief in state action and a belief in market forces and competition. (Appendixes include 25 notes and 4 tables. Contains 19 references.) (YLB)